Gluten Free Dairy Free Pop Tarts Recipe
It is summer time, which means the g-kids are here. Every year they come for a couple months and we cram in as many adventures, big and small, as we can. And every year we do a little gluten free baking together.
This year, the kids suggested gluten free pop tarts. I thought that was pure genius! What an iconic and forbidden (since going gluten free) treat from my childhood. Little did I know that homemade pop tarts burned up the internet last summer; which just goes to prove I really do live under a rock. Nonetheless, homemade gluten free pop tarts? Definite genius!
The crust for these gluten and dairy free pastries is flaky and pretty easy to work with. I made three different versions. The first was with superfine brown rice flour, tapioca starch and sweet rice flour – this was everyone’s favorite, taste-wise, and I was happy with the addition of whole grain, but it was also the most fragile because the edges tended to crumble a bit, especially when they were warm. Next, I subbed the tapioca starch with potato starch; on these, the edges were sturdier. Finally, I used gluten free flour blend. The taste was great but, again, a tad more fragile than with the potato starch. If we weren’t doing a side by side comparison, we would have never noticed any difference, so use what you like.
As with lots of gluten free dough, I find it easier to “extrude” than roll. I place the dough between two pieces of parchment or waxed paper sprinkled with a little sweet rice flour and roll, lifting the top paper occasionally to keep it from sticking. I divided the dough into two equal portions, rolled each portion out into a rectangle a little bit bigger than 12 inches by 8 inches, and trimmed the edges using a ruler for straight lines. I kept the dough on the parchment, cut it into 8 smaller rectangles (3 by 4 inches each) by cutting the 8 inch width in half and the 12 inch width into fourths.
After brushing the bottom rectangles with some beaten egg, I added the filling. We made two kinds – strawberry and almond. For the strawberry, I used some Baker Brand Strawberry Dessert Filling and for the almond, I used the almond flavor. The strawberry was the g-kids’ fav and I liked the almond, as it reminded me of an almond croissant.
Common sense would tell you not to over fill the pop tarts but we agreed that we like lots of filling, so we added about 2 heaping tablespoons of filling per pop tart at the risk of the filling leaking out – but it didn’t. Sometimes ignoring common sense is a good thing! After adding the filling to the bottom rectangles, I just lifted the parchment and folded the top rectangles right over the ones with the filling, easy! Pinch the edges together, make a decorative edge with the tines of a fork, then prick the top of the pop tarts all over with a fork. (If at any time the dough gets too soft or sticky because your kitchen is warm and humid, just pop it into the freezer for a few minutes.)
A little more egg wash on top, a sprinkling of coarse sugar, and sliced almonds for the almond flavor finished them off. From there, refrigerate them for half an hour, then into the oven. I made one batch that I refrigerated overnight and baked first thing in the morning – double genius, as you can have nice hot pop tarts in the time it takes to brew up some coffee, brush your teeth and make the bed!
So there you have it, from the g-kids and me – homemade gluten free, dairy free pop tarts. Enjoy!
Gluten Free Dairy Free Pop Tarts Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup superfine brown rice flour
- ¾ cup tapioca or potato starch
- ¼ cup sweet rice flour plus more for rolling
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 cup solid vegetable shortening at room temperature and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 large eggs use divided
- 2 rice milk
- 10 ounces Baker Dessert Filling any flavor you like
- 2 teaspoon coarse sugar
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the brown rice flour, tapioca or potato starch, sweet rice flour, xanthan gum, salt and 1 tablespoon sugar. Add the shortening and work it into the flour mixture with your hands until it is crumbly and the texture of coarse sand with some large pieces about the size of grapes. Add one egg and 2 tablespoons of rice milk. Mix with a spoon until you have a soft dough that is not sticky. You may need to work the dough with your hands to get it to come together. If too dry, add the final tablespoon of rice milk. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions and shape into rectangles. Wrap one portion of dough with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator while rolling the first.
- Place a piece of waxed or parchment paper on a work surface, sprinkle with some sweet rice flour, place one piece of the dough on the parchment, sprinkle with a little more sweet rice flour and top with another piece of paper. Roll into a rectangle that is a bit larger than 12 inches by 8 inches. Trim the dough with a knife into a 12 by 8 inch rectangle. Cut the 8 inch side in half and the 12 inch side into fourths to form eight 3 by 4 inch rectangles.
- Beat the remaining egg and brush the bottom 4 rectangles with some of the egg. Place 2 heaping tablespoons of dessert filling on each bottom rectangle and shape it into a rectangle leaving ½ inch border on all sides. Slide your hand under the paper under the top rectangles and flip them so they are directly on top of the filled dough. Press the edges of the dough together and then press with the tines of a fork. Prick the top of each pop tart several times with the tines of a fork. Brush with more egg wash, sprinkle each pop tart with about a ¼ teaspoon of coarse sugar and place on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the refrigerator and repeat with the final piece of dough. Refrigerate for at least ½ hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees while the pop tarts are in the refrigerator. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool and serve.
Nutrition
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Ah-mazing!!! Can you pls package these up and sell them frozen and ready to bake?!??
Haha – ok, will get right on that!
Oh what a wonderfully brilliant woman you are! These look superb! I can’t WAIT to try making these for my husband and I. Do you think they would freeze unbaked (or maybe baked?) well to later pop them in the oven on different days? Wow I am so excited to try this!!! Oh, and totally unrelated but since you are hands down the best GF baker I’ve found…do you know of a good egg roll skin recipe that I could create? I am half Chinese and since going GF with my husband I have sorely missed my mom’s old recipe. Any help on that would be so appreciated. Thanks for all that you do and for sharing your wonderful ideas!
Thank you so much Melody! Yes, I think they would freeze beautifully. In fact beacuse we just gobble them up, I am going to do the same so that I only bake off a couple at a time – better for my waist line :)
I have made egg rolls using rice paper before. They are not quite as easy to use but not hard – I just wrapped up my filling in rice paper (like what you use for spring rolls) and fried them up in hot oil. This is what they do at my local Thai place. They come out really crispy and light.
Thank you for your lovely words!
thank you so much for this recipe! my new hero :) my family will love these and even better…i’ll be able to eat them too!!
My pleasure Emily – enjoy!!!
Thank you and thank those g-kids! Love this.
You’re welcome Lidia and I will pass your thanks on to the g-kids!
My kids are going to love these, thank you!
My pleasure Anita!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I always look forward to what you will come up with next and these…well, thank you!!!
Well Donna, you are welcome, welcome, welcome! Enjoy!
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I am going to the store today to buy shortening so I can make these. I’m so excited I haven’t had pop tarts in such a long time. And yes I agree you are the best GF baker!!
Oh, thank you HEather! Enjoy!
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These look delicious, however, with the egg in there it does not make it vegan (I did a search in google for gluten free vegan pop tarts and you were the first link that said vegan). Do you have any suggestions on how to make it vegan? Thanks!
I don’t know why this recipe would come up for a vegan recipe as it clearly isn’t and I don’t have it labeled or tagged that way – its a mystery! Anyway without having tried it, I would suggest using egg replacer. Ener G is a vegan egg replacer. Good luck!
Awesome that the g-kids thought of this. My son lived on poptarts for breakfast until he had to go gluten free. These will definatly be on the list to make soon. Also I am glad some one asked about egg replacer, since we are egg free too!
Great Mary! ENjoy.
Thank you so much.
I love pop tarts and i take them to work. Two of my friends said they would love to try then but they cant have Gluten.
I used the recipe and made 3 different flavors (strawberry, blackcurrant and cinnamon apple)
I cooked them off packed then in packs of 2 like normal pop tarts and gave them to my friends the next day. They loved them and i gave them your recipe. their now going to make their own.
I have to say I’m now looking at all the other cake recipe’s so i can make them something when we do bake sales.
Wow aren’t you the nicest friend! I am happy you were able to please your friends! Thank you.
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Hi, Carol!
These look amazing! But is there any way to substitute for the rice flour? I’m allergic to rice. Do you think superfine sorghum flour would work okay in this recipe instead? Thanks in advance! :)
Liberty, Yea I think so! xo, Carol
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