Spiced Pumpkin Pop-Tarts
This homemade pumpkin version of a store-bought favorite is so delicious you’ll be making them on repeat all season long!
Equipment
- food processor
- Cookie Sheets
- rectangle cookie cutter
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Spiced Flakey Pie Dough
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or bobs red mill GF baking flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 cup very cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes or vegan butter
- 4-8 tsp ice water
Spiced Pumpkin Filling
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree NOT PUMPKIN PIE FILLING
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp molasses
- 1/16 tsp salt
Egg Wash and Vegan egg wash
- 1 egg mixed with 2 tsp of milk/water regular egg wash
- 2 tbsp almond milk mixed with 1 tsp agave nectar vegan egg wash
Spiced Glaze
- 3/4 cup confectionary sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp 2% milk, plus more if needed or almond
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/16 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/16 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Spiced Flakey Pie Dough
- To a food processor add 1 1/2 cups of your flour, then add salt spices, and sugar. Pulse 2 to 3 times until thoroughly combined.
- Scatter the very cold cubes of butter over flour and process until a dough or paste begins to form, about 15- 30 seconds. (at this point all of the flour should be coated).
- Scrape the food processor bowl down, redistribute the flour-butter mixture then add the remaining 1 cup of flour. Pulse 4 to 5 times until flour is evenly distributed. (Dough should look a little crumbly and a broken up).
- Transfer the crumbly dough to a medium bowl and sprinkle ice water over the dough mixture — start with 4 tablespoons and add from there. Using a rubber spatula, press the dough into itself. The crumbs will begin to form larger clusters. If you pinch some of the dough and it holds together, it’s ready. If the dough falls apart, add 2 to 4 more tablespoons of water and continue to press until the dough comes together.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and place in a mound on a clean surface. Work the dough just enough to form a ball. Now cut the ball in half then form each half into discs. Wrap each disc with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days. (since I live in Florida I usually let it sit at least a day) You can also freeze it for up to 3 months (just thaw it overnight in the fridge before using).
Spiced Pumpkin Filing
- In a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin, brown sugar, spices, molasses, and salt until smooth. Set aside
Spiced Pumpkin Pop-Tart Assembly
- Remove the dough discs from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes.
- Prepare 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper and set the oven to 350 temps. Take a smaller cookie sheet and line with parchment paper and put it into the freezer for later.
- Lightly flour a clean work surface, top of the dough, and the rolling pin. Roll the dough disk out to about ¼-1/8 inch. Take the dough off of the work surface and put it on the cookie sheet you placed in the freezer while you work on the next disk (adding extra flour to the second disk and if needed to the work surface and rolling pin). Once the second disk is rolled out take the cold-rolled the dough out and switch the doughs so the colder one is not on the work surface with the second rolled disk in the freezer.
- Take a knife, pizza cutter, or like I used, a rectangular cookie cutter and cut the doughs so you have somewhere between 18-24 rectangles. If you want larger Pop-tarts cut them larger, for more of handheld size, like I did try your best to cut out 24 making sure to re-roll any scrap dough and continue the process from above. Place half of your rectangles between the 2 cookies sheets.
- Spoon a large dollop of the pumpkin mixture into the centers of half of the dough rectangles. Slightly spread the mixture then top each rectangle with their remaining halves after you have evenly spread pumpkin mixture, making sure to press down around the edges.
- Crimp the edges with a fork, then use a toothpick to gently poke holes in the tops of each pastry (to allow some steam to escape). Brush the pop tarts with egg wash then bake until golden, about 30-35 minutes. Let cool for about 10 minutes on pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Spiced Glaze
- Whisk all of the glaze ingredients together in a medium bowl until it reaches a spreading consistency. You want a thick glaze, but not too thick that it is hard to spread. Add another teaspoon or two of milk if needed. Use a spoon or knife to glaze each pop-tart. The glaze will slightly harden in about an hour, if you prefer to wait that long.
Notes
Store pop-tarts in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for 6 days. To reheat, bake in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 10 minutes.