This Wild Blueberry Almond Giant Pop Tart is wrapped in a crisp, flaky crust and are bursting with juicy blueberry filling. It's topped with a light drizzle of almond icing and toasted sliced almonds. Plus, it's vegan with a gluten-free option!
I used to eat the store-bought versions religiously. Now, however, I'm all about homemade pop tarts. When I make my own, I get to control the ingredients and I can me the crust EXTRA, EXTRA flaky, which honestly is the best part.
These Homemade Blueberry Vegan Pop-Tarts are definitely one of my faves that created the inspiration for this Wild Blueberry Almond Giant Pop Tart.
When making your filling from scratch, it definitely helps to make your filling ahead of time so that it cools completely. Otherwise, hot filling will cause the butter in your crust to melt out and you'll have limp, soggy pop tarts.
Also, this gives you enough time to ensure that it comes out as perfect and thick as you’d like before having to use it in your recipe.
This one is a HUGE MUST, especially if you want to have an extremely flaky crust! Much like other pastries, using pastry flour more heavily than All-Purpose Flour helps to create a nice outer-layer.
In addition, using cold cubed butter also helps with this. However, I’ve discovered that adding pastry flour to the mix creates a better situation!
I must admit that in my previous attempt to make Pop Tarts, I randomly cut the squares, which obviously came out super uneven. However, with this recipe, I did a bit of research and found that cutting them 3” x 4” worked magic and made them so even and perfect!
Also, keep in mind that when rolling out your dough, making sure that it’s at least ¼” thick is super important. This ensures that your filling stays inside and everything doesn’t fall a part.
Now, if you’re anything like me then you’re probably just as impatient to try these goodies before they fully cool, so that means that you might also prematurely add the glaze and watch it melt off like a snowman in heat. Haha.
BUT you must let your Pop Tarts FULLY cool (place them in a cool room or open window to speed things up!) before glazing them. No exceptions!
Ok, so that’s the important revelations that I had when remaking these lovelies and I can guarantee that it’ll bring forth such sweet perfection!
Usually, when making homemade pop tarts, I create my filling using real fruit or frozen ones.
However, for a quick short-cut, I use my favorite preserves from Bonne Maman. They are my favorite brand because their preserves are organic, have no GMOs, no high fructose syrup, no food colorings, or preservatives.
Plus, they have a ton of other flavors, therefore, you can mix and match as you please.
For that reason, I felt comfortable using this instead of making my own filling.
If you want to make your own filling, it's easy. Simply cook your fruit (whether fresh or frozen) in a saucepan along with a healthy sweetener (Wholesome Sweet’s pure cane sugar, Sugar in the Raw’s organic brown sugar, Agave, etc.), followed by a touch of lemon juice (for acidity) and a little arrowroot starch or cornstarch as a thickener.
To make these gluten-free, simply substitute all-purpose flour with 2 cups Gluten-Free Flour (Bob’s Red Mill has a great one!). In addition, swap the the Pastry Flour with ½ cup coconut flour. If your gluten-free flour doesn’t have Xanthan Gum included, add 1 teaspoon to the recipe. And finally, reduce the vegan butter to 1 ¾ sticks instead of 2. Simply continue the recipe per usual after that.
In a measuring cup, add the cold water and apple cider vinegar along with an ice cube and set aside.
In a large bowl, add the all-purpose flour, pastry flour, sea salt, cinnamon, and organic pure cane sugar, whisking them all together.
Add the cubed vegan butter sticks (or regular vegan butter) and using a pastry blender, blend butter into dry ingredients until the mixture becomes “peas-like” and crumbly.
Pour the cold apple cider vinegar-water mixture (slowly + without the ice) and stir (working it together with one hand) until the dry ingredients are moistened. **NOTE: If the ingredients feel a little too dry, add 1 tablespoon of cold water at a time, until it’s moistened BUT not too wet!**
Now, shape the dough into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap and flatten it slightly and chill for at least 1 hour.
In the meantime, make the Wild Blueberry Filling.
In a small bowl, add 1 cup of wild blueberry preserves and lightly squeeze 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in it and stir together until incorporated.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Once chilled, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Place it on a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a large rectangle (about 3 mm thick). Cut into small-medium rectangles (3″ wide and 4″ long).
Lightly brush the pieces of dough with melted vegan butter. Add 1 tablespoon of the Wild Blueberry filling to one square of dough. Then carefully place a second rectangular piece on top, gently pressing the edges down. Using a fork, carefully “crimp” around the edges and place on the baking sheet.
Repeat until all pop tarts are made. Arrange the pastries on a baking sheet.
Once all of your blueberry pop tarts are arranged on the baking sheet, gently prick a set of holes on the tops using a fork.
Lightly brush all pop tart tops with melted vegan butter. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the pastries golden brown and the filling begins to become bubbly and begins to slightly seep out.
After baking, remove the baking sheet from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes (10 minutes or so). Transfer the pastries to a wire rack to cool fully before frosting.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, blueberry preserves, almond extract, and almond milk until smooth. For more thickness, add additional powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. If too thick, add almond milk, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Once pop tarts have cooled completely, spoon 1-2 Tbsps of Blueberry Almond Glaze atop each and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Let pop tarts sit for another 1-2 minutes so that frosting hardens. Enjoy.
Love these Wild Blueberry Almond Giant Pop Tart and want more pop tart delights? Here are some of my faves!
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This is life-changing! My biggest question is, where has this recipe been all my life?!?
Absolutely delicious; thank you for this fantastic recipe! Very straightforward and easy to make. The dish came out perfectly. I will make it again!!
These are beautiful! I love making homemade pop tarts. This glaze looks delicious!
What a fun breakfast idea to make for the whole family! 🙂 Loving that glaze too.
This is just SO gorgeous - like no pop tart I ever had as a kid! Can't wait to try the recipe.