This homemade giant brown sugar cinnamon Pop-Tart recipe will instantly help you channel your inner Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. On Gilmore Girls, Pop-Tarts are seen in abundance. They’re almost as iconic as Luke’s coffee and cheeseburgers.
In season 1 episode 20 “P.S. I Lo…”, Emily asks Rory what she usually eats for breakfast, to which she replies “Mostly I just grab a Pop-Tart.” Emily responds by saying “that sounds delicious” and states that she’ll have her cook “whip one up,” to which Rory objects and instead opts for eggs for breakfast. Later in the episode, Rory says to Lorelai, “I was almost tempted to see if she could make a Pop-Tart.” Well, with this recipe you can wow those around you by not just making a homemade Pop-Tart, but making a GIANT homemade Pop-Tart.
The shorter, printable version of this recipe can be found below, but read on if you want more detailed step-by-step instructions (and more Gilmore Girls references.) You will need a 9×13” baking pan for this recipe. Don’t try to use a bigger pan or else there won’t be enough dough, and the Pop-Tart also might fall apart. First thing’s first: the dough.
How to Make Homemade Pop-Tart Dough
For the Pop-Tart dough, you will need the following ingredients:
- 4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsps of salt
- 1 tsp of granulated sugar
- 1 cup of cold shortening (such as Crisco)
- ¾ cup of cold unsalted butter
- ¾ – 1 cup of ice water
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar. Next, add the 1 cup (or 1 stick) of cold shortening/Crisco. Using a pastry blender, chop the shortening up and mix it in with the flour, salt, and sugar. Then, add in the ¾ cup of cold butter and do the same thing. You will find that it is much easier to blend the Crisco than it is to blend the butter. Keep using the pastry blender to break up the shortening and butter by pushing down into the mixture and turning it 180 degrees. You can also use your hands to break up big chunks of butter as well. When the mixture looks like cornmeal, it’s time to move on.
Fill a glass measuring cup up to the ½ cup mark with cold water, then add in ice cubes until the water rises to the ¾ cup mark. A little bit at a time, add the water to the dough and stir with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Keep adding in the water about 1 Tbsp at a time until there isn’t any left (don’t let the ice cubes fall into the mixture.)
Using your hands, start compressing the dough in the bowl. Then, move it onto a floured counter and continue kneading. You may need to add about ¼ more of cold water, but be sure not to add more than you need. You don’t want the dough to get too sticky.
Once your dough is fully formed, pack it into a ball and cut it in half, making one side slightly bigger than the other. Using your hands, flatten the two pieces into discs about 1-inch thick. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap, and place them in the fridge for at least three hours.
After at least three hours have passed, take the slightly bigger piece of dough out of the fridge and let it rest for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Get out your 9×13” baking pan and line it with a piece of parchment paper. Make creases in the paper along the sides of the pan.
Flour your countertop again and unwrap the first piece of dough. Begin rolling it out. It should feel dense and easy to work with. Sprinkle flour on the dough if it starts sticking to your rolling pin. For reference, place the pan with the parchment paper next to you as you work. You want to roll the dough out into a rectangle that will fit in the pan, with a couple of additional inches around the edges in order to make the crust.
Once you think you’ve got the dough rolled out to the right dimensions, remove the parchment paper from the pan and place it on your counter. Then, take the dough and place it on the parchment paper. Roll and adjust the dough as needed to make it fit correctly. Then, place the parchment paper with the dough on it back into the pan.
The Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling
Now for the best Pop-Tart filling ever: brown sugar cinnamon (sorry strawberry.) The ingredients you’ll need are:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 Tbsp of half and half
- 1 cup of dark brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup of maple sugar
- 4 tsp of cinnamon
- 1 tsp of apple pie spice
- 1 Tbsp of all-purpose flour
In a small bowl, use a fork to scramble the egg yolk and half and half to create an egg wash. Using a silicone pastry brush, paint the egg wash onto the dough in the pan. At this point, you can remove the second dough disc from the fridge and set it aside.
In a separate medium bowl, mix together the brown sugar, maple sugar, cinnamon, apple pie spice, and all-purpose flour. If you don’t have maple sugar, you can substitute it with more brown sugar. As you mix the ingredients together, be sure to break up the brown sugar chunks as much as you can. Then, using a spoon, sprinkle the filling onto the dough.
Flour your counter again and begin rolling out the second piece of dough. This one can be a bit more tricky because it needs to fit snuggly with the dough already in the pan. It helps to use a tape measure as you roll the dough to stay on track, since you don’t have the parchment paper for guidance on this one. This piece also does not have to have excess dough around the sides, so you’re aiming for 9×13”. Once complete, carefully pick up the piece of dough and place it on top of the other piece of dough and the filling.
Use your fingers to seal the edges of both pieces of dough together to form a crust. Then, use a fork to make crimps around all sides. Use the same fork to poke holes in the top of the dough, making three rows of about a dozen fork marks each. Your giant Pop-Tart is now ready for the oven!
Place the pan on the middle rack and bake for about 40 minutes. You’ll know the Pop-Tart is done baking when it’s slightly golden brown around the edges. You may also see a little bit of the brown sugar cinnamon filling oozing out of some of the fork holes, which also signals that the Pop-Tart is done.Let cool for 15-20 minutes.
The Glaze
As your Pop-Tart slab pie is cooling, you can begin gathering the ingredients for the glaze or frosting:
- 2 Tbsp of melted butter
- 1 cup of powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp of half and half
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- ½ tsp of maple extract
In a small bowl, melt the butter for about 35-40 seconds in the microwave. Then, add in the powdered sugar, half and half, cinnamon, and maple extract. Whisk together until everything is incorporated and you have a gooey icing.
When your giant Pop-Tart is done cooling, pop the glaze into the microwave for about 25 seconds to get it drippy, as it may have hardened a bit. Next, using an icing spatula, frost the Pop-Tart—being sure to cover all of the top of the pie.
Once complete, cut it into square pieces and serve while they’re still warm; because, as Lorelai says, cold Pop-Tarts are “like a damn Dickens novel!”The crust should be flaky, while the brown sugar cinnamon interior should be slightly gooey. The frosting: to die for. It may even taste like “freedom and rebellion and independence” like Lorelai’s first Pop-Tart did.
The amazing Gilmore Girls Pop-Tart mug was made by Pigment and Parchment.
Can Homemade Pop-Tarts Be Frozen?
If you and your guests can’t finish this giant Pop-Tart in one sitting, no worries. Place the Pop-Tart slab pie squares into a large Ziplock bag and put them in your freezer. When you’re ready to enjoy them again, simply warm them up in the oven for a few minutes.
Giant Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tart
Course:Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine:American
Keyword:giant brown sugar cinnamon pop tart
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings: 20
This homemade giant brown sugar cinnamon Pop-Tart recipe will instantly help you channel your inner Lorelai and Rory Gilmore.
Ingredients
The Dough
- 4cupsall-purpose flour
- 1 1/2tspsalt
- 1tspgranulated sugar
- 1cupcold shorteningsuch as Crisco
- 3/4cupcold butterunsalted
- 3/4cupice cold water
The Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling
- 1egg yolk
- 1Tbsphalf and half
- 1cupdark brown sugarpacked
- 1/4cupmaple sugar
- 4tspcinnamon
- 1tspapple pie spice
- 1Tbspall-purpose flour
The Glaze
- 2Tbspmelted buttersalted
- 1cuppowdered sugar
- 2Tbsphalf and half
- 1tspcinnamon
- 1/2tspmaple extract
Instructions
The Dough
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar.
Next, add the 1 cup (or 1 stick) of cold shortening/Crisco. Using a pastry blender, chop the shortening up and mix it in with the flour, salt, and sugar. Then, add in the ¾ cup of cold butter and do the same thing until the mixture looks like cornmeal.
Fill a glass measuring cup up to the ½ cup mark with cold water, then add in ice cubes until the water rises to the ¾ cup mark. A little bit at a time, add the water to the dough and stir with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Keep adding in the water about 1 Tbsp at a time until there isn’t any left (don’t let the ice cubes fall into the mixture.)
Using your hands, start compressing the dough in the bowl. Then, move it onto a floured counter and continue kneading. You may need to add about ¼ more of cold water, but be sure not to add more than you need. You don’t want the dough to get too sticky.
Once your dough is fully formed, pack it into a ball and cut it in half, making one side slightly bigger than the other. Using your hands, flatten the two pieces into discs about 1-inch thick. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap, and place them in the fridge for at least three hours.
After at least three hours have passed, take the slightly bigger piece of dough out of the fridge and let it rest for about 15 minutes.In the meantime, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Get out your 9×13” baking pan and line it with a piece of parchment paper. Make creases in the paper along the sides of the pan.
Flour your countertop again and unwrap the first piece of dough. Begin rolling it out. It should feel dense and easy to work with. Sprinkle flour on the dough if it starts sticking to your rolling pin. For reference, place the pan with the parchment paper next to you as you work. You want to roll the dough out into a rectangle that will fit in the pan, with a couple of additional inches around the edges in order to make the crust.
Once you think you’ve got the dough rolled out to the right dimensions, remove the parchment paper from the pan and place it on your counter. Then, take the dough and place it on the parchment paper. Roll and adjust the dough as needed to make it fit correctly. Then, place the parchment paper with the dough on it back into the pan.
Remove the second dough disc from the fridge and set it aside as you make the brown sugar cinnamon filling (instructions below).
Once the filling is complete, flour your counter again and begin rolling out the second piece of dough. This piece also does not have to have excess dough around the sides, so you’re aiming for 9×13”. Once complete, carefully pick up the piece of dough and place it on top of the other piece of dough and the filling.
Use your fingers to seal the edges of both pieces of dough together to form a crust. Then, use a fork to make crimps around all sides. Use the same fork to poke holes in the top of the dough, making three rows of about a dozen fork marks each. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. Let cool 15-20 minutes.
The Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling
In a separate medium bowl, mix together the brown sugar, maple sugar, cinnamon, apple pie spice, and all-purpose flour. If you don’t have maple sugar, you can substitute it with more brown sugar. As you mix the ingredients together, be sure to break up the brown sugar chunks as much as you can. Then, using a spoon, sprinkle the filling onto the dough.
In a small bowl, use a fork to scramble the egg yolk and half and half to create an egg wash. Using a silicone pastry brush, paint the egg wash onto the dough in the pan.
The Glaze
In a small bowl, melt the butter for about 35-40 seconds in the microwave. Then, add in the powdered sugar, half and half, cinnamon, and maple extract. Whisk together until everything is incorporated and you have a gooey icing.
When your giant Pop-Tart is done cooling, pop the glaze into the microwave for about 25 seconds to get it drippy, as it may have hardened a bit. Next, using an icing spatula, frost the Pop-Tart—being sure to cover all of the top of the pie.
Cut your giant Pop-Tart into square pieces and serve while they're still warm!
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