Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Cookies
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Cookies are an easy-to-make gourmet-style cookie that’s ready to enjoy in 40 minutes using Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Bites!
Pop Tart Cookies Are So Fun!
These Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Cookies bring a fun, new flavor to the cookie scene!
If you love Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts, then meet your new favorite cookie! And since these are made with pop-tarts, they should pass for being a breakfast cookie, right?
Well, even if they’re not acceptable to eat for breakfast, they’re most certainly acceptable as dessert! To make these Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Cookies the best, I created them with delicious homemade vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar cookie dough.
This sweetly spiced dough and the icing mirror the flavors in the popular Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts to create a soft brown sugar cookie with an outstanding taste!
Ingredients For Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Cookies
- Bread Flour
- Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
- Baking Powder
- Ground Cinnamon
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter
- Light Brown Sugar (dark brown sugar can be used too)
- Large Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Salted Butter
- Powdered Sugar
- Heavy Cream
- Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Bites
Instant vanilla pudding mix combines with pantry staple ingredients in this cookie recipe to create a deliciously moist and chewy treat. The pudding mix also merges with the vanilla extract to infuse this recipe with a cozy vanilla flavor that makes these cookies an absolute standout!
Another ingredient that elevates these cookies above the rest is the bread flour. When testing this cookie recipe, we found that bread flour produced a slightly softer cookie than when made with all-purpose flour.
The last ingredient to bring these cookies to their gourmet level is Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Bites (affiliate link). And each cookie gets TWO!
One Pop Tart Bite is tucked into the cookie dough as a surprise filling, while the other is placed in the icing on top for garnish.
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Cookies Substitutions And Additions
- Bread Flour – Though bread flour does deliver softer cookies, it can be replaced with all-purpose flour. The cookies will still turn out great!
- Unsalted Butter – When making the cookie dough, you can use salted butter instead of unsalted. To make this swap, you’ll need to reduce the amount of salt by ½ a teaspoon.
- Salted Butter – Unsalted butter can be used when making the icing by adding 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt. Add this to the saucepan with the unsalted butter and light brown sugar.
- Heavy Cream – Whole milk can replace the heavy cream in the icing recipe. Just keep in mind the icing won’t be as thick and creamy.
- Pop-Tarts – If you’re unable to get Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tart Bites, full-size Pop-Tarts can be used instead. Cut one full-size pop tart into bite-size pieces and then tuck them into the dough. For the topping, you can either add crumbled pop-tart pieces or top them with a bite-sized piece from a full-size pop-tart.
- Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling – If you’re looking to make a cookie that tastes like a pop tart but doesn’t contain any, you could make a filling like you would for cinnamon rolls and stuff that in the center instead.
How To Make Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Cookies
Step 1: Whisk the bread flour, box of instant vanilla pudding mix, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Set this mixture of dry ingredients aside.
Step 2: Cream the unsalted butter and light brown sugar until smooth in a separate large bowl or stand mixer that’s fitted with a paddle attachment. This will take about 1 minute.
Use a Kitchen Scale!
I recommend measuring ingredients by grams in this recipe for the best results since it’s more accurate. This is the kitchen scale I use, and I love it (affiliate link)! However, if you choose to use measuring cups, then be sure you at least measure out the flour using the fluff, scoop, and level method!
Step 3: Add in the large eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until just incorporated.
Step 4: Pour in the vanilla extract and then continue mixing until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.
Step 5: Slowly add in the dry ingredients a little to a time while the mixer is on low speed. The dough will become a Play-Doh texture.
Step 6: Portion the cookie dough into 18 cookies that weigh about 2.5 ounces. Using a kitchen scale for this step will work best!
Step 7: Use your hands to create a well in each portion of cookie dough. Then press 1 Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Bite into the well and work the dough up around it. Roll the cookie between your palms to smooth it out and seal the pop-tart bite inside.
Step 8: Bake the cookies on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet at 375 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes. Then, remove the cookies and allow them to cool on the baking sheet, and then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
Step 9: Prepare the icing by boiling the salted butter and light brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Stir constantly! Remove from the heat and then stir in the powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract until smooth. Let the icing sit for 4 to 5 minutes to thicken.
You first saw this brown sugar icing on my Pumpkin Cake recipe!
Step 10: Pour 1 tablespoon of glaze over the top of each cookie and then immediately press 1 pop-tart bite onto the icing. For best results, work this step in batches of 3. This way, the icing won’t harden before the pop-tart is added.
How To Store Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Cookies
Store these Pop-Tart Cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 to 4 days. After more than 4 days, I find the cookies become too dry to enjoy.
How To Freeze Homemade Cookies
Learning how to freeze homemade cookies allows you to enjoy them later without the added kitchen mess from baking up a batch! To freeze these cookies, place the baked cookies onto a baking sheet and flash freeze them in the freezer for 1 hour.
Once frozen, transfer the frozen cookies into an airtight container or Ziploc bag with the excess air squeezed out of it. Then, store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When you’re ready to enjoy the cookies, transfer them from the freezer onto the counter to thaw.
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Cookies FAQs
These can usually be found at grocery stores near the full-size pop-tarts. These can also be ordered from Target or Amazon!
For best results, I recommend measuring ingredients by grams in this recipe since it’s more accurate. However, if you choose to use measuring cups, then be sure you measure out the flour correctly!
When baking homemade cookie recipes, it’s best to use two baking sheets so that you don’t put cookie dough down on a hot pan. If cookie dough is put onto a hot cooking sheet, it will change the structure of the cookie, causing them to spread too thin.
Using two cookie sheets allows one to cool before adding cookie dough. If you don’t have two baking sheets, you can simply allow the pan to cool before adding another batch of cookie dough to it.
Dry and crumbly cookies are usually the result of them being over-baked or too much flour accidentally being added to the cookie dough. Make sure you measure your flour properly!
No, the dry pudding mix is added in as-is with the dry ingredients in step 1 of this recipe.
Let’s Connect!
If you’ve tried this recipe, please let me know how you liked it in the comments below and leave a review. I love hearing from you!
Don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there, where you can join our recipe challenges!
Brown Sugar Pop Tart Cookies
Ingredients
Dough
- 3⅔ cups bread flour (or 500g)
- 1 (3.3oz.) box instant vanilla pudding mix (93g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (12g)
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1¼ teaspoons salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (226g) room temperature
- 1½ cups light brown sugar (315g) packed
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Icing
- 4 tablespoons salted butter (55g)
- ½ cup light brown sugar (105g) packed
- 1 cup powdered sugar (125g)
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling & Garnish
- 36 Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Bites there are about 6 bites in 1 bag
Instructions
Dough
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and line two 12×17-inch baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the 3⅔ cups bread flour, 1 (3.3oz.) box instant vanilla pudding mix, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, and 1¼ teaspoons salt. Set aside.3⅔ cups bread flour, 1 (3.3oz.) box instant vanilla pudding mix, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1¼ teaspoons salt
- In a separate large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together 1 cup unsalted butter and 1½ cups light brown sugar for 1 minute until smooth.1 cup unsalted butter, 1½ cups light brown sugar
- Add 3 large eggs one at a time, mixing after each just until incorporated.3 large eggs
- Add 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract and mix for 2 minutes until light and fluffy (it will resemble buttercream frosting), scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients a little at a time to the wet ingredients until fully incorporated. The dough should come together in a play-doh texture and not be sticky.
- Immediately, measure the dough into 2.5-ounce (71g) portions of dough, using a kitchen scale for best results.
- Make a well in the cookie dough and gently press 1 of the 36 Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart Bites into the center of each portion of cookie dough. Then work the dough up around the pop-tart and seal it. Gently rolling between your palms to smooth and round out the edges. Reserve 18 pop-tart bites for topping the cookies with.
- Add 9 cookies to each pan with 2 inches of space between them. Bake one sheet at a time.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Icing
- Once the cookies cool, prepare the icing. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 4 tablespoons salted butter and ½ cup light brown sugar and bring to a boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup powdered sugar, ¼ cup heavy cream, and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract until smooth. Let sit for 4 to 5 minutes to thicken a bit (but no longer as it will thicken too much).
- Spoon 1 tablespoon of the icing over the top of each cookie. Immediately press 1 of the pop-tart bites onto the top to be secured by the icing. I recommend working in batches of 3 for icing and topping so you don't risk the icing hardening before the pop-tart is added.
Notes
- It is best to go by the gram measurements in this recipe. During testing, we measured both ways for each batch to ensure that the measurements were correct both ways, but grams will be the most accurate. If you are going to use measuring cups, make sure you are measuring your flour correctly.
- All-purpose flour may be used instead of bread flour, but we found the bread flour yielded a slightly softer cookie.
- Using two baking sheets is important because you don’t want to put the cookie dough down on a hot pan.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
Don’t forget to share it with me on Instagram @sugarandsoulco and follow on Tiktok @sugarandsoulco and Pinterest @sugarandsoulco for more!
Share your thoughts!
Love this recipe? Share your thoughts with me and leave a review! And don’t forget to connect on your favorite social platform below!