I know I missed Valentine's, but the celebration can still continue right?! (the answer is YES). There should be a whole week dedicated to Valentine's/Galentine's/self-love celebrations, if you ask me (really a whole year for that last one). Anyways, I have 5 new Valentine's Day recipes including this one coming to The Dimpled Date. These Pop-Tarts are similar to my Healthy Raspberry Pop-Tarts but are definitely their own recipe. These Pop-Tarts unlike the other ones have a raspberry crust, have rose infused in the raspberry filling, have a raspberry rose glaze, and are pink/red with pink and red glazes. And ofc these ones are heart-shaped! As always these pop-tarts are fruit-sweetened and naturally colored. The soft, sweet, buttery raspberry crust has an amazing mouthfeel and the raspberry rose filling is phenomenal. The rose pairs perfectly with the raspberry, and the glaze is great too. These pop-tarts are the perfect Valentine's treat with their pink/red color, heart shape, and raspberry and rose flavors. So don't just sit there, go make your Valentine (your partner, friend, family member, or yourself) these treats!!
Pop-Tarts are a pretty signature Dimpled Date treat, and I thought heart-shaped Pop-Tarts would be great for Valentine's. So I created this recipe!
These Pop-Tarts are delicious, arguably more delicious than my regular raspberry ones. Even if you don't like rose, you'll love these Pop-Tarts, as the rose only gives a light hint of floral flavor along with the dominant sweetness and tartness of the raspberry. But, of course, you can leave out the rose water in the filling and glaze if you desire. But I really recommend using it because it kicks the flavor up a notch!
And these Pop-Tarts are just so pretty! Pink heart-shaped pop-tarts with pink & red glazes garnished with rose buds and crushed freeze-dried raspberries makes for really aesthetically pleasing Pop-Tarts!
These Pop-Tarts, like always, are vegan, gluten-free, and fruit-sweetened. They're also all-natural with the vibrant colors in the crust and glazes coming from dragon fruit powder and beet powder.
These Pop-Tarts are very sweet, a little tart, and lightly floral with a bright berry flavor. The crust is supple and buttery whilst the filling is gooey and thick. In other words, these Pop-Tarts are a feast for the tastebuds (literally).
I tried to make half of these Pop-Tarts pink and half red, but they really more or less turned out the same color (one appears a darker shade of pink than the other, see the *low-quality* photo below. FYI: the slashes in the hearts are score marks to allow the insides of the Pop-Tarts to steam/vent). For this purpose, I recommend making the dough either pink or red, rather than making half of the dough pink and half red. If you want a darker pink, use beet powder. If you want a lighter, cooler pink use dragon fruit powder. However, I had success making 2 different glazes with distinct red vs pink colors.
I used a 4" heart-shaped cake ring to cut out the Pop-Tarts, but you can use a 4" heart-shaped cookie cutter or make these Pop-Tarts into 4" by 3" rectangular ones. And decorate these Pop-Tarts however you desire. Edible/non-toxic/natural glitter, natural/vegan/GF/sugar-free sprinkles, and a white chocolate drizzle would all make for good garnishes atop the glazes.
It's up to you if you want to add a glaze, but I highly recommend doing so. And you can choose to make it a simple raspberry glaze as opposed to a raspberry rose glaze. You can choose to do whichever color dough for the Pop-Tarts and whichever color (or both colors) of glaze you want, do whatever your heart desires (pun intended).
These Pop-Tarts appear to have a different color in different lighting, so depending on the light these Pop-Tarts are under, you may see more of that red vs. pink crust color like in the picture, above.
Oh, and I plan on updating this post with a recipe for fruit-sweetened raspberry preserves, as I use store-bought sugar-free raspberry preserves for this recipe (the kind I use is Rigoni di Asiago's Fior di Frutta in Raspberry flavor. It can be found on Amazon or Vitacost or at your local Whole Foods store. Their preserves don't have added sugar, but are sweetened with fruit juice concentrate. I know fruit juice concentrate isn't ideal, but it's better than refined sugar and this brand is pretty clean [their preserves can have as little as 3 ingredients]).
Want a sneak preview of one of the other Valentine's Day recipes headed to The Dimpled Date soon? One of the next Valentine's recipes is..
Raw Mini Heart Chocolate Covered Cherry Cheesecakes!!
Keep updated for the latest and greatest.
Back to the Pop-Tarts:
And you can use any type of preserves in these Pop-Tarts. Cherry, strawberry, blackberry, and blueberry would all work great too (although the last two would be a darker blue-ish as opposed to a red color, but if you're fine with that aesthetics-wise, go with that).
A tip: make these Pop-Tarts with date sugar to make the dough less soft and easier to work with. You can cut down on chilling, rolling, and cutting time and make the process a whole lot easier if you use date sugar.
Ok, so where do these Pop-Tarts rank in comparison to my other ones I've posted so far? Here's my official ranking based on flavor:
Valentine's Pop-Tarts (these ones!)
It's a very close call with all of them, but I have to say these Pop-Tarts rank #2 for me. Even still, I LOVE my Unicorn Pop-Tarts a lot even though they rank last. Have you tried my other Pop-Tarts? If you have and/or have tried these ones share your fave in the comments!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Happy Valentine's/Galentine's Day or whatever holiday you like to celebrate this time of year!
Stay tuned for website updates, more Valentine's recipes, and other goodies coming soon.
As always,
Enjoy! <3
-K.
Valentine's Raspberry Rose Pop-Tarts (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free, Fruit-Sweetened, Natural)
Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Chill Time: at least 1 hour
Cook Time: 12 to 15 minutes
Total Time: at least 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 7 to 8 heart-shaped Pop-Tarts (4" Pop-Tarts)
Ingredients (crust):
-3/4 cup cold vegan butter (straight from the fridge // like Earth Balance or Miyoko's)
-1/2 cup date sugar (date sugar, NOT date palm sugar) OR 1 cup Medjool dates
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 tsp to 1 1/2 tsp natural raspberry extract (to taste // depending on what color dough you're making. For red/beet dough use more extract and for pink use less)
-1/4 tsp sea salt
-1 cup superfine blanched almond flour, lightly packed
-1 cup gluten-free oat flour
-1/2 cup arrowroot flour/starch (can sub tapioca starch)
-1/4 cup dragon fruit (to make all of the dough pink) OR 1/4 cup beet powder (to make all of the dough red) OR enough natural/vegan/sugar free pink/red food coloring to color pink or red (optional, to color the dough)
Ingredients (filling):
-1/2 cup sugar-free raspberry preserves/jam (like Rigoni di Asiago's Fior di Frutta Fruit Spread in Raspberry flavor // can sub sugar-free cherry/strawberry/blackberry/or blueberry preserves)
-1/8 to 1/4 tsp rose water (to taste // *NOTE: the rose will taste more strong before the Pop-Tarts are baked)
Ingredients (glaze):
-1/2 cup unsweetened plant milk of choice
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-1/4 tsp natural raspberry extract
-1/8 tsp rose water
-2 Tbsp date paste
-1/2 tsp dragon fruit powder (for pink) OR 1/2 tsp beet powder (for red) OR enough natural/vegan/sugar-free red/pink food dye to reach desired shade of pink/red
For brushing:
-1 Tbsp vegan butter OR 1 Tbsp coconut oil
For rolling:
-oat flour or arrowroot flour
For decorating:
-dried rose buds/rose petals
-freeze-dried raspberries/strawberries crumbled overtop the Pop-Tarts for "sprinkles"
-vegan/GF/sugar-free/natural sprinkles
-edible/non-toxic/natural glitter (homemade works here!)
-a white chocolate drizzle
Directions:
1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or two large silicone baking mats. If using whole dates, soak the dates in hot water for 5 to 15 minutes.
2. If using whole dates, 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, date sugar (if using), arrowroot flour, sea salt, and dragon fruit powder or beet powder 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 (if using), vanilla, and raspberry extract into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter, fork, and/or your hands (my preferred method). You'll know you're done when a dough/batter is formed.
6. If using natural food dye instead of dragon fruit powder/beet powder, add that in now and knead into the dough until the color is fully incorporated. Add more and keep kneading until your desired shade of pink/red is reached. The dough will be more like a batter consistency right now and that's OK.
7. Place the dough in an airtight container and refrigerate/freeze the dough for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
8. 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, a piece of parchment/wax paper, or a well-floured clean countertop space. Place the other half of the dough back in the freezer to keep cold.
9. Flour a rolling pin and the top of the dough you're working with or place a sheet of wax/parchment paper on top of the dough (if using parchment/wax paper). Roll the dough to about 1/8" thick. If you want thicker Pop-Tarts, you can roll it to 1/4" thick, but this will yield less Pop-Tarts.
10. From this dough, cut out 4" heart shapes using a 4" heart-shaped cake ring or a 4" heart-shaped cookie cutter. Alternately, make 4" by 3" rectangles by cutting the dough with a pizza cutter to make rectangular Pop-Tarts. Place each dough heart on a lined plate and place in the fridge in between rolling and cutting (this will ensure the dough doesn't get too soft).
11. 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 hearts until there's no dough left.
12. In a small bowl, stir together the raspberry preserves and rose water until fully incorporated. Set aside.
13. Melt 1 Tbsp vegan butter or coconut oil in the microwave or 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" hearts as the base for one of your Pop-Tarts and place it on a lined baking sheet. Spoon approximately 1 Tbsp of the raspberry rose preserves into the center of the Pop-Tart, spreading it out to fill the shape, 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 heart of dough (without filling) and brush the outer edges of it with melted vegan butter. Line up, flip, and place the heart without filling butter-side down on top of the heart 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 hearts. 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 12 to 15 minutes, until the tops look and feel solid to the touch (give them 5 minutes on the pan after removing from the oven to test for solidness). They shouldn't feel moist or dough-y. They'll also change in color a little and almost appear to have light-colored speckles flecking them. Don't over-bake the Pop-Tarts, unless you want crispy edges. I don't overdo mine because I want to best preserve their color.
16. Allow the Pop-Tarts to cool completely.
17. While the Pop-Tarts are cooling, make the raspberry rose glaze: in a small bowl, combine the plant milk, extracts, and rose water. Whisk to combine. Add the date paste and whisk/stir very well until smoother and mostly incorporated. To color, add the dragon fruit or beet powder and stir very well until the color is uniformly incorporated. Add more to reach desired shade. If you want both colors of glazes, use two separate bowls, and use the full amount of ingredients for each bowl, except color one with dragon fruit powder/natural pink food dye and the other one with beet powder/natural red food dye.
18. Pour/spoon a little glaze on each cooled Pop-Tart. Garnish with a few dried rose buds, take a couple 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, or decorate as desired.
19. Allow the glaze to harden if you wish.
20. Serve with a rose latte, raspberry tea, or a glass of your favorite wine. Enjoy as a dessert (or as a healthy topping on healthy freakshakes, vegan ice cream, or crumbled on top of dairy-free yogurt with a serving of fresh fruit) or store in the fridge for later use. Enjoy! Happy Valentine's Day!
Store unglazed Pop-Tarts at room temp for up to 2 days or store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for longer.
Nutrition Facts:
Per Serving (1 glazed Pop-Tart made w/ whole dates)^*:
Calories: 374 Total Fat: 19 grams Saturated Fat: 6 grams Sodium 12% (DV)
Total Carbohydrates: 48 grams Fiber: 5 grams Sugars: 30 grams* Protein: 4 grams
Calcium: 2% (DV) Iron: 6% (DV) Potassium: 1% (DV)
*NOTE: the sugar in these Pop-Tarts comes from fresh dates, and therefore is all natural and doesn't count towards the American Heart Association's (AHA's) limit of 35 grams of sugar per day. Plus, dates come with fiber which slows the release of that natural sugar into the bloodstream, and dates come with loads of other good nutrients like protein, potassium, antioxidants, and iron.
^*ALSO: please note that my Pop-Tarts are the most indulgent fruit-sweetened dessert I make. Most of my other recipes like granolas, cookies, energy balls, and muffins are way less indulgent and lower in calories while still being nutrient dense.
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