Recipe: Honeybear Bakeshop’s Brown Sugar Pop-Tart Cookies
September 30, 2024
Honeybear Bake Shop’s Hannah Neville shares a cookie recipe inspired by the popular breakfast treat.
by Asha Ellison | photographs by Justin Driscoll
There are some things a person never forgets: their first kiss, their favorite book — and their preferred breakfast pastry while growing up. Hannah Neville, 34, was definitely a Toaster Strudel kind of girl. And there was nothing in the world that could change that.
As a formally trained pastry chef, Neville, who is also owner and head “cookie monster” of Charlotte’s beloved Honeybear Bake Shop, has always been passionate about baking. Making magic, and messes, in the kitchen comprise some of her fondest memories.
“I tried a bunch of recipes,” Neville laughs. “I destroyed my mom’s kitchen!”
As she got older, the Virginia native plugged herself into baking shows, falling in love with Gale Gand’s “Sweet Dreams” on The Food Network. In high school, while her classmates buzzed about where they planned to attend college or contemplated future careers, Neville applied to pastry school, with a dream of someday having a bakery of her own.
After graduating from the renowned Culinary Institute of America, Neville rose through the ranks in the fine-dining industry. Just before the pandemic, while working at uptown’s Ritz-Carlton hotel, Neville realized her true calling: creating unique and delicious cookies.
“They’re just fun,” Neville says. “And I know how to make really good ones.”
In 2020, inspired by a cookie-maker she discovered in Nashville, Tennessee, Neville decided Charlotte needed a cookie shop of its own. That summer, she launched Honeybear Bake Shop out of her apartment, endearingly named for her husband Ethan (a Pop-Tart kind of guy). It was a booming success, and within a few months Neville moved operations to a shared-use commercial kitchen to keep up with demand.
“When my husband asked me if I could turn a Pop-Tart into a cookie, I was like, ’Ew, why would anyone do that’? Toaster Strudel is better.’” After taste-testing the store-bought breakfast pastries, she eventually landed on the right recipe. “It’s led to more Pop-Tart cookie flavors, and more creative cookies in general,” Neville says.
Today, customers can shop Honeybear’s online store to purchase individual cookies (there’s a $12 minimum per online order) or Neville’s weekly themed boxes — recent offerings include a box based on the book “It Ends With Us” and a collab with Two Scoops Creamery. Honeybear Bake Shop can also be found at the Matthews Farmers Market on Saturdays, at local retailers such as Green Brothers Juice and Rhino Market (uptown and Morehead locations), and at local pop-ups. Some of the cookies (boxes, too) can be shipped nationally.
“I hope I never run out of ideas,” Neville says. “When you try a Honeybear cookie, you’re experiencing something you’ve never had before. And I think it’s so sweet that my husband is included in this in so many ways.”
As it turns out, a Toaster Strudel girl can learn to love something new after all — and she’ll even share the recipe with you, too.
Brown Sugar Pop-Tart Cookies
Yields 6 cookies
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (3 sticks or 12 ounces)
1/2 cup cream cheese
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
4 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups, plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons milk powder
1 box of Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts (8 each)
Brown-sugar filling (recipe below)
Cinnamon glaze (recipe below)
SUPPLIES:
Nonstick baking spray
Ice cream scoop
Baking sheet
1. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar on medium-low speed for 5-7 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl so there are no lumps. If the mixture is still lumpy, continue mixing another 3-5 minutes until smooth.
2. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla extract to mix until combined,
scraping the sides.
3. Add flour, salt, baking soda, milk powder and cornstarch. Mix until the dough comes together. Scrape the sides and the bottom
of the mixing bowl to make sure all butter and flour have been
combined completely.
4. Crumble Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts until you have small, bite-sized pieces. Pulse Pop-Tarts into the dough until small chunks remain.
5. Scoop dough into round balls using a 4-ounce ice-cream scoop.
6. Smash the dough balls into a pancake shape and fill with a teaspoon of brown sugar filling (recipe below). Then, roll into a ball. During this process, nonstick spray will be your friend!
7. Refrigerate dough for 30-60 minutes.
8. Set the oven to 350 degrees. Place six cookies on a baking pan and bake for 16 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
9. Allow cookies to cool 15-30 minutes before glazing.
10. Top each cookie with about 1 tablespoon of glaze and spread to cover the cookie. Enjoy!
Brown sugar filling
3/4 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons melted butter
1. In a medium bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon and flour.
2. Melt butter in a microwave-safe bowl for 30-60 seconds. Add melted butter to the brown sugar mixture and stir until combined. Use right away, or store until needed.
Cinnamon glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/5 tablespoons half-and-half
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. In a medium bowl, add all the ingredients and whisk until combined with no lumps. Use right away or set aside in a bowl covered with plastic wrap until needed. SP
