You thought I'd just stop at Cinnamon Sugar Pop-Tarts gone healthy? Well, prepare to be surprised! This is a recipe for Raspberry Pop-Tarts (which for those of you who don't know is an actual flavor of brand-name Pop-Tarts), except these are healthier (yet just as tasty!). They have an almond glaze that complements them quite nicely and DIY "sprinkles" to get the full Pop-Tart effect. Plus they are filled with sugar-free raspberry preserves that add a wonderfully sweet and fruity flavor. These Pop-Tarts are only gluten-free, so for those of you who are grain-free, check the "Substitutions" section of this post for grain-free alternatives.
My two favorite flavors of brand-name Pop-Tarts growing up were Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts (see my healthy take on them here) and Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts. When I came up with the recipe for these Healthy Raspberry Pop-Tarts, I didn't have any sugar-free strawberry preserves on hand, so I decided to use sugar-free raspberry preserves instead. The brand I used is Rigoni di Asiago's Fiordifrutta Organic Fruit Spread, which can be found on Vitacost's website, at Whole Foods, or even on Walmart's website, and they come in lots of different flavors besides raspberry. All of Rigoni di Asiago's Fiordifrutta preserves are vegan, gluten-free, and sweetened with apple juice* (*PLEASE NOTE: while there is no sugar added to these fruit preserves themselves and there is no sugar added to the apple juice which sweetens them, the apple juice IS FROM CONCENTRATE which is technically is considered a form of added sugar. I only use Fiordifrutta fruit preserves because they are the closest thing to sugar-free fruit preserves sweetened strictly with fruit and I use these preserves sparingly in my recipes. If you are interested in using COMPLETELY sugar-free/fruit-sweetened fruit preserves for this recipe, check out the "Substitutions" section of this post. Regardless, Fiordifrutta fruit preserves are still much healthier than most jams/jellies/fruit preserves you'll find on the market).
I find the glaze for my Healthy Cinnamon "Sugar" Pop-Tarts recipe to be almost too sweet, but the almond glaze for these Raspberry Pop-Tarts complements them deliciously without adding too much sweetness or flavor. As for "sprinkles", I use just one ingredient: unsweetened freeze-dried strawberries or freeze-dried raspberries crumbled between my fingers on top of the glazed Pop-Tarts. And that's it! Yup, much simpler and healthier than trying to find/make natural/vegan/sugar-free/additive-free sprinkles!
These Healthy Raspberry Pop-Tarts are 100% vegan, are gluten-free, and are fruit-sweetened. I find that after having one of these I crave a glass of unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I only like my Healthy Cinnamon "Sugar" Pop-Tarts slightly more than these raspberry ones and I LOVE my Cinnamon "Sugar" Pop-Tarts, so that's saying something.
I eat one of these Raspberry Pop-Tarts with a serving of fresh fruit for breakfast, but these Pop-Tarts could easily be enjoyed as a dessert as well.
Nutritional Profile of Healthy Raspberry Pop-Tarts
Vegan butter- vegan butter is typically made with healthy vegetable oils (like Earth Balance) and/or plant milks (like Miyoko's). Healthy vegetable oils are loaded with healthy fats and are good for your heart, brain, skin, and hair. Plant milks are also full of healthy fats, as well as protein, vitamins & minerals, and fiber. These nutrients are good for your muscles, gastrointestinal tract, and overall health.
Dates- dates are antioxidant powerhouses that are also brimming with protein, fiber, iron, potassium, and magnesium. Dates can help protect against anemia, promote gut health, and ward off disease thanks to the free-radical-fighting properties of antioxidants.
Sea salt- sea salt is better for you than table salt because it is less processed. Sea salt balances electrolytes, is good for the adrenal glands, and provides micronutrients. Try Himalayan pink sea salt.
Almond flour- almond flour is a great source of healthy fats, protein, fiber, and vitamin E. These nutrients are good for your nervous system, cardiovascular system, complexion, muscular system, digestive system, and helping prevent disease. Plus, almond flour is grain-free, making it paleo.
Oats- oats (and therefore oat flour, which is essentially finely ground oats) are rich in healthy carbohydrates, protein, fiber, and iron. Oats aid digestive health, help protect against anemia, and may aid weight loss. This is because the complex carbohydrates, protein, and fiber found in oats makes you feel fuller for longer, reducing your likeliness to excessively snack and overeat.
Raspberries- raspberries (and therefore raspberry preserves, which are basically puréed raspberries sometimes made with pectin and a sweetener) are packed with fiber, vitamin C, minerals, and antioxidants. These nutrients are good for cardiovascular health, digestive health, immune health, and warding off disease.
Almond milk- almond milk is an excellent source of vitamin E and vitamin D & calcium (if fortified). Vitamin E is an antioxidant that is good for your skin and hair and vitamin D & calcium are good for immune and bone health
Substitutions
You can use any kind of vegan butter for this recipe (like Earth Balance or Miyoko's). The butter can't be substituted with anything else since it's the base for the Pop-Tart dough. The Medjool dates can be replaced with any other kind of date, such as Deglet Noor dates or may possibly be replaced with 1 1/2 cups of a granulated artificial sweetener such as Swerve or can be replaced possibly with 3/4 cup a sticky sweetener like maple syrup (NOTE: I have not made this recipe with any of these sweetener substitutes and therefore cannot guarantee the same consistency and flavor). The vanilla extract can be replaced with the equivalent amount of vanilla powder or scraped vanilla bean or can be omitted. The sea salt can be replaced with table salt, but I don't recommend omitting it.
For a grain-free and paleo flour substitute you may use 2 cups of lightly packed almond flour instead of the 1 cup of almond flour and the 1 cup of oat flour. However, note that using strictly almond flour will yield a softer dough that will be harder to work with. You can also substitute the oat flour with gluten-free 1-to-1 flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour. Or, you could substitute the almond flour with an additional cup of oat flour (so 2 cups of oat flour total). The arrowroot flour/starch can be swapped out with tapioca flour/starch, cassava flour/starch, or cornstarch. The ice water cannot be substituted.
For the filling, the sugar-free raspberry preserves can be replaced with your sugar-free/gluten-free fruit preserves/jam/jelly of choice. If you can do sugar on your diet, you may substitute regular raspberry jam or your jam of choice.
For the glaze, the unsweetened almond milk can be replaced with your unsweetened or sweetened (if you can have sugar on your diet) plant milk of choice. The almond extract is highly recommended because it complements the Pop-Tarts very nicely. But you may replace the almond extract with additional vanilla extract. The vanilla extract can be swapped out with the equivalent amount of scraped vanilla bean, pure ground vanilla bean powder, sugar-free vanilla bean paste, or can be omitted (I still recommend using it, though). Alternatively, you can use additional almond extract. The date paste can be substituted with maple syrup, date syrup, agave, etc. (if you can have sugar) to taste OR coconut sugar, maple sugar, date sugar, turbinado sugar, etc. (if you can have sugar) to taste OR 1/8 tsp pure monk fruit or to taste, 1/8 tsp pure stevia or to taste, 2 to 3 Tbsp granulated/confectioners Swerve or to taste, or your granulated/powdered/liquid artificial sweetener of choice, to taste.
For the sprinkles, the unsweetened freeze-dried strawberries or unsweetened freeze-dried raspberries can be swapped out with vegan/natural/gluten-free/sugar-free red sprinkles or your sprinkles of choice.
Weekly Sneak Peek of Recipes to Come...
I've been testing and perfecting TONS of new recipes lately, so I feel that it is appropriate to list 5 new recipes (instead of my typical 3 recipes) that will be coming to The Dimpled Date soon!! They are:
-Keto Vegan Sweetener-Free Granola
-No-Bake Mini Key Lime Cheesecake Bites
-Peppermint Bark Brownies (OH BABY are these good!!)
-Vegan Date-Sweetened Grain-Free "Sugar" Cookies
-Vegan Peanut Butter & Fruit Yogurt Dip ..
AND MORE! Stay tuned (recipes in progress)..
These Healthy Raspberry Pop-Tarts are "Crazy Good" (yeah, see what I did there with the slogan?), so I definitely recommend giving this recipe a try.
I hope you all find these Pop-Tarts as crave-able as I do.
Enjoy! <3,
-K.
Healthy Raspberry Pop-Tarts (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free, Fruit-Sweetened)
Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Chill Time: at least 1 hour
Cook Time: 20 to 22 minutes
Total Time: at least 2 hours 40 minutes to 2 hours 42 minutes
Servings: 7 to 8 Pop-Tarts
Ingredients:
For the dough:
-3/4 cup cold vegan butter (like Earth Balance or Miyoko's)
-1 cup Medjool dates
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/4 tsp sea salt
-1 cup superfine almond flour, lightly packed
-1 cup gluten-free oat flour
-1/2 cup arrowroot flour/starch (can sub cassava/tapioca flour/starch or cornstarch)
-1 to 2 Tbsp filtered ice water
For the filling:
-Sugar-free raspberry preserves (I used Rigoni di Asiago's Fiordifrutta Organic Fruit Spread in Raspberry flavor)
For the almond glaze:
-1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (can sub unsweetened plant milk of choice)
-1/4 tsp almond extract
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-2 Tbsp date paste (check out Detoxinista's "How to Make Date Paste" post!) OR 1/8 tsp pure monk fruit sweetener
For sprinkles:
-Unsweetened freeze-dried strawberries and/or unsweetened freeze-dried raspberries OR your vegan/natural/gluten-free/sugar-free red sprinkles of choice
For rolling:
-Arrowroot flour/starch
For brushing:
-1 Tbsp melted vegan butter
Directions:
1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or two large silicone baking mats. Fill a large glass or small pitcher with fresh, cold water and ice cubes. Soak the dates in hot water for 5 to 15 minutes.
2. Blend the drained dates in the food processor until a paste forms. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, oat flour, arrowroot flour, and sea salt and whisk to combine. Set aside.
4. Cube the cold butter (it should be straight from the fridge) by slicing the butter into 1-Tablespoon sized pats, and from that, cubing the butter into 1-centimeter sized squares, with each pat forming 9 squares (Tip: stack up multiple pats and cut through them all simultaneously to save yourself cutting time).
5. Cut in the cold cubed butter and incorporate the date paste into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter, fork, and/or your hands. You'll know you're done when a dough/batter is formed.
6. Add the vanilla and stir to combine.
7. Add 1 to 2 Tbsp of the ice water to the dough, starting with 1/2 Tbsp (1 1/2 tsp) and adding in additional ice water in 1/2 Tbsp increments at a time as needed, until the dough seems to have gotten at least slightly more firm (it can still be really soft like a batter consistency, though). The dough will be more like a batter consistency right now and that's OK.
8. Place the dough in an airtight container and freeze the dough for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
9. After the dough is done chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the dough from the freezer. Turn half of the Pop-Tart dough out onto a cutting board floured with arrowroot flour/starch. Place the other half of the dough back in the freezer to keep cold.
10. Flour a rolling pin and the top of the dough you're working with. Roll the dough into approximately a 9 1/2" by 12 1/2" rectangle, about 1/8" thick.
11. From this large rectangle, use a pizza cutter to cut smaller rectangles, each 4" by 3". Place each small rectangle on a baking sheet or lined plate and place in the fridge in between rolling and cutting (this will ensure the dough doesn't get too soft).
12. Re-roll the dough as needed, and if the dough gets too soft, put the dough you were working with in the freezer and take the dough that was in the freezer out and start rolling and cutting that. Alternate between the dough you're working with and the dough in the freezer, re-roll the dough as needed, and keep cutting the dough into small rectangles until there's no dough left.
13. Melt 1 Tbsp vegan butter in a small saucepan on the stove over very low heat. Set aside.
14. To assemble the Pop-Tarts: use one of the small 4" by 3" rectangles as the base for one of your Pop-Tarts and place it on a lined baking sheet. Spoon approximately 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp of the raspberry preserves into the center of the Pop-Tart, leaving 1/2" of plain dough on the outer edges of the Pop-Tart. Brush the outer edges of the bottom piece of the Pop-Tart with the melted vegan butter and take another rectangle of dough (without filling) and brush the outer edges of it with melted vegan butter. Flip and place the rectangle without filling butter-side down on top of the rectangle with filling. Use a fork to press around the outer edges of the top piece of the Pop-Tart to seal and connect the pastry. Repeat this process with the rest of the rectangles. Make an "X" on the tops of each of the assembled Pop-Tarts by gently scoring the tops with a knife (this will allow steam to escape).
15. Bake in the preheated oven (at 350 degrees F) for 20 to 22 minutes, until golden brown.
16. Allow the Pop-Tarts to cool completely.
17. While the Pop-Tarts are cooling, make the almond glaze: in a small bowl, combine the almond milk and extracts. Whisk to combine. Lastly, add the sweetener (the date paste OR monk fruit) and whisk very well until smooth and mostly incorporated.
18. Pour a little glaze on each Pop-Tart and take a few freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries in your hands and crush them between your fingers overtop the glaze on the Pop-Tarts to make red sprinkles.
19. Allow the glaze to harden.
20. Serve with fresh fruit and a tall glass of unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or another plant milk) as part of a healthy breakfast, enjoy as a dessert (or as a healthy topping on freakshakes, ice cream, or pancakes), or store in the fridge for later use. Enjoy!
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
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