Gluten-free strawberry Pop-Tarts are a copycat treat you’ll love

If you’re eating gluten-free and have been craving your favorite childhood breakfast, I have good news for you. These copycat strawberry Pop-Tarts look a whole lot better than the packaged version, and they’re gluten-free.

As a matter of fact, Nicole Hunn, author of Gluten-Free Classic Snacks: 100 Recipes for the Brand-Name Treats You Love,has managed to make a ton of your favorite eats gluten free, and they all look pretty darn tasty to me.

Now, I don’t follow a gluten-free diet, but if I did, I would be jumping for joy that I could have Twinkies and Twix and Ritz Bits and Kit Kats again. Even if these aren’t things you eat daily, don’t you always want the things you can’t have? The wait is over… You can eat a Pop-Tart! (A homemade, gluten-free, copycat Pop-Tart, of course.)

Copycat Kellogg’s Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts Toaster Pastries recipe

“As a child of the 1980s, I ate Pop-Tarts for breakfast every single morning before school. At first, I thought that they had to be toasted. They’re called toaster pastries, after all. The day that I discovered that they were still quite delicious right out of the package was the day I could sleep about five minutes later every school morning. I like these frosted pastries best when they aren’t toasted: light, tender, and delicious! But of course you can toast them if you like.” — Nicole Hunn

Yields 12

Ingredients:

For the crust

• 2-1/4 cups (315 grams) all-purpose gluten-free flour, plus more for sprinkling
• 1/4 cup (36 grams) cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
• 8 tablespoons (112 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 egg (50 grams weighed out of shell), at room temperature, beaten
• 4-6 tablespoons (2-3 fluid ounces) milk, at room temperature

For the filling

• 3/4 cup seedless strawberry jam or jelly

For the glaze

• 2 cups (230 grams) confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tablespoon (1/2 fluid ounce) lukewarm water, plus more by the half-teaspoonful
• Multicolored gluten-free nonpareils, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Prepare the crust: Heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper, and set it aside.
2. In a large bowl, place the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar, and whisk to combine well. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the butter, vanilla, egg and 2 fluid ounces of the milk, mixing to combine after each addition. The dough will be thick. Knead the dough with your hands until it is smooth, adding more milk by the half-teaspoonful as necessary to bring the dough together. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, and dust lightly with flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin. Roll out the dough 1/4 inch thick, and slice it into as many 3-1/2 x 4-1/2-inch rectangles as possible (it should be at least 24 rectangles). If the dough becomes difficult to handle at any point, wrap it in plastic wrap, and place it in the freezer to chill briefly.
3. Place 1 tablespoon of strawberry jelly on the centers of the half rectangles of dough, and spread into an even layer, leaving a 3/4-inch border clean on all sides of the rectangles. Cover with the remaining rectangles of dough, and press all around the clean edges to seal. Using a sharp knife or pastry or pasta wheel, cut off about 1/2 inch of dough around all sides of the pastries. Place the pastries about 2 inches apart from one another on the prepared baking sheet. Dock the pastries by piercing randomly on top with a toothpick or wooden skewer. Place the baking sheet in the center of the oven, and bake until the pastries are very lightly golden brown around the edges and just set in the center, about 8 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to the wire rack to cool completely.
5. While the pastries are cooling, prepare the glaze: In a medium-size bowl, place the confectioners’ sugar and 1 tablespoon of water, and mix until combined in a thick paste. Add more water by the half-teaspoonful as necessary to create a thickly pourable glaze. Spread the glaze thickly on top of each cooled pastry, and sprinkle lightly with nonpareils. Allow to set at room temperature before serving.
6. The finished pastries can be stored in a sealed glass container at room temperature and should maintain their texture for at least 3 days. For longer storage, wrap individually in freezer-safe wrap, and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost at room temperature, or unwrap and defrost in the toaster.

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