Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Bars

Everyone’s childhood favorite pop tart flavor transformed into a buttery, spiced, easy to bake shortbread bar. These Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Bars are vegan, gluten-free, and the perfect cozy fall recipe!

Pop tarts were not a staple of my childhood. We were a cereal (and not the sugary kind) household, so pop tarts were an every once in a while treat that we had to beg to get on the grocery list and were treated more as a dessert/snack than a morning menu option. When my mom did buy them it was usually a chocolate flavor – s’mores or cookies & cream if I remember correctly – because she was personally not a cinnamon or fruit fan. But I eventually begged her to buy the brown sugar cinnamon box inspired by the enviable lunchbox of one of my middle school besties. And WHOA – instantly understood why they were a fan favorite! And at home instead of out of a lunch box (a.k.a. actually toasted) made them THAT much better.

But you don’t need me to convince you that this flavor combo hits, Kellogg’s has proven that. My mission here was to create a homemade alternative that still captured all that delicious, glazed, cinnamon-sugar filled goodness, but in an easyISH and healthyISH package. And these Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart BARS did just that!

How To Make Pop Tart Bars

There are 3 elements to the pop tart bar: the shortbread base, the brown sugar filling, and the cinnamon glaze. Let’s walk through all three…

The Vegan Gluten-Free Shortbread Bar

Shortbread is typically full of butter and sugar and flour, but this vegan and gluten-free (or even grain-free!) version has ALL the richness with none of those ingredients needed. What you will need:

• Almond flour. This is really the key to achieving that BUTTERY texture and flavor without any butter or oil, the natural oils in the almonds add so much moisture and rich flavor. I do not recommend subbing this with anything else.
• Cornstarch. Almond flour is great for richness but not so great for binding, so some sort of starch is necessary to hold everything together. I used cornstarch because I had a bunch on hand, but arrowroot or tapioca starch would work just as well in the same amount.
• Coconut flour. You could technically skip this and just use more almond flour. But if you have coconut flour in your pantry, adding some into this shortbread recipe will create the perfect just-crumbly texture.
• Maple syrup. My sweetener of choice for this fall flavored recipe, but any liquid sweetener will work.
• Coconut oil. Or melted vegan butter would work too.
• Salt and vanilla extract.

The Sweet “Brown Sugar” Filling

And those quotations are because I actually didn’t use brown sugar at all. I used it’s less processed (more flavorful imo!) cousin: coconut sugar. You could use either, but I wanted to make this recipe a little healthier by swapping in coconut sugar and it turned out delicious. A little bit of cinnamon and vanilla stirred in for flavor, and a mix of coconut oil and almond butter for moisture make this layer the sweet star of these buttery bars. Best part about making your own pop tarts is you can make that filing layer EXTRA thick.

The Cinnamon Glaze

A pop tart without glaze is simply a toaster pastry, and that is NOT what these bars were based on. So a sweet, drizzly cinnamon glaze was essential. I went with a classic powdered sugar glaze because it’s easy and always sets to the perfect crackle, but you could go with a coconut butter glaze if you prefer something less processed.

More Shortbread Recipes You’ll Love

• Millionaire Shortbread Cups
• Gingerbread Caramel Slice
• Raspberry Ganache Fudge Bars
• Tigernut Flour Shortbread

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