Feel like a kid again when you enjoy these eat to make homemade chocolate pop tarts for breakfast. The tender chocolate dough is filled with creamy fudge and topped with a sweet chocolate frosting. These chocolate poptarts are a chocolate lover's dream.
On a Quest for Easy Homemade Chocolate Poptarts
Who says you can't have chocolate for breakfast?
If I could, I would scream to the world that chocolate can be included in any meal because I'm a big fan of chocolate for breakfast. Now I'm not talking about a chocolate bar, but a regular breakfast just tweaked to have some chocolate in it.
I'm a heavy-duty traveler, and I find myself eating pop tarts a lot. We all know there is nothing good for you with a store-bought pop tart. So I started looking online to see what the options are out there for how to make pop tarts at home that I could take with me.
I found a few chocolate pop tart recipes, but they all were quite similar: a chocolate puff pastry with a bit of fudge filling and topped with a chocolate royal icing.
The oldest recipe that I saw was from Half Baked Harvest. And it looked like a lot of minor modifications from her base recipe over the years. So we made a couple of our own tweaks and came up with another version.
Ingredients in the Pop Tarts
- Flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Sugar
- Salt
- Butter
- Ice cold water
- Brown sugar
- Whole milk
- Milk chocolate chopped
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar
- Meringue powder
- Dark chocolate
These chocolate pop tarts are pretty tasty, but since we've cut out all the preservatives found in store-bought pop tarts, they taste best when eaten within 24 hours.
Both the dough and the fudge filling can be made and refrigerated for three days ahead, so it's easy to make the dough and then bake fresh a few mornings in a row.
How to Make Pop Tarts at Home
- Begin by preparing the fudge filling, so it has time to cool and thicken.
- Make the dough and roll it to ⅛ inch thickness.
- Cut the dough into 4 ½" x 3 ½" rectangles and top with a tablespoon of the fudge filling.
- Fold the rectangle in half and crimp the edges with a fork to seal.
- Refrigerate the filled pop tarts for 10 minutes, then bake for 10 minutes.
- While the chocolate pop tarts cool, make the frosting.
- Spread frosting onto cooled pop tarts and allow it to sit for 10 minutes before decorating with sprinkles or sugar.
A couple of things about this recipe: sealing the dough is super important. We used an egg wash and pressed edges together, so there was a tight seal before baking them. You don't want all your fudge filling oozing out of the pop tarts while you bake them. And, I do want to warn you that you can not put these pop tarts in the toaster to heat up. That royal icing will melt all over your toaster.
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And there you have it! Chocolate for breakfast! If you love this easy homemade chocolate poptarts recipe we'd love for you to leave us a comment.
Chocolate Pop Tarts
Ingredients
Dough:
- 3 cups Flour 402 grams
- 3 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder 18 grams
- 1 tablespoon sugar 13 grams
- ½ teaspoon salt 3 grams
- 1 ½ sticks (¾ cup butter) (170 grams) Chopped into small pieces
- ½ cup ice cold water 121 grams
Fudge Filling:
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 29 grams
- ⅓ cup packed brown sugar 81 grams
- ⅔ cup whole milk 174 grams
- ¼ teaspoon salt 2 grams
- 6 oz milk chocolate chopped (170 grams)
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter cut into small cubes (28 grams)
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract 8 grams
Frosting:
- 2 cups powdered sugar 215 grams
- 2 tablespoon meringue powder 25 grams
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 12 grams
- 2 tablespoon cocoa powder 18 grams
- 5 tablespoon water 75 grams
- 2 oz dark chocolate 57 grams
Instructions
- Start with making the fudge filling so it has time to cool and thicken. Stir together the cocoa powder, brown sugar, milk, salt and half of the chopped chocolate. Cook the mixture at a low boil, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Turn the heat off and add the remaining ingredients. Stir until smooth. Set aside and let it cool.
- Preheat the oven to 400° F. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt. Add the chunks of butter and keep mixing until it is crumbly. Slowly add the water until mixture is moistened and dough forms. Remove from mixer and roll out on a lightly floured surface to ⅛ inch thick.
- Cut the dough into 4 ½" x 3 ½" rectangles. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling onto one half of the rectangle. Fold the other half over the filling and seal the edges. Repeat until all the dough has been used.
- Refrigerate the pop tarts for 10 - 15 minutes to let the dough cool. Then bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.
- While the pop tarts cool, make the frosting.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder, vanilla, cocoa powder and 3 tablespoons of water for 10 minutes on medium speed until peaks begin to form. Stir in the melted chocolate. If the frosting seems too thick, add the other 2 tablespoons of water to thin it.
- Spoon a layer of the frosting on top of the cooled pop tarts. Let the frosting harden for about 10 minutes. You can then sprinkle sea salt or sugar on top to finish the look.
Notes
Nutrition
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Joanna @ Everyday Made Fresh says
I love making homemade poptarts! My daughter has food allergies and can't have the store bought kind, unless they are a particular organic brand. However, homemade is always better!
serena says
Homemade is always so much better 🙂
Becky says
Oh my gosh YUMMMM!!!!! Pop tarts are my absolute favorite! Thank you for this!
serena says
Thanks so much! I love them also 🙂
Melissa Chapman says
Those chocolate tarts are great for breakfast but I would have them as a dessert for company. I am not a baker but if I get in the mood I would love to make these.
serena says
We definitely had them throughout the day. They were a great snack with coffee or tea
Krystal Butherus says
I know of no such law that says you can't have chocolate for breakfast! I think these would be fun to make!
serena says
I totally agree! Chocolate for breakfast!
Lisa Favre says
I always see people making their own version of homemade poptarts and I am so amazed by them! Your chocolate rendition seems delicious and I should finally go ahead and make some of my own!
serena says
Thanks so much! They are pretty simple and quite tasty.
Angela Tolsma says
My husband loves poptarts but I refuse to by them because they are so fill of crap. But I have never thought to make them myself! What a fantastic idea and chocolate is definitely best present at every meal!
serena says
The same for me, I'm such a poptart lover. But those commercially produced ones have so much crap in them. These are so much better for you
Karen Morse says
Talk about a lovely breakfast! I think this is awesome and it would be nice to make as a treat for yourself in the morning when you need the extra motivation.
serena says
Thanks so much 🙂
Shandy Kaye says
I love this chocolate pop tarts! Any time I am craving chocolate, this is the first thing I grab! So good!
serena says
They are definitely a go to for me also
Shoshana Sue says
I want to have this chocolate for breakfast and sing about it. The pop tarts look delicious, I would like to bake these myself.
serena says
Thanks! They are pretty easy to make. Enjoy 🙂
Rachel says
I don't typically have a lot of time to make breakfast, but I would try this and make it ahead of time.
serena says
I love that you can make these ahead of time. Makes morning breakfast much easier on weekdays.
Jessica Joachim says
I would never have thought ti make my own pop tarts! My daughter loves pop tarts, and I would feel better making them than using the boxed ones for sure!
serena says
These are definitely so much better than the boxed ones. Enjoy 🙂
Shell says
My little boy always wants pop tarts at the store but I say no because of the chemical crap inside them... Your recipe looks so awesome and delicious! I will absolutely make your recipe with him.
serena says
Enjoy!
kimberly lewis says
now this is a pop tart! I can't imagine anyone not just gobbling these right up!
serena says
Enjoy 🙂
Britney says
I didn’t know you could make fudge chocolate pop tarts !! This is so clever, my boys would love it.
Caitlin says
I have never had a homemade Pop-Tart, but have always wanted to try making them. I think this recipe is the one that's pushing me to action!
serena says
Give it a go! They are quite tasty!
Melissa says
Pop Tarts were one of my favorite snacks as a kid. I love to see how I can make them at home now 🙂
serena says
Thanks! Enjoy 🙂
Maria says
OMG! I didn't even know I could make Poptarts at home! Now I almost wish I still didn't know, because I am gonna be eating a LOT more Poptarts in the future!!
serena says
LOL! The same happens to me now!
Keki Cannon says
my kids love poptarts but I have never made it. This is great. I know they will be happy if we give homemade one's a try. will pin for later. thanks
serena says
Thanks! Enjoy!
Megan says
These look so good! I use to love pop tarts as a kid, but as an adult I refuse to buy packaged poptarts. I'm totally going to try these and bring a little nostalgia back (without the preservatives and colors!)
serena says
That no preservatives and colors are the main reason I love making these. Enjoy 🙂
Kim S says
These sound so much better than store bought Pop Tarts! Yum!
Sharon says
I really like making homemade pop tarts and these ones are going on my list! I love the fudgy center.
Tisha says
Easy is always on my must list!