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Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop Tarts

January 9, 2019
•
Shanika | Orchids + Sweet Tea
These Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop-Tarts are a great contender with their store-bought counterparts. A true family favorite that is super easy to make, comes with amazing tips for perfection, and makes for a fun baking experience with your little ones.
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Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop Tarts

Just like the original, but WAY better, my Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop-Tarts are the flakiest, most tender, and sweet pastries you will ever eat! The homemade flaky dough (with a gluten-free option!) is stuffed with tart blueberry jam before topping with a sweet blueberry glaze. Not only is this dish beautiful, but it is nostalgic!

Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop Tarts

Ah, Pop-Tarts. If you grew up in the 80s/90s/00s this was a popular breakfast to scarf down before heading off to school. Traditional boxed Pop-Tarts were made of a boring, too-sweet pie crust, a flavorless filling, and a crisp, sweet icing. At the time, they were revolutionary. Today, we can do better.

That's why I made my own vegan version with these Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop-Tarts! You can fill these pastries with any filling that you like because the dough is universal. I chose blueberries because of how delicious they are, plus the purple hue is gorgeous!

When it comes to making homemade Pop-Tarts, this is not my first rodeo. I've made quite a few other Pop-Tart recipes in the past, including:

Of course, while I love homemade Pop-Tarts, I appreciate them even more for what they provide. These adorable pastries can be a quick breakfast on the go, a satisfying snack, or a delightful dessert. Once they're baked, they can be eaten all week long. With a simple burst in the microwave or toaster oven to warm, you have a hot and fresh blueberry snack all week long.

Let's get into the recipe!

Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop Tarts

Tips for Making Vegan Blueberry Pop-Tarts

As you can see, I'm no stranger to homemade Pop-Tarts. Because I've made them so many times, I feel like I have completely perfected the recipe. Here are a few tips for making the perfect at-home Pop-Tarts.

Make your filling first!

Because the flaky dough is so sensitive, I like to make my filling first. The vegan butter needs to stay cold to achieve the layers we want, so having the filling ready to go when the dough is ready is essential.

Plus, the filling will need time to cool completely before adding it to the dough. You can gauge the cooled filling's consistency to ensure it will be perfect for filling the pastry. A filling that is too runny will make a mess, and a filling that is too thick will become dry. 

More pastry flour means more flakiness

You'll see that I use both organic all-purpose flour as well as pastry flour. I discovered this mix when experimenting with pastry flour to add to the blueberry Pop-Tart's flakiness. The pastry flour adds a nice crunchy, flaky outer layer to the pastries.

Also, be sure your vegan butter is very cold and cubed uniformly to achieve that flaky crust. In fact, your plant milk should also be very cold. When making flaky pastry such as pie crust, all ingredients should be chilled to enhance the flakiness of the pastry. This combined with pastry flour makes for the best flaky dough ever!

Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop Tarts on a wire rack

Dimensions matter!

It may seem tedious to measure out your dough squares before creating the Pop-Tarts. After many trials, I have learned that randomly cutting squares and sticking them together was uneven and a waste of dough. Instead, I now measure the dough squares out to 3'' x 4'', and the tops fit onto the bottoms each time!

Be sure that when you are rolling out your pastry crust, roll it to at least ¼-inch thick. This way, the filling will stay inside the pastry and the Pop-Tart will stay intact during cooking.

Let them cool very well

Sometimes, when hot desserts come out of the oven, you are tempted to eat them while hot.

Unfortunately, you MUST wait!

The final step in making vegan Pop-Tarts includes a slathering of sweet glaze and sprinkles. Due to the nature of the glaze, you cannot glaze the Pop-Tarts while they are still warm. If you do, the glaze will run off of the pastries and make a mess of your kitchen. The Pop-Tarts must be FULLY cooled before you glaze them. Plus, biting into molten hot blueberry filling might be painful for your mouth!

Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop Tarts

Ingredients in Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop-Tarts

For the Crust:

  • 1 cup organic all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ cups organic pastry flour
  • 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
  • pinch of finely-ground sea salt
  • pinch of ground cinnamon
  • ¾ cup vegan buttery sticks, cold + cubed
  • 1 cup almond milk, very cold
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

For the Blueberry Filling:

  • ¼ cup Blueberry preserves/jam
  • 1 teaspoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
  • For the Blueberry Glaze:
  • 1 ½ cups organic powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 tablespoon almond milk (You can use your fave plant-based milk!)
  • 2 tablespoons blueberry preserves/jam
  • Vegan rainbow sprinkles

Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop Tarts

Assembling the Homemade Vegan Blueberry Pop-Tarts:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Once chilled, remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured surface, rolling it out into a large rectangle, about 3 mm thick. Cut into small-medium rectangles (3" wide and 4" long), until all dough is used.

On all rectangular cuts, lightly brush vegan butter to ensure that they close together well! On one cut dough, add 1 tablespoon of the blueberry filling and carefully cover it with another rectangular piece, gently pressing the edges down. Using a fork, carefully “crimp” around the edges and place on the baking sheet. Repeat until all pop tarts are made.

Once all are laid flat on the baking sheet, gently prick a set of holes on the tops using a fork. Do not pierce all the way through, otherwise, your filling could run out!

Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop Tarts

Lightly brush all pop tart tops with melted vegan butter and bake in the oven 20-25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the filling begins to become bubbly and starts to slightly seep out.

Once done, remove from the oven. Allow them to cool completely.

Once pop tarts have cooled completely, spoon 1-2 tablespoons of Blueberry Frosting atop each and sprinkle with vegan sprinkles. Let pop tarts sit for another 1-2 minutes so that frosting hardens. Enjoy!

Bon Appetit!

Other Vegan Recipes That I Love

Love these Homemade Vegan Blueberry Pop-Tarts and want more vegan delights? Here are some of my faves!

Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop Tarts

Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop Tarts

January 9, 2019 •
By Shanika
5 from 13 votes
These Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop Tarts are nothing short of flaky, naturally sweet, and bursting with blueberry flavors, both inside + out. Complete homage to the classic childhood favorite, these pop tarts are a sure crowd-pleaser. The perfect bite for breakfast, brunch, or a nice in between snack. Gluten-free option available.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 8 Pop Tarts
Units:
US Customary|Metric
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Ingredients

CRUST:

  • 1 cup organic all-purpose flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill; See Notes for GF version!)
  • 1 ½ cups organic pastry flour  (I use Bob’s Red Mill; See Notes for GF version!)
  • 2 Tbsps organic cane sugar
  • pinch of finely-ground sea salt
  • pinch of ground cinnamon
  • ¾ cup vegan buttery sticks (cold + cubbed)
  • 1 cup Almond milk, Very COLD! (You can use your fave plant-based milk!)
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

BLUEBERRY FILLING:

  • ¼ cup Blueberry preserve/jam
  • 1 teaspoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice

BLUEBERRY GLAZE + TOPPING:

  • 1 ½ cups organic powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 tablespoon Almond milk (You can use your fave plant-based milk!)
  • 2 Tbsps Blueberry preserve/jam
  • Vegan rainbow sprinkles

OTHER:

  • 2 Tbsps Almond milk + 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Instructions

TO MAKE THE VEGAN BUTTERMILK:

  • In a measuring cup, add the cold milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside.

FOR CRUST:

  • In a bowl, add the all-purpose flour, pastry flour, salt, cinnamon, and sugar, whisking them all together until combined.
  • Add the cubed vegan butter sticks (or regular vegan butter) and using a pastry blender, blend butter into dry ingredients until the mixture becomes “peas-like” and crumbly.
  • Slowly pour the cold apple cider vinegar-milk mixture (using ½ cup initially and adding more as you feel the dough become moist enough) and stir (working it together with one hand) until the dry ingredients are moistened. NOTE: If the ingredients feels a little too dry, add 1 tablespoon of cold water at a time, until it’s moistened BUT not too wet! If too wet, add 1 tablespoon more flour at a time until the dough can be formed into a ball easily.
  • Now, shape the dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap and flatten it slightly and chill for at least 1 hour.

FOR BLUEBERRY FILLING:

  • In a small bowl, add 1 cup of blueberry preserves and lemon juice together and stir until preserve/jam becomes light and easy to stir. Set aside.

ASSEMBLY:

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Once chilled, remove the dough from the refrigerator and place on a lightly floured surface, rolling it out into a large rectangle (about 3 mm thick). Cut into small-medium rectangles (3″ wide and 4″ long), until all dough it used.
  • On all rectangular cuts, lightly brush vegan butter to ensure that they close together best! On one cut dough, add 1 tablespoon of the blueberry filling and carefully cover it with another rectangular piece, gently pressing the edges down. Using a fork, carefully “crimp” around the edges and place on the baking sheet.
  • Repeat until all pop tarts are made.
  • Once all are laid flat on the baking sheet, gently prick a set of holes on the tops using a fork. To make the vegan 'egg wash', mix together 2 Tbsps milk + 1 tablespoon of maple syrup until combined.

BAKE THE POP TARTS:

  • Lightly brush all pop tart tops with vegan 'egg wash' mixture and bake in the oven 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and the filling begins to become bubbly and begins to slightly seep out.
  • Once done, remove from the oven and let them cool COMPLETELY!

FOR BLUEBERRY GLAZE:

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, blueberry preserve/jam, and milk until smooth. NOTE: For more thickness, add additional powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. If too thick, add almond milk, 1 tablespoon at a time.
  • Once pop tarts have cooled completely, spoon 1-2 Tbsps of blueberry glaze atop each and sprinkle with vegan sprinkles. Let pop tarts sit for another 1-2 minutes so that frosting hardens. Enjoy.
  • Bon Appetit!

Tips & Tricks

  • STORAGE: Leftover pop tarts can be stored in an airtight container for 1-3 days. To serve warm, heat in the microwave, or flat in a toaster oven. 
  • FREEZE: For longer storage–pop tarts can be stored in the freezer. After they have baked and are completely cooled, simply place your pop tarts onto a baking sheet (spaced apart) and freeze them for 2-3 hours. Once frozen, transfer them to a zip loc bag and reheat when ready to eat!
  • FOOD PROCESSOR FOR CRUST: If using a food processor to incorporate water to flour/butter mixture, ONLY ADD ¼ cup of water AT A TIME to your dough, keeping it on “pulse” to avoid the dough from breaking down too much and it becoming “watery”. With this method, you may not need the entire 1 cup of water.
  • TIPS FOR PERFECT POP TARTS: Be sure to read tips within the post!
  • FLOUR: If you don’t have Pastry Flour available, simply substitute for All-Purpose Flour.
  • GLUTEN-FREE VERSION: To make these GF, simply substitute All-Purpose Flour with 2 cups Gluten-Free Flour (Bob’s Red Mill has a great one!) and the Pastry Flour with ½ cup coconut flour. If your GF Flour doesn’t have Xanthan Gum included, add 1 teaspoon in recipe. Also, reduce vegan butter to 1 ¾ sticks instead of 2. Continue all other steps!

Nutrition

Calories: 383kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 4g | Sodium: 222mg | Potassium: 120mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 2IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 2mg

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  1. My dough turned out super runny too… am thinking it’s because I didn’t gradually add the milk and vinegar mixture slow. Added more flour and its in the fridge now so we shall see 😉
    looks so yummy!

    Reply

    • Hi Lindsey! I'm so glad that you were able to salvage the dough! I really hope that you enjoyed these! 🙂

      Reply

  2. This dough is incredibly wet.
    Did not add any water, just the plant milk/ACV & still had to add additional flour. Is the flour/water ratio currently listed correct? Once rolled out on a heavily floured bench, almost couldn't lift them to place upon their other half.

    also, your website buttons are not responsive.

    Reply

    • Hi Wendy! Thanks so much for reaching out! Yes, the measurements are correct and the dough shouldn't be extremely wet. I always mention adding a bit more flour and/or liquid if needed to ensure that the dough is just right. However, while adding the wet ingredients, it's always great to knead it using your hands to ensure that the ingredients combine well. Also, I'm so sorry to hear about the buttons on my site not being responsive. Can you be specific as to which buttons aren't working exactly?

      Reply

  3. I did this vegan/gf and swapped out blueberries for rhubarb and raspberries. It turned out great! My only complaint would be that the times are really misleading. It definitely took me more than 10 minutes to prep and put these together. Not to mention the dough has to sit in the fridge for an hour, so that should be included... The total time for me was closer to 2 hours vs 35 minutes.

    One other thing is that anytime it said see the notes section, I would go to the notes section and it wouldn't see anything pertaining to tips about that specific topic.

    Reply

    • Hi Alexa! I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Definitely one of my faves! Thanks so much for your feedback on including the dough chill time, etc as well as the prep time. 🙂 I'll take that into consideration going forward! Also, the tips for the pop tarts are in the actual post. Within my Recipe Notes section, it states the following: "TIPS FOR PERFECT POP TARTS: Be sure to read tips within the post!" So sorry for the confusion!

      Reply

  5. They look delicious. I want to make strawberry, blueberry, and apple poptarts. I'm wondering if i could freeze them?

    Reply

  6. I haven't tried them yet. They look delicious. Can you freeze them? I was thinking of making blueberries, strawberries, and apple poptarts. You said that they can be stored in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

    Reply

    • Hi Linda! Thanks so much! Yes you can freeze them. After they have baked and are completely cooled, simply place your pop tarts onto a baking sheet and freeze them for 2-3 hours. Once frozen, transfer them to a zip loc bag and reheat when ready to eat! Be sure to let me know how they turn out! 🙂

      Reply

    • Hi Kenna! So sorry! Did t realize that this was missing! They make about 7-8 pop tarts!

      Reply

  8. These look so fun! I am def making these for my son soon. I will get some cool mom points for making homemade pop tarts forsure!

    Reply

  9. Such delicious looking pop tarts - makes you wonder why you would ever buy some when you can make such perfect ones at home! I love that they are vegans too, I know my vegan friends will love them! Thanks for the recipe 🙂

    Reply

  10. These homemade Pop-Tarts are literally the best thing I've eaten in forever! They're great for a quick breakfast and they are flaky and fruity, I mean yum! I'll make them again, thanks!

    Reply

  11. What a delicious way to start the day! I love this recipe - and the fact they're vegan is so lovely!
    They are a super impressive brunch dish to make!

    Reply

  14. I just made the crust and used my food processor as I find I get a great crust quickly. When I opened the lid after adding the water, I found a soup! I had to add probably 1.5 more cups of flour to get even a barely usable consistency. Is 1 cup of water the proper amount to add? It seemed like a lot to me before I even started. It's chilling now, I will update if they turn out or not.

    Reply

    • Hi Shana! I’m so sorry to hear that! When adding the water, I usually do so slowly as I work the dough with my hands so that I know when it gets too sticky. Im guessing when using a food processor, it breaks down the dry ingredients too much which caused the water to have more weight and make everything “watery”. I’ll definitely add this in my notes for anyone who might use a food processor instead of their hands!

      Reply

  16. Pop Tarts are one of my guilty pleasures in life, even though I know they are filled with garbage. Your healthier version looks much more appetizing! 🙂

    Reply

  17. These look WAY better than store bought which I admit I would never buy these days, bit that blueberry glaze looks so good and would definitely tempt me!

    Reply