Sometimes I want to be 5 years old again and truthfully I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. I mean think about it – your biggest dilemma is which gifts you want to ask for for your birthday, your biggest woe is choosing between 8 best friends, and your biggest responsibility is trying to get your dirty clothes actually INTO the hamper. And you know what else happened when I was 5? Pop tarts did. The icing, the flavors, the colors, the SUGAR!!!! It was all so divine really.
Back then nobody worried about food additives or chemicals or any of the other nasties. And honestly, not enough parents are worried about it today! But I am! I have 3 lil kiddos and after my own health crisis, I want to do anything I can to prevent their downward spiral. So, let them have POP TARTS! But let them be made of the stuff that will make their bodies happy. And let them not have so much junk that in 10 years we are trying to dig them out of a black GMO hole. I want my lil ones to have the same happy memories of treats and snacks that I do, but this time around, their tiny bodies will like the treats just as much as their tiny mouths!
Ingredients:
For Fruit Filling:
- 1 cup organic frozen mixed berries (or use fresh)
- 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar (optional)
For Pop Tart “Pocket”
- 3 cups peeled, coarsely chopped, boiled (20-25 min), drained Yuca
- 1/3 cup coconut palm sugar
- 1 teaspoon 100% vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup avocado, olive, or coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons coconut flour
For the Fruit Filling:
- Heat mixed berries and coconut palm sugar over medium heat in a small saucepan
- As they start to warm, mash mixture with a fork and allow it to simmer and reduce
- Remove reduced mixture from heat and puree in a blender or Nutribullet if desired, otherwise you can leave as is
- Set mixture aside
For Pop Tart “Pocket”
- Preheat oven to 375 (400 also worked for me if you want them extra crispy)
- Combine yuca, coconut palm sugar, vanilla extract, and oil in a blender or Vitamix
- Once dough is made, empty onto a piece of parchment paper and allow to fully cool (cooling will help dough become less sticky)
- Start sprinkling in your coconut flour and incorporating into the dough by hand until all 3 tablespoons are mixed in well and roll into a ball
- You should now have a very “workable” dough, similar to that of a glutenous dough
- Take your ball of dough and roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper
- You will want it to be between 1/4 and 1/3 inch thick – if it is too thin, the filling will ooze out but if too thick, it will not crisp up as well
- Once rolled out, score the dough, making same sized rectangles – do not make your rectangles too large or they run the risk of becoming “floppy”; 3 inches is large enough, you can go smaller if you wish.
- Take a spoonful of the berry mixture and spread on one of the rectangular pieces of dough
- Now take another rectangle and place on top of berry mixture
- Using a fork, press around the edges (like a pie crust) until all four edges are sealed
- Repeat until all of your dough is used and bake for 25-30 minutes or until Pop Tarts are crisped
- You may freeze these and re-toast as necessary in a toaster oven
Need more tips on working with yuca?! Watch my video here:
I know yucca is very sticky/starchy, but do you think plantain could be used instead of it? I cannot wait to get more yucca and make all of your new AIP recipes!
Gabriella
Hi Gabriella, plantains can definitely be used for some of my recipes but I would think you’d need to combine the plantain with some tapioca starch or arrowroot if you were going to try to make some of the recipes that do not call for plantains. Hope this helps!
Sunday morning breakfast has become fun again! Once starting AIP, the usual paleofied pancakes, waffles, muffins and fritattas are a no-go. These pop-tarts, however, fix that for the entire family! I usually don’t bother rolling out – just pull off a portion of dough (with wet hands!) form into a circle, place filling on half, fold and bake.
Thanks for the video on tackling the Yuca. I have just found your site and am anxious to try some of the Yuca recipes. Thanks again!
Great Sherry, welcome!
These are fantastic! I had actually made some dough previously and froze it (ended up short on time). I made extra dough today, mixed it with the thawed dough and made a triple batch to freeze. My kids loved them. Something tells me that the triple batch isn’t going to last long! Thanks for another great recipe!
Yay Becky! Always a good feeling when kids love our healthy dishes, right??
I’m struggling with my yucca being really really sticky, the first time I made it, not sticky at all, didn’t even need flour, the last two times I’m using way more coconut flower than you call for, am I doing something wrong? Any tips?
Valerie, are you chopping the yuca into small pieces? Or overcooking? Also if it is not strained well before blending, the excess water mixed in can create excess moisture (that’s what the coconut flour does is soak up the “wet”). Those are the 3 things I can think of off the top of my head! So make sure big pieces to boil, cook just until fork tender, do not allow extra water from the pot, and also allow the dough to cool well before adding in the additional flour. Hope this helps!
You can actually keep the counoct flour from going bad by keeping it in the freezer. This recipe looks awesome! I’m excited to try it. Our family is paleo but it’s hard to find nut-free baked goods recipes for things like birthday parties, etc.
Hi Jennifer! I have had a blast playing with this dough today…it has been on my to do list for awhile….and it looks my son is moving into autoimuune unfortunately, so it put this dough in the front of the line!
I purchased the frozen, already chunked, peeled yucca/cassava at the asian market to work with.
I rolled the dough super thin, added some garlic salt, and baked until cripsy for some amazing crackers. Everyone that tried them thought so too.
I then made little pockets of some left over thai pork I had, much like your empanadas…also amazing.
I made a mini pizza crust which puffed up beautifully…will add toppings later.
Tomorrow I will continue my experiments tomorrow, but a huge success all around! Thank you so much for your creativity in coming up with this! What ever inspired you? I am curious!
How fun! Look at you go! Ummmm, let’s see. I wanted to find something that was friendly for all diets (except keto of course) and when I happened upon the yuca and its magical powers, there was no turning back!!!
made the pop tarts today…with apricot preserves and a couple of dark chocolate chips….yummo! I am thinking a hot pocket of sorts is in order next…however i need to go get some more cassava!
That sounds like a delicious combo!!
Hi Jennifer,
Other than coconut flour, is there anything else that I could add to help with a sticky dough? Coconut, almond and any nut are exiled from this allergy-filled house.
Thank you!
Water chestnut flour works too!
Thanks!!!
Hi Jennifer,
Other than coconut flour, is there anything else that I could add to help with a sticky dough? Coconut, almond and any nut aren’t options for this allergy-filled household.
Thank you!
This recipe looks fantastic! Can I use cassava flour instead of fresh yucca? If so, how much flour do I sub?
Thanks!
I haven’t tried that yet but plan to for my Paleo Kids Book!