Remember in my last blog post where I said I am a trial and error baker? And how I usually have to try a second time to get it right? Well, this was one of those recipes. For the first batch of dough, I completely forgot the sugar. My husband and oldest son both said the pop tarts tasted bitter. Wha, wha, wha. 😭 However, the second batch I got it right! My hubby liked them so much that he said, “Are you sure these are gluten-free?” 😂 Well he should know. I asked him if there was gluten in every ingredient before I used it. Ha! I am sure he was annoyed and I don’t blame him.
Anyway… these gluten-free pop tarts are amazing! Because I knew we wouldn’t eat all of them, I gave them to our GF neighbor. She loved them! So now I am sharing the recipe with all of you.
Dough Ingredients
2 cups flour-4-flour
1/4 cup cacao powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 cup ice cold water
12 tbsp butter (cold and cubed)
Filling Ingredients
3 cups of mixed berries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. agar*
2 tbsp. cornstarch
Note: If you do not have agar, add a third tbsp of cornstarch in its place.
Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup half and half
1 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375º.
Step 2: Make the dough. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, cacao powder, sugar, salt, and xanthin gum and whisk to combine.
Step 3: Add the cold and cubed butter to the dry mix and half of the ice cold water. Using a dough cutter, mix the dough together. Add the remaining water a little at a time. Continue to use the dough cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients.
Step 4: Form a large ball with the dough and then divide in half. Put one half in the refrigerator.
Step 5: Take the half that you kept out and roll out the dough. Lightly flour the surface to prevent sticking. But not too much! You’re walking a fine line between gluten-free goodness and dough crumbs.
Step 6: Using a knife, cut out 4-6 pairs of rectangles. This is all dependent on the size you want your pop tarts. Place the bottom crusts on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. If you don’t have parchment paper, lightly spray the cookie sheet with baking spray. Make sure the baking spray does not contain flour first!
Step 7: Add a heaping spoonful of the mixed berry jam in the center of the bottom crusts.
Step 8: Place the top crust over the mixed berries and gently press down. Use the prongs of a fork (right side up) to seal the edges. Reference the picture above if that doesn’t make sense.
Step 9: Put the pop tarts in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops look done. It’s hard to explain with the crust being choclate, but you’ll know when their done when you see them.
Step 10: While the first batch of pop tarts are baking, repeat steps 6-9 for the second batch using the second half of the dough you put in the refrigerator. I do it this way to keep the crust as cold as possible before putting in the oven.
Step 11: While the second batch is baking, make the chocolate ganache. To make it, pour the half and half into a microwave safe bowl and heat for 1 minute.
Step 12: Remove the half and half from the microwave, add the chocolate chips then quickly cover the bowl. Preferably with a lid or even a plate if the bowl doesn’t have a lid. You want to contain the heat in the bowl. Leave the bowl covered for about 5 minutes.
Step 13: After 5 minutes, remove the lid and use a whisk to blend the chocolate starting from the center and working your way out. Don’t worry if it looks like milk with Oreo crumbs left in it. Keep stirring and it will eventually turn into a velvety chocolate ganache. I promise!
Step 14: Using a large spoon, drizzle the desired amount of chocolate ganache on top of each of the baked pop tarts. Then add sprinkles for fun! Since it is so close to Valentine’s Day I used heart sprinkles. ❤️
And that’s a wrap! I hope you enjoyed my post. If you are coming from Instagram, you know that I collaborated with some other talented bakers for a Valentine’s Day Sweet Swap. Make sure you check them out on IG!
Until next time. Xo
