Where are all of my fellow Pop Tart lovers at?! Whenever we did have Pop Tarts at my house growing up, it was always the brown sugar cinnamon flavor. They were my favorite! I sometimes miss them and thought it would be fun to make a gluten-free and dairy-free version! These are made with only a handful of ingredients and are the perfect sweet treat!
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you'll need:
- coconut oil
- sugar
- powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
- brown sugar
- cinnamon
- gluten-free flour
- water
- maple syrup
See recipe card for quantities.
Storage
Store in the fridge, but let them sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes before enjoying!
*Idea inspired by Butternut Bakery!
Gluten-free & Dairy-free Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Squares
These pop tart bars are a fun homemade version of my favorite pop tart flavor: brown sugar cinnamon! They're gluten-free, dairy-free, and so so tasty!
Ingredients
For the Shortbread:
- ¾ cup +1 ½ tablespoon coconut oil softened
- ½ cup sugar
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cup gluten-free flour
- 3-5 teaspoon water may need more/less depending on your flour!
For the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil melted
For the Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup or date syrup
- 1-2 tablespoon water to thin
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325℉ and line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper.
- In a stand mixer, cream together the coconut oil and sugar until creamy. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla until well combined.
- Mix in the flour. Add your water 1 tablespoon at a time until you have a shortbread dough that sticks together and can be pressed into the pan.
- Press half of the dough into the prepared pan.
- In a small bowl, mix together the filling ingredients until you have a crumbly-sugary mixture. Spread this evenly over the first layer of dough.
- On a piece of parchment paper, press the remaining ½ of the dough mixture into a flat square the size of your pan. Flip this large piece of dough over top of the cinnamon sugar filling and peel the parchment paper away. It's okay if it breaks a bit, just use your fingers to mend the dough together so that it completely covers the cinnamon sugar filling.
- Bake for about 34-37 minutes, or until golden brown. Time may vary depending on your oven. Let cool completely.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the icing ingredients, adding water 1 teaspoon at a time until you have a consistency that you like. Spread this over top of the baked and cooled bars and allow to harden before slicing and enjoying!
Holly
Can you substiute shortening, butter, or another oil for the coconut? We have an allergy in our family 🙁
Sami Smith
Hi Holly! Hm, you may be able to substitute softened butter for the coconut oil-just be sure to add the water only 1 tsp at a time, as the use of butter may alter how much water you need!:)
Cassie Norwick
I did it with butter and it was incredible! Like 12/10 haha I did the same measurements she did and softened and melted as stated in this recipe
Megan C
Holy sugar bomb! These things have potential but WAY too much sugar! I think they’d be great if you took out the sugar in the crust. It’s not needed. Will adjust and try again.
Lori
Please post if you do try with less sugar. The amount of sugar is my hesitation too.
Sami Smith
Hi Cassie! This makes me SO happy to hear! I'm glad you liked them:)
Rylee
Can I use regular flour ?
Sami Smith
Hi Rylee! I haven't tried this myself, but it should work:)
Bryanna
Currently in the oven. We have a gluten, dairy, egg, coconut allergy here. Subbed palm oil for the coconut oil (it’s our best option for butter substitutes). Will report back once cooled and tasted but wanted to say how grateful I am for these recipes as ideas and options for a family with many limitations. It is life changing and allows for the most “normalcy” one can have in this over processed world. Thank you <3
Bryanna
Husband who has eaten a “regular” diet claims it tastes just like a brown sugar cinnamon pop tart from the store. Plan oil worked just fine 👍🏼
Cassie Norwick
Yes! I did and it was amazing
coco
thinking of subbing coconut oil for vegan butter?
should I do half and half our just equal sub?
thanks
x
Abbey
In the other comments it looks like she says that vegan butter is fine and you can use the same amount, so I tried it and it works! Just to make sure it’s softened.
Cassie Norwick
I’m obsessed! I feel like I have tried so many “pop tart” copies and never even close. This is 12/10 haha my family was obsessed.
Thank you!
Emily
Made these last night and they were amazing! My sister is vegan and I’ve never been a huge fan one the majority of things she eats but this did not feel like an altered version or like it was missing something. Highly recommended for any crowd. Thank you for the recipe!
Emily
Also, I used regular flour because that’s what I had and it worked perfectly. I used the same measurements.
Natalie K.
These were very tasty and are a great Pop-Tart copycat for flavor - they were a hit at a dinner party with friends. I used regular flour instead of GF flour and shortening instead of coconut oil (equal amounts for both) and it worked great. The only slight issue I had was that when I cut the bars the sugar layer kept the two cookie layers from sticking together, which made some of the bars fall apart - if I make these again I might try adding more fat in the filling for better adhesion.
Sami Smith
Hi Natalie! I am so happy you tried them!:)
Katie
I made these for my celiac friend group and they were great! I did use butter instead of the oil in a 1:1 ratio and it turned out well. My only suggestion is to let the frosting dry before cutting, mine looked a little sloppy but as soon as they were dry they looked just like the picture!
Liana Rudin
Is there any particular type of GF flour you like? I usually use Bob’s Red Mill GF 1 to 1 baking flour but wondering about inclusion of xanthan gum vs not. Can’t wait to make these!
Emily
Do you have any suggestion for a lower fat substitute for the oil? I would love to try this recipe but i’m not sure what I could substitute:(
Carly
Just reading through the comments, it looks like folks used palm oil, vegan butter, and regular butter successfully. I’m not sure if those are less fat, but it sounds like they work!
Alexa C
This was good but waaaaaay too sweet! Next time I’ll leave off the frosting. Also, if your shortbread for the top is giving you trouble, just throw it in the freezer for a few minutes and then it will be super simple to pop on the top.
Sami Smith
Hi Alexa! I'm happy to hear you gave them a try, but sorry to hear they were too sweet for you. I understand where you're coming from, but they are a sweet treat!:)
Michelle
1 star because these are so sweet I can’t even eat them. All I taste is sugar and my teeth hurt! I wish I looked at the reviews before wasting my time, ingredients and hope for a sweet cheer-my-partner-up treat.
Shannon
Has anybody tried sugar substitute?
Laura Spiller
Will these freeze well?
Sami Smith
Hi Laura! Yes, these should freeze well, but be sure to allow them to thaw a bit before eating!:)
kipp
Hi, I have not tried yet but I was wondering if you can substitute with almond flour/If anyone has tried this yet?
Sami Smith
Hi Kipp! Unfortunately, this will not work with almond flour.
Megan
Oh my GOD these are SO GOOD!!!! Thanks to other comments left, I decided to swap out the shortbread recipe for the shortbread recipe in Nora Cooks' lemon bars - I doubled the shortbread recipe and used Bob's Red Mill 1-1 GF flour.
My partner and I are so blown away by how good these are!!! I was planning on making them for work a few days from now, so this was my trial run. These are going to be a go-to from now on ... Even my partner, who's not vegan or gluten free, said "you are going to have to make these every night!!"
Amazing, thanks so much for the wonderful recipe!!!!
Savannah
Tasty treat! I added a 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the filling and another 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the icing - really helped to cut that overwhelming sweetness down!
Amber R
I personally felt like this tasted more like a coffee cake than pop tart!
I did substitute the coconut oil for butter (because that’s all I had) and, after everyone’s suggestions, cut about a full cup of sugar between the 3 layers. For me it was still way too sweet, but my husband thought they were perfect and they were exactly what he wanted!
Angela
Hi Sami! I used HEB Organics gluten free all purpose flour blend and the shortbread did not turn out at all. Had to back for wayyyyyy longer bc still gooey and then just crumbled. Any advice? What gluten free flour do you prefer?