Skinny Pop Tarts

Did you eat Pop Tarts as a kid? Do you still eat them? If you answered “Yes,” we’ve got some rather harrowing news for you (don’t worry, we’ve also got good news coming later, but first you must traverse through the dark side). We want to discuss the art of deceitful food labeling today because no other food quite illustrates this point as well as the sweet little Pop Tart. Do not be fooled, packagers of this product are sneaky, sneaky devils, and here’s why…

The uninformed consumer may read the label on a package of Pop Tarts and think to themselves, “Oh, only 200 calories. That’s not that bad. And it has ‘whole grains,’ I’m set!” First of all Kellogg’s, we’re giving you the slow clap for this one. Nice try with the “whole grains” pitch, but we’re just not buying it (literally or figuratively) and you shouldn’t either. Buyer beware, they give you the nutrition facts for a single pastry, but who eats just one? They put two in the sleeve, are you gonna just let it sit there and get crusty? No, you’re gonna eat them both.

So bump that number up to 400 calories and lord knows how many grams of sugar in the pack (well, we do know, because we checked: each pastry has at least 14g alone, so you’re looking at just under 30g of processed sugars in the two Pop Tarts, which in our eyes are looking more and more like two frosted bricks of belly fat waiting to happen).

But what about unfrosted ones, or perhaps a Toaster Strudel? How about the “Nature’s Path” Organic variety? Aren’t those healthier for you? NO, they are not. Don’t be fooled by marketing campaigns and professional food labelers whose job it is to find the sneakiest way to make junk food products seem healthier when they’re undeniably unhealthy no matter what the box says. Sugar is sugar, processed is processed.

We were guilty of thoroughly stuffing our face with Pop Tarts as kids, don’t get us wrong. Every road trip we went on, we couldn’t leave a gas station without a Pop Tart in each hand. Sara was a Brown Sugar Cinnamon girl while Liz always went for the harder to find Cherry variety, but would settle for Strawberry in a bind.

We give ourselves a free pass on these poor nutrition behaviors now because we were kids and didn’t know any better. However, now that we do (and you do too) we have snuffed this sugary junk food to the unhealthy, uncool & permanently undesirable list, as should you.

But don’t worry! We promised there’d be good news too, and here it is. We figured out how to make an alternative Skinny Pop Tart that’ll still make your mouth water! [Insert wild applause sound effect here] We used a few nontraditional ingredients, played around in the kitchen a bit, and voila, here you have little bites of joy without all that excessive added sugar. And the best news of all? They’re only 50 calories each. You’re welcome. 😉

Makes 9 pop tarts

18 square wonton wrappers

Peanut Butter Filling

1/4 cup peanut flour or PB2
3-4 tbs unsweetened almond milk
1-2 tbs Truvia (depends how sweet you want it!)
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon Brown Sugar Filling

1 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs Truvia
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tbs coconut flour
2-3 tbs unsweetened almond milk
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Cookie Dough Filling

4 tbs coconut flour
1-2 tbs Truvia
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 tbs semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In 3 small bowls, mix ingredients for each filling together (you may need more or less milk, add 1 tbs at a time until you reach a thick batter consistency). Lay half of the wonton wrappers on the baking sheet. Spoon each batter into the center of each wonton, then top with the remaining wonton wrappers and seal by pressing a fork around the edge. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

If you’d like frosting for your pop tarts try the following:

Peanut Butter Frosting: 2-3 tbs peanut flour + 1-2 tbs unsweetened almond milk + 1 tbs Truvia

Cinnamon Sugar Protein Frosting: 2 tbs protein powder (we used Trutein Cinnabun) + 1-2 tbs unsweetened almond milk. Then mix 1/4 tsp cinnamon with 1 tbs Truvia for the cinnamon “sugar” topping

Cookie Dough Drizzle: 2 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder + 1 tbs Truvia + 1-2 tbs unsweetened almond milk