Giant Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart – Gluten-Free and Vegan
Calling all pop tart enthusiasts! Super-size your childhood breakfast favorite with this giant brown sugar cinnamon pop tart that’s both gluten-free and vegan! It has all of the flavors of the classic, just bigger and tastier! A buttery, golden crust filled with a sweet cinnamon filling and frosted with a cinnamon glaze. Slice it up and share with your friends!
I think we all have fond memories of certain childhood foods. Pop tarts were personally a breakfast favorite of mine growing up. Unwrapping the foil pouches, placing them in the toaster, and impatiently waiting for the brown sugar cinnamon smell to waft through the kitchen.
Warm, sweet, crunchy. Even though they were slightly reminiscent of cardboard looking back, I can’t help to crave one of those brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts every now and then.
Since my celiac disease diagnosis, I haven’t had one. But, every once in awhile, I feel myself longing and craving for a bite of this childhood favorite. I often look at different toaster pastries at the grocery store waiting for one to pop up. Yes… there are gluten-free ones.
But my body still has a hard time tolerating dairy and eggs, probably still lasting effects of my damaged intestines from years of eating gluten. Every single toaster pastry or pop tart I can find at the store ALWAYS has eggs or dairy in it.
So it’s about time I’ve made my own! I was so excited to finally eat a pop tart that I decided to go BIG. I mean real BIG. Like a giant pop tart sized big.
YES! I made a GIANT brown sugar cinnamon pop tart AND I made it gluten-free AND vegan. Best decision I’ve made in awhile, let me tell you.
While it may seem a bit extra to make a giant pop tart, it also makes sense. A giant pop tart is basically just a pie, with more crust to filling ratio. Plus, I am sometimes kind of lazy and I figure if I don’t have to individually cut out rectangles of pastry, fill them all individually, and crimp all of the sides…. I won’t. I’m a bit of lazy baker at times, which leads to great things like giant pop tarts.
You can certainly make these into individual pop tarts if you wish, too. I fully support that decision too. Just make sure to shorten the bake time so they don’t burn. But really… isn’t it kind of fun to serve a giant pop tart for brunch?
In my quest to make this giant gluten-free vegan pop tart, I tested this recipe SIX times. Honestly… it was pretty great on the first try. But I wanted to be sure that it would work every single time so that you guys wouldn’t have trouble making it too.
My coworkers certainly enjoyed each of the recipe experimentations that I brought into the office. I needed some people that can actually still eat pop tarts to tell me if these babies tasted like the real deal. I’m so happy to say that most said they tasted even BETTER than the packaged pop tarts!
Table of Contents
Tips and Tricks for Making a Giant Pop Tart
- You want the butter (or dairy-free butter in this case) to stay cold. I like to freeze mine before putting it into the food processor.
- Roll out your rectangles of pastry dough and pop them into the freezer for at least 15-20 minutes. I think it is easier to handle the top layer without it breaking this way. If it breaks, that’s okay too. Just piece it back together. You’re covering it with frosting after all.
- Poke LOTS of holes in the top before baking. The first time, I only cut a few holes in the top of the dough to let steam escape and my pastry puffed up a lot. The more holes the better in this case.
- Let the pop tart cool before you place the glaze on top so it doesn’t run off the sides.
Entertaining for Brunch? Also Try These Other Gluten-Free Pastries
Brunch is one of those meals that is sometimes hard to make gluten-free. But serve this giant brown sugar cinnamon pop tart and your gluten-free brunch goers will love you to the moon and back.
Scones are also a tasty addition to any breakfast. Try my Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Scones for a lemony treat. Is there anything better than a breakfast hash? I didn’t think so. This Sweet Potato, Apple and Sausage Breakfast Hash is so delicious when topped with a poached egg.
Did you know you can make your own breakfast sausage? It’s true! My blueberry turkey sausage is sweet, savory and bursting with blueberries!
Can’t forget the eggs! Fearless Dining has the best Turkey and Heirloom Tomato Omelette that is great for a gluten-free brunch. Did you really have brunch if you didn’t have a mimosa? This Apple Cider Mimosa from What The Fork is just what you need. Plus there’s only two ingredients!
Giant Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Recipe
Who knew it could be so easy to make gluten-free and vegan pop tarts? You will love this tale on everyone’s childhood favorite. What’s better is we’re serving up a giant version – enough to serve 10 people!
Once you realize how easy it is to make this gluten-free treat, you’ll want to serve them for brunch all the time!
Giant Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts - Gluten-Free and Vegan
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 2 cups gluten-free flour blend
- 2 teaspoons xanthan gum (if your blend doesn't already contain it)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup vegan butter (very cold)
- 4-5 tablespoons ice cold water
Cinnamon Sugar Filling:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons gluten-free all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons vegan butter (melted and slightly cooled)
- 2 tablespoons molasses
Cinnamon Glaze:
- 1 + 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon almond milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a food processor, add gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, salt and sugar and pulse to combine.
- Add cold vegan butter and pulse until butter is the size of peas, with some bigger pieces.
- Remove from food processor and place in a bowl, add in water one tablespoon at a time just until your able to pinch it together. You may not end up using all of the water.
- Pat into a flat circle and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Once the dough is chilled, roll out into two rectangles about 8x11 inches each, about 1/4 inch in thickness. I like to place mine back into the freezer for 10 minutes for better handling.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- To make the filling, combine brown sugar, cinnamon, gluten-free flour, melted vegan butter, and molasses in a bowl until a paste has formed.
- Place one rectangle of pastry dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spoon filling onto the pastry and spread with a spatula, leaving about 1/2 inch border.
- Place other rectangle of pastry dough on top of the filling. Gently press the edges closed with your fingers. Crimp all the way around with a fork.
- Generously poke holes into the top of the pastry.
- Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, until the edges of the crust are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
- While the pop tart is cooling, make the glaze. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, cinnamon, almond milk, and vanilla. Whisk until combined and no clumps remain. Spread over the pop tart and allow to dry completely before slicing and serving.
Nutrition
I’m Megan
A gluten-free food blogger from Chicago and lover of all things food, showing you gluten-free can be easy and delicious, too. Let’s make gluten-free stress free together! Read more…
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make it?
It should keep well at room temperature in a a covered container for about 3-4 days!
Hi!! I was so excited when I saw this and finally decided to try it out. I had a really hard time rolling out the chilled dough and made less of a rectangular shape pop tart and more of a half circle. Any tips? I used regular butter not df/vegan but I don’t think that would make much of a difference. Thanks!
Hi Hayley! How long did you chill the dough for? It can sometimes get tough to roll out if you leave it too long to chill. I also find that if I get it into a squared off shape before I chill it rather than a ball then I can more easily just roll it out straight a few times on each side to get a rectangle. I’m going to do a video of this recipe in the next few weeks and I’ll add it to the post which will hopefully help, too!
Can I make it fully the night before and then put it in the oven the next morning?
Hi Courtney, Yes, just assemble it up to the point of baking and cover it and put it in the refrigerator overnight. Then, bake the next morning!