Last Updated on September 9, 2026 by Carrie Korem, FNTP
I love these pop tarts, especially because you can make them whole wheat or gluten-free.
What’s the difference between white wheat flour and whole wheat flour?
White wheat flour is ground from hard white wheat. Whole wheat flour is ground from red hard wheat.
White wheat flour (hard white wheat) contains a bit less gluten and a little less protein than whole wheat flour (hard red wheat). So if you bake with white wheat flour, the resulting bread, muffin, or cookie will be a bit less dense than if you bake it with whole wheat flour.
What about whole wheat pastry flour? Whole wheat pastry flour is ground from soft white wheat. This flour has less gluten and less protein than the first two wheats mentioned and will give a much lighter and tender crumb than white wheat flour or whole wheat flour.
Can these flours be used interchangeably? In my experience, no. If you try to trade out whole wheat pastry flour for white wheat flour, your end result will be much tougher and not as light as intended.
Which flour should you reach for while baking? In my opinion, if you’re baking a loaf of bread – go with the whole wheat flour. If you’re making pizza crust, crackers, or something with a bit more substance – go with the white wheat flour. If you’re baking a cake or muffins – use the whole wheat pastry flour.
Why do I mix the flours in my recipes at times? I do this because I’m trying to achieve a certain texture just one flour can’t give me. If you change out the flours called for in the recipe, you’ll get a different texture than intended.
So on to the pop tarts! I’ve given you two different versions here. One whole wheat and one gluten free. They’re incredibly fun to make with kids and can be filled with dozens of sweet things – jam, jelly, marmalade, homemade nutella, chocolate, fruit, etc.
Kids love’em but so do adults. How fun would these be piled on a large platter at the end of a long dinner? Add coffee with whipped cream and honey, and you have a delightful end to your meal.
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:168]
PrintApricot Almond Pop Tarts (Whole Wheat or Gluten-Free)
You can choose which dough recipe you’d like to use below. If you’d like to make a grain-free version of these pastries, use this dough recipe.
Ingredients
For the whole wheat dough:
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup brown rice flour, plus 2 tablespoons
- 1/4 cup arrowroot flour, plus 2 tablespoons
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
- 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
- 10 tablespoons ice water
- For the Gluten-Free Dough:
- 1 1/2 cups gluten free flour mix (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
- 1 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup oat flour (make sure it's gluten free)
- 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (I prefer Bernard Jensen gelatin)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 1 cup (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold, cut into tablespoons
For the filling:
- 3/4 cup apricot preserves
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (omit if nut-free)
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water (if you're egg-free you can use water to bind the dough)
Instructions
- Place flours and salt in a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Add butter and pulse until it looks like wet sand, about 8 (1-second) pulses. Add 10 tablespoons of ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse after each addition. Pulse until dough gathers into larger clumps. The dough should not be crumbly. If it is, add a tablespoon or two of water. Divide dough into 2 portions and wrap plastic wrap around each piece, pressing firmly to form into a disk. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and adjust rack to middle position. Remove 1 disk of dough from the refrigerator place on a floured surface. Roll it into a rectangle about 1/8″ thick. Cut rectangles that are 4-inch x 2 1/2 inch. (I used a rectangle cookie cutter for this step.)
- Place half of the rectangles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the egg wash over the entire surface of each piece of dough (This helps seal the filling inside. Again, if you’re egg-free then use water to seal the dough). Place a heaping tablespoon of filling in the center of each rectangle, keeping about 1/2-inch perimeter. Place a second piece of dough on top of the first and gently press around the pocket filing, sealing the dough. Using a fork, press the tines around the edge of the tart. Repeat with remaining tarts. After all tarts are assembled, brush each with egg wash. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. Repeat process with second disk of dough.
Storage:
- The tarts will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. To reheat, place in a 350ºF oven for 10 minutes. The pop tarts can also be frozen. To reheat, place on a baking sheet in a 350ºF oven for 20 minutes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Makes about 12 - 4" x 2 1/2" tarts
This post is linked to Simple Lives Thursday
Love this. Healthified Pop Tarts! yay!
Your posts are always so informative (not to mention delicious!)
Thanks Kristen. 🙂
DI.VINE.
My heart just stopped!
…but I’m alive.
I grind my own wheat for whole wheat flour, and my grinder has a pastry flour setting, which is what I normally keep it set at. I grind hard red wheat berries and my flour is almost identical to the whole wheat pastry flour I’ve bought in the past, and performs better in baked goods. I always assumed this was because it was fresh and all the nutrients were still intact. My fresh flour does feel “softer” while the off-the-shelf stuff seems drier. Great recipe! Will have to give it a go when my apples are ready for picking. I make an “apple pie on a stick” that is a very similar type of pastry, but I use an oil pie crust instead. Butter has never worked well for me!
Very interesting! I agree that fresh flour tastes so much better. I started grinding my grain about 5 years ago and I’d never go back! Your apple pie on a stick sounds fabulous!
Wowza. I love homemade pop tarts!
Did I miss you posting homemade Nutella? It is the ONE thing in our diet that I have yet to replace. Help, please!
The recipe is coming very soon. 🙂
I’m looking for the same thing – I’ll keep my eyes open. thank you.
Ooh wee – home made Nutella?!?! I’ll be scouring waiting for that post when it’s available… Being half German and living there my first 5 years and bringing some of our “traditions” back, Nutella (and other chocolate stuff we would put on bread or anything, lol) was on the top. With my switch to not buying items with junk in them, I quit buying Nutella…
I. cannot. wait. 🙂
Did you ever post the Nutella recipe? I’m not finding it. Thank you!
Great points about using the different flours!! These pop tarts look so much better than the “traditional” ones. Why people like the original ones I’ll never know…
Boy do these look good. Seriously. I don’t have kids I’d be baking for, but I have the sweet tooth of a child. Does that qualify me?
These look great!
I love these pop tarts – they remind me of one I shared with Yotam Ottolenghi at Joan’s on Third recently – flaky pastry with a sweet strawberry filling.
These look delicious! And I’m very excited about the homemade nutella. My son has allergies and feeding problems and that’s one of the things he’ll actually eat. I can’t wait! Thanks Carrie!
These look so yummy! Awesome idea. I need these.
BEautiful! I love the flour 101… I didnt know that the white had less gluten!
A great flour explanation! Love it! And your pop tarts look incredible! 🙂
Love the healthy pop tarts! I have so many friends who have to eat gluten free so I can’t wait to share this with them 🙂 Simply Delicious.
I’ve never made homemade pop tarts or mixed flours. For some reason it seems scary to mix flours because I already have mixed results with baked goods. But I love the idea of a different texture so I’m going to give it a whirl. Fab post!
I completely understand. I can’t tell you how many bad pancakes, muffins, cakes I’ve had to throw away while figuring out how to bake things without white flour. I hope to provide good recipes on my site to take the leg-work out for everyone else! 🙂
what a fun idea! These would be a wonderful breakfast treat 🙂
What a great post! I don’t know much about flour and always wonder what the difference between them all is. I’m not much of a baker, maybe it’s my lack of patience 🙂 But I tell ya, if I could bake, I would be making these pop tarts from scratch. They look amazing!!! My kids would think I’m a rockstar!
wow those gluten free pop tarts look amazing, I will be trying them this weekend.
Cheers
Spencer
Love this, thanks.
These look great! I have 2 questions: First, can I use something besides gelatin? I ask because I am a vegetarian. Next, I can’t for the life of me find gluten-free oat flour–can I use a different gf flour? I’d really like to make these for me and my little girl! Thanks!
I chose gelatin to stay away from any gums, but you could try replacing it with xanthan gum. I haven’t tested it, but it should work well. You could use sorghum as a replacement for the oat flour (it will have a stronger flavor than the original recipe so you might want to add a tablespoon or two of whole cane sugar).
I grind my own oats for flour but Amazon also has oat flour on their “Subscribe and Save” program. I live in a remote area so I buy many of those harder-to-find ingredients this way. http://www.amazon.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-Gluten-22-Ounce/dp/B003LPKETS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312985643&sr=8-1
Thanks for the information! I will try using xanthan gum as a replacement. When you say you grind your own oats, what kind of oats? I have gluten-free rolled oats and gluten-free steel cut oats. Will either of those work? Otherwise, I’ll try the sorghum flour.
Thanks again!
My gluten free and dairy allergic son started jumping up and down and shouting “awesome, awesome” when he saw these photos! Pop-tops were on the no list before the allergies and celiac, but sometimes made it in the house anyhow..He has missed these, thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome!!
These pop tarts look great. I enjoy mixing flours too 🙂
Wohoo! My son has been on a gluten free, reduced sugar diet for a few months. He has cravings for certain things once in a while. Cookies, cakes, poptarts…He is going to love these! I will use reduced sugar preserves or make my own with stevia. Yehaw! Love everything I’ve made from this site. Awesome!
Question – do I have to buy “rice flour”? or is it just ground brown rice? can I grind brown rice in a coffee grinder? Just curious 🙂 I’ve groud oats in it and it works well but takes time if needing a lot ;o).
I’m so glad to hear your son can have a treat he’s missed! That makes my day. 🙂
Yes, you need to buy rice flour. Brown rice flour is just brown rice ground up, but it needs to be a very fine grind to work and a coffee grinder won’t be able to do it. Rice flour is pretty cheap and can be found at your local health food store or at most asian markets.
Can I grind brown rice in my grain mill? I’m new to this but I have a Komo/Tribest Grain Mill and I’m wondering if you are grinding your rice yourself for this recipe. Thanks.
I grind grain in my grain mill and have no problems. I use a Nutrimill. You could also call the manufacturer just to make sure before grinding the rice.
What about grinding oats just using a coffee grinder? Would that not be fine enough either?
Using a coffee grinder should work well. Just make sure to grind them to a fine powder.
Fantastic – the kids will love these and they will make a great addition to their lunch box.
Can these go in the toaster?
Yes, they are sturdy enough to go in the toaster. (after they’ve been baked)
These sound delicious! So about flour…if a recipe calls for white flour and I want to make a healthier version, do I use the same about of whole wheat or white whole flour?
Unfortunately, it’s not so cut-and-dry. If you’re making a cake or muffins then replace 1 cup white flour with 1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour. If you’re making bread, I’d do 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white wheat. As you saw with my pie dough from this recipe I used a bit of rice and arrowroot flour – this was because just whole wheat flour wasn’t giving the crust that flakiness I was going for. The most difficult is cookies. Whole wheat pastry flour will make the cookies run all over the pan and whole wheat flour will make them hard as rocks. For cookies I use a combination of flours and my whole wheat chocolate chip cookie recipe can be found in my cookbook.
Over the next two months I will be posting lots of basic whole wheat and gluten free recipes. Such as muffins, cake, etc. I think this will help everyone so they can have a basic recipe to use and then variate how they like.
Homemade nutella? Recipe please! 🙂
These look so yummy! I have two questions before I try them. First, is there a difference between arrowroot and arrowroot flour? Second, could you use a grain mill to grind rice into flour? You mentioned in a comment that a coffee grinder wouldn’t work, but I grind wheat with my grain mill and I wonder if I could just throw in some rice instead of buying rice flour. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise!
There is no difference between arrowroot and arrowroot flour. And yes, you can grind rice in your grain mill. I do it all the time to make my rice flour at home.
Is that white rice flour, brown rice flour, or sweet rice flour?
It’s brown rice flour.
Thank you! Now I can make these. 🙂
What a fabulous recipe! ilove tarts, will surely try this recipe. thanks 😉
I don’t bake often, but when I do I love whole wheat pastry flour. I would never have thought of making my own pop tarts. I can’t wait to give these a try.
omg made these last night!!! PERFECT. Totally obsessing over them and sending a few into work with Thomas so I don’t consume them all by myself 🙂
Thanks Gaby! I’m so glad you liked them! And the fact that you’re “obsessed” over one of my recipes is quite a compliment. 🙂
These look divine – I can’t wait to give ’em a try! Thanks for the recipe!
Just made these. They are amazing! I even goofed them up because I thought I turned the oven on Bake and 350 degrees but instead I turned it on Broil. Oops!
I figured it out 12-13 minutes into cooking because I smelled something burning. The edges were a little burnt but they still tasted incredible. I’m glad though because that was only half of the dough. I will have the oven right when I make the other half.
I just ordered some soft white wheat berries so I can grind my own pastry flour. I’m definitely going to try these once they arrive!
OK, Now I am wondering if there was something to the Broil and 350 degrees that I accidentally cooked these at the first time. I just cooked the second batch and made sure I had it right this time, Bake and 350 degrees and cooked them for 25 minutes and they weren’t as flaky and crispy as the first batch so I turned the oven to Broil and 350 degrees and cooked for another 10 minutes and Voila! perfect texture! Yea!!!
Glad to hear they turned out well! 🙂
My son is intolerant to dairy as well as gluten, and I was wondering if you think I could use coconut oil in place of the butter. He would love these!
Unfortunately I don’t know of a substitute for the butter. Coconut oil would melt and wouldn’t hold the dough together enough. Sorry!
I’ll write you an email so we can figure out what happened. 🙂
These look so perfect, Carrie. I need to try them.
thanks for posting the GF version! I love me some pop-tarts and have missed them since going GF!! 🙂 Cheers!
I just happened to stumble across your website…you are a genius! I am loving all the recipes I am seeing.
I have a ton of fresh peaches just begging to be made into peach spread for pop-tarts. I noticed, however, that this recipe calls for arrowroot flour, but your galette crust calls for tapioca starch. Is there any difference in the final product or can you use them interchangeably for the crust? I am out of arrowroot but have plenty of tapioca starch and would love to make these soon. Thanks!
I haven’t tested it with tapioca starch, but don’t see why it wouldn’t work. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out!
AWESOME recipe!!! Love the apricot-almond filling.
Hello Carrie,
I just wanted to say i am so excited to try these! i haven’t eaten a poptart in 5 years. I have never seen arrowroot flour at my local stores. I will be trying tapioca starch, and will happily let you know how they turn out. We just bought a grain mill and I found your website while looking for recipes that are written for fresh ground flours. What I found was homemade creamer(!), pop tarts(!) and hamburger buns.
I also wanted to thank you for being so willing and glad to help others in this way, even to email someone personally, just to help them! Last I want to thank you in advance for making a recipe for nutella. My family will benefit from your work and heart. We aren’t eating organic, but we have planted a garden, and Lord willing, will work towards better foods.
thank you Carrie,
Tomi Moore
Thank you for your kind words. I’m so glad you found my recipes and I hope they will be a blessing to your family. Nutella is coming soon. 🙂
I have had these bookmarked since you posted them but can’t find arrowroot flour. I’m glad I read the comments though. I will be trying them with tapioca starch. That I have. 🙂
I just made for my son GF. He loved them. Something great to do together on a snow day
WOW! Saw this pin on pinterest and HAD to check it out! Thanks for the gluten free version of this recipe, can’t wait to try it! Brilliant!
Love your GF option! Thanks. I will be trying this out this summer, I believe.
I am so excited to try to make these! My son is 4 and he has never been able to have a pop tart since he was diagnosed at the age of 1. His friends at school eat them sometimes and he has asked me numerious times if he could just try one. It breaks my heart to constantly tell him no and tell him there is gluten in it. He is going to be so happy!! Thank you!!!
You’re welcome! I’m so glad your little boy will be able to enjoy a pop tart! 🙂
Looks great. Any calorie count on the gluten free?
Can I use a general purpose GF flour mix instead of the first 4 ingredients?
The flavor and texture won’t turn out the same, so I advise to stick with the recipe. If you do try it with a full GF mix, let me know how it turns out!
Hi, I love the sound of this recipe! I’m also super excited to try your homemade coffee creamer! I really want to bake these poptarts and send them to my boyfriend in the mail. Any ideas of how to keep them fresh for that? I’d love some advice. Thanks!
Since they are pastries, they might crumble from being transported. I would wrap them each in parchment paper and plastic wrap and then pack the box tightly. I’m bet he will love them crumbly or not! 🙂
Also, I don’t have a food processor. Could I use a blender or something else?
To turn out the way I intended it’s really best to use a food processor, but you could try making it with a pastry cutter. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/stainless-steel-pastry-blender/ If you try this, I would make sure not to cut into the pastry too much. You want pea-size pieces of butter throughout to ensure a flaky crust.
I was wondering if the tapioca starch worked for this recipe… I don’t see any updates on whether it worked or for any of the substitutions that people may have tried.
There is an unprocessed whole wheat flour called “white wheat flour” that is from hard white wheat. It is an unprocessed flour that has recently gained popularity. Bob’s Red Mill carries it, among other companies. It is a whole grain flour stone ground from the entire wheat berry, it contains all the nutrients from the bran, germ and fiber of the endosperm. Here is a link explaining the exact flour I wrote about in this post: http://www.vitacost.com/bobs-red-mill-organic-hard-white-wheat-flour?csrc=GPF-PA-039978008527&ci_sku=039978008527&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw=%7Bkeyword%7D#productDetails
Can you recommend an affordable but effective flour grinder? Grinding your own flour sounds fab but I have no idea where to start.
I’ve been using a Nutrimill grain mill for almost 6 years now and it’s still going strong. Here’s a link: http://www.amazon.com/LEquipe-760200-LEQUIP-Nutrimill-Grain/dp/B001UI37N8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336093851&sr=8-1
You might be able to find a used one on Ebay if you want to save a little money. It’s about as much as a Kitchen Aid mixer, but I can assure you that buying grain in bulk is much cheaper than buying it already ground into flour, so you’ll eventually make up the difference. Hope that helps!
Hello Carrie,
Can you recommend a flour grinder? I would love to start grinding my own flour? Do you buy your wheat berries from azure?
Thanks
First, I want to say thank you for all the work you put into this site. It was exciting to see that good, wholesome gluten free recipes are available, as well as some great treats like these pop-tarts! I think about 75% of my wheat intake has come from Pop-tarts over the past few years – it’s the one addiction I couldn’t give up yet! LOL I’m just beginning down the path to a gluten-free, organic and gmo-free diet. It’s a little daunting at times, but your site does give me hope!
I also want to applaud your tact & ability to take the higher road. I hope someday I might be able to accomplish that more often. When I read the comment from the woman attacking your intelligence over a type of wheat my heart broke. A few years ago, that could have been me. In that little exchange I saw who I once was like, and the type of reaction I would like to someday accomplish! (I know privately, your reaction may have been different, that’s ok, publicly you represented yourself with grace and dignity! Thank You!
Thank you for your kind words. You made my day!
Wow, Catt. That was very rude.
Thanks so much for the gluten free version of this recipe. The things I miss most tend to be “junk foods” and Pop Tarts were one of my main junk vices! I look forward to making these and knowing that A. I won’t get sick and B. they’re much healthier than the store bought tarts. Thanks again for your efforts!
I made two of your recipes in one night! Started with the Waldorf Salad- premade it for dinner- and then my son and I made these pop tarts. They are both FABULOUS! My mom is visiting and has already planned to make the salad twice in the next two weeks. The pop tarts are awesome, too! I might add a touch of sugar to the pastry next time (I know white sugar is a no no, but it’s still about 6000 times better than purchasing an actual pop tart!) and also might use salted butter. This is actually the first pastry I’ve ever made… I find it SO intimidating! But it worked! Thank you so much. My evening has just been terrifically tasty.
Ahhh!! Thank you! I really appreciate your feedback. And, I’m so glad I can help your family eat healthy, delicious foods! 🙂
How would you adapt this recipe for grain-free flour? Would you use coconut and almond flour? If so what portions?
Is there a grain free option for these? What would i substitute and how much? I love ur new book! Thanks!
Use the dairy-free slice and bake cookie dough recipe in the cookbook. It works like a dream for pop tarts! 🙂