Disclosure: This post is sponsored by SunButter. All images and opinions expressed are solely my own. Thank you for supporting brands that help make Sift & Simmer possible!
Do you remember when you had your first Pop Tart?
It wasn’t something my parents ever purchased, so I did not experience the sugary, flaky goodness until I was 16.
Yep, I was 16 when I first worked as a cashier at Safeway and during my lunch break, I’d peruse the weekly flyer to see what was on sale. The years of seeing Pop Tart commercials on TV caught up with me and I bought a box to try.
Beneath the silver, shiny foil was a firm rectangular pastry, filled with strawberry jam and a hardened frosting on the exterior. It was heavenly. I bought a few more boxes on my next shift.
Fast forward to now — my son asked me about Pop Tarts when he saw them in the grocery store a while back. I told him I would make some for him: Chocolate SunButter Pop Tarts. Now’s the time.
WHAT ARE POP TARTS?
They’re basically a hand-held pie that’s designed for the toaster. Also known as “toaster pastries.” Two pieces of pastry dough sandwiched with a sweet filling inside.
I decided to make a Chocolate SunButter Pop Tart version with chocolate pastry and SunButter filling.
4 INGREDIENT SUNBUTTER FILLING
The filling is so simple to make with only 4 ingredients:
- SunButter
- icing sugar
- softened butter
- vanilla extract
HOW TO MAKE THE POP TART PASTRY
I like using a food processor to make any type of pie pastry, like the base for this Earl Grey Cream Tart. It makes the work easy to do and you don’t need to dirty lots of bowls. All the dry ingredients are dumped into the food processor.
COLD BUTTER IS KEY
Next, slices of cold butter and ice cold water are pulsed in with the flour to create small pea-sized lumps. It’s important to keep the butter and water cold to create flakiness in the pastry.
Then the dough is divided in half and rolled out into a large rectangle. Cut the pastry into 3″ by 4″ pieces, brush egg wash over top and add the SunButter filling.
Roll out the other piece of dough, cut into 3″ by 4″ pieces and place over top of the SunButter filling.
Chill the pastries in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
HOT OVEN = FLAKINESS
As with any pastry, cold butter and a hot oven produces steam, which makes for a flaky pop tart.
TO FROST OR NOT TO FROST?
It’s really up to you, but I just think a frosted pastry is so much better. Ditto to the sprinkles. If you choose not to frost, be sure to add 1 Tbsp of sugar to the pastry dough.
NOT FOR THE TOASTER
Now, these homemade Chocolate SunButter Pop Tarts are not suitable for the toaster, especially if they’ve been frosted (you’ll end up with a leaky mess). Commercial pop tarts have additional additives that prevent the frosting from melting. You can toast them if you haven’t frosted them, but you may still need to be careful with the filling.
Once you make homemade Pop Tarts, you’ll never want to buy the packaged ones. Trust me. These are a little bit of work, but the satisfaction you get from saying that you made them from scratch — it’s the best feeling.
Let me know if you try out this recipe — I’d love to see your creations! Tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me a comment below.
Chocolate SunButter Pop Tarts
For accuracy and precision in baking recipes, use weight (metric) measurements when available.
Ingredients
Pastry Dough
- 2 C all-purpose flour
- ½ C cocoa powder
- 4 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 sticks cold butter cut into large pieces
- 8-10 Tbsp ice cold water
- 1 egg beaten
SunButter Filling
- ¾ C SunButter
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter softened
- 2 Tbsp icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Frosting
- 6 Tbsp icing sugar
- 1-2 Tbsp heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Decoration
- chocolate sprinkles
- 2 Tbsp SunButter
Instructions
- In a food processor, add the flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar. Pulse a few times to distribute all the ingredients.
- Add in the butter and pulse until a lumpy dough forms. Gradually pour in the ice water (I use the drip spout on my food processor) and pulse until the dough sticks together, but is not overly wet. [You may not need to use all the water]
- Pour the dough onto a large piece of parchment paper.
- Bring the dough together and divide into 2 equal portions. At this point, you can chill the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and lightly dust the counter top with some flour.
- Use a heavy rolling pin to roll each half out into a rectangle about 9" by 12" in size.
- Cut the pastry into 8 x 3" by 4" pieces using a pastry wheel cutter.
- Lightly brush the beaten egg over top add about 1 Tbsp SunButter filling.
- Roll out the 2nd half of the dough to the same dimensions and cut into another 8 x 3" by 4" pieces.
- Lightly brush beaten egg on one side of the pastry dough, and place the egg-side down onto the filling. Gently seal the edges with your fingers, and crimp the edges with a fork.
- Place the pastries onto a parchment lined baking sheet and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400Β°F/204Β°C.
- Bake the pop tarts at 400Β°F/204Β°C for 20 minutes, until slightly puffed.
- Cool completely before frosting.
To make frosting:
- Add the icing sugar, and vanilla extract to a small bowl. Mix together. Slowly add in enough cream to your desired consistency.
- Use an offset spatula to spread about ½ Tbsp of frosting onto the pop tarts.
- Garnish with chocolate sprinkles and drizzle SunButter on top if you wish.
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