A flaky pastry crust surrounds a gooey fruit filling in this recipe for vegan pop tarts! They’re totally customizable so you can make whatever flavor you like and they even have a secret pop of whole grain flour for an extra nutrition punch!
Why This Recipe Works
Growing up I LIVED off of pop tarts. Specifically I loved the strawberry milkshake ones- SO. GOOD. My love for them was reignited a few years ago when I took a trip to Washington D.C. and there was this cute little bakery that had homemade poptarts and… they were DELICIOUS! Like… WAY better than the ones I had as a kid if you can imagine that (hard, I know!).
Ever since that trip I kept thinking that making them myself couldn’t be THAT hard.. right?! So I gave it a go and here we are today- with this amazing and super EASY recipe for homemade vegan pop tarts!
This recipe is actually accidentally vegan. I’m an intuitive eating dietitian meaning that I believe that all foods fit, don’t follow strict diets, and listen to my body’s cues to guide my eating choices. But if you are vegan then that’s just a bonus for you!
To learn more about intuitive eating you can checkout my blog post on what intuitive eating is and if you’re vegan be sure to checkout my post on the beginners guide to veganism– which includes what nutrients you need to be aware of because you may not be getting enough!
Ingredients Needed
For The Pop Tart Pastries:
For The Frosting:
How To Make This Recipe
Making these vegan pop tarts is super easy and you can do it in the air fryer (air fryer pop tarts are my personal favorite!) or the oven!
How To Make The Vegan Pop Tart Dough
Firstly, in a medium to large bowl combine flours and salt. Then add the shortening. Cut with a pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly. This may take a few minutes!
Next, add in maple syrup and water. Continue to cut with a pastry blender. Your dough will start to form into a solid mass. You want it to be an even dough!
Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough in the flour to cover it. Now roll out the dough so that it is ~⅛” thick. Be careful not to tear it (this will make your pop tarts kinda ugly!)
Cut into a total of 12 rectangles- roughly 3×5”. You can start by cutting 6-8 and then using the “scraps” to make the rest!
How To Assemble Your Homemade Pop Tarts
Place 1-2 tbsp of the jam onto 6 of the rectangles.
Wet your finger with water and run along the outside edge of the 6 rectangles that have the jam. Place remaining dough rectangles on top.
Using a fork, press down on the edges, sealing them together. Work your way around the entire rectangle.
For best results cook in an air fryer at 375 for 8 minutes (flip once halfway through!) You may also bake in the oven at 375 for ~24 minutes. Allow pastries to cool fully.
How To Make The Frosting For Vegan Pop Tarts
In a small bowl combine the coconut oil, powdered sugar and milk to make the frosting. You want your frosting to be thin enough to spread easily, but not so thin that when you put it on the pop tarts it appears clear! Add more powdered sugar if it’s too thin and just a few drops more milk if too thick (it should not be thick or chunky)
Spread the frosting on top of the cooked and cooled pop tarts, add sprinkles on top if desired (highly recommend!) allow them to sit for 10-15 minutes to harden.
Enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
If your dough is way too wet, I’d recommend adding more flour to your working surface and rolling it around in it and working that into it. You likely don’t need a ton of flour (you don’t want it to be dry!) and this should do the trick.
If your dough is too dry I’d recommend just adding ~1 tsp of water to the dough at a time.
Get creative here! You can do so many varieties of these homemade pop tarts! Try adding chocolate chips and marshmallow fluff for a s’mores variety. I’ve actually made savory ones by putting scrambles eggs and bacon bits in the middle and skipped the frosting!
I like to use a mix of whole wheat flour and regular all purpose flour. Using half whole wheat is a little bit of what I call “gentle nutrition” adding a bit of whole grains & fiber in there while still having a nice soft texture. But if you prefer you can use all whole wheat, all-purpose flour, or you could use 1:1 gluten free flour.
Expert Tips
- When making the 12 rectangles for your pop tarts I like to use a knife and get nice clean edges. Then, I’ll trim them up again after I press the sides closed with a fork. Keep these scraps of dough and then roll it out again- you can probably get another pop tart out of the “scraps”!
If you love this recipe, be sure to leave a star rating on the recipe card and leave a comment below!
Don’t forget to pin it on your Pinterest board for later, or tag me on IG @no.food.rules if you try the recipe and love it!
Other Recipes You Might Like:
XOXO
-Colleen
Homemade Vegan Pop Tarts
Equipment
Ingredients
Pastry Crust
- 1/2 cup white flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup shortening
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp ice cold water
Filling
- ~3/4 cup jam
Frosting
- 1 tbsp coconut oil melted
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1.5 tsp non-dairy milk could sub water
- Sprinkles for topping optional but encouraged!
Instructions
- In a medium to large bowl combine flours, salt and shortening. Cut with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.
- Next, add in maple syrup and water. Continue to cut with a pastry blender.
- Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough in the flour to cover it. Now roll out dough so that it is ~⅛” thick. Be careful not to tear it (this will make your pop tarts kinda ugly!)
- Cut into 12 rectangles- roughly 3×5”.
- Cut into a total of 12 rectangles- roughly 3×5”. You can start by cutting 6-8 and then using the "scraps" to make the rest!
- Wet your finger with water and run along the outside edge of the 6 rectangles that have the jam. Place remaining dough rectangles on top.
- Using a fork, press down on the edges, sealing them together. Work your way around the entire rectangle.
- For best results cook in an air fryer at 375 for 8 minutes (flip once halfway through!) You may also bake in the oven at 375 for ~24 minutes. Allow pastries to cool fully.
- In a small bowl combine the melted coconut oil, powdered sugar and milk to make the frosting. You want your frosting to be thin enough to spread easily, but not so thin that when you put it on the pop tarts it appears clear! Add more powdered sugar if it’s too thin and just a few drops more milk if too thick (it should not be thick or chunky)
- Spread the frosting on top of the cooked and cooled pop tarts, add sprinkles on top if desired and allow them to sit for 10-15 minutes to harden.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- For best results, cook in the air fryer. This allows them to be much flakier.
- Feel free to swap out fillings for whatever you like, get creative! I’ve done chocolate chips and marshmallow fluff for a s’mores version! (I recommend fluff not the marshmallows themselves!)
Callie says
These came out perfectly!! Def agree and 100% recommend the air fryer! I used strawberry chia jelly and they tasted like sweet sweet heaven! 10/10 will be making every week for sure!