Homemade Pop Tarts are 1000% better than store-bought. A homemade version of the classic breakfast treat for when the kid in you cries out. I’ll show you how to make homemade poptarts 3 ways! Frosted Strawberry Poptarts. Brown Sugar Cinnamon PopTarts. And S’mores Poptarts!
I have to admit I have had more than my fair share of those silvery packaged (ok, I have to admit DRY) crumbly pastry tarts in my day. I always went for the strawberry iced or the brown sugar cinnamon. In my college and barely post college days, I would scarf these down for breakfast, snack, dinner…ok even dinner. Sometimes I even went to great lengths and actually used a toaster oven to heat them up. Most times I didn’t. The toaster took too long. So did making pasta back then. Ha, how times have changed.
Since my boxed pop tart days, I have found great satisfaction in making everything from scratch. It seemed only natural that I would get around to making my own homemade version of the classic breakfast treat. And let me tell you, once you try the homemade version it will be hard to go back and tear open another silver package with your teeth ever again.
As per usual, I couldn’t decide WHICH kind of pop tart to make. Strawberry glazed? Brown Sugar Cinnamon? Or maybe it’s summer (or you’re longing for summer!) and want that S’mores without a campfire. So, I decided not to decide. Isn’t’ being indecisive the best? Ok only in the kitchen is that probably true. I’ve included instructions for all three pop tart versions!
Ingredients for Homemade Pop Tarts
Listed below are the ingredients you need to make all the fun variations!
For The Pie Crust:
- Flour
- Salt
- Butter
- Water
For The Frosted Strawberry PopTarts:
- Jam
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
- Vanilla
For The Brown Sugar Cinnamon PopTarts:
- Brown sugar
- Cinnamon
- Flour
- Glaze
For The S’mores PopTarts:
- Marshmallow fluff
- Hershey’s chocolate bars
- Heavy Cream
- Graham crackers
How to Make Homemade Pop Tarts
Make the crust.
Process flour and salt together in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and process until homogenous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 10 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds with some very small pieces of butter remaining, but there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula.
The crust if ready should hold together when you pinch some of it. If it’s dry and crumbly, then it needs more water.
Then go ahead and wrap the crust in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up the crust and make it cold!
Shape the crust.
Remove one disk of dough from refrigerator and roll out on generously floured work surface to 13 by 9-inch rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Trim dough so that all sides are even and straight. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 8 even small rectangles. Use a ruler if you wish.
Add the filling.
For Frosted Strawberry poptarts place one tablespoon of jam in the center.
For the brown sugar cinnamon filling, simply measure and place all the ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine. Then add a 1-2 Tablespoons to a center of rectangle.
For the S’mores Poptarts, spread about 1 Tablespoon of fluff onto 1 rectangle and then top with Hershey squares.
Top With Another Rectangle And Crimp.
Place another square on top and use a fork to crimp the edges to prevent the filling from leaking out in the oven.
Poke Holes In The Top.
You want to make sure to poke holes in the top of each with the tines of a fork to allow steam to escape as they bake.
Chill. And Egg Wash.
After they are all prepared, place in the refrigerator on a parchment lined cookie sheet to firm up again for another 30 minutes. Then repeat with the remaining dough disk.
Bake.
When ready, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the prepared cookie sheet in the pre-heated oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Place on a cooling rack before applying glaze.
Make icing.
Whichever filling you choose, a good glaze on top is also recommended. I chose a cinnamon glaze for the brown sugar cinnamon, a vanilla glaze for the raspberry jam, and a milk chocolate ganache for the S’mores.
For either glaze option, just combine all the ingredients and stir to combine. You may find you need to add either more powdered sugar or milk to achieve the desired consistency. Then simply spread the glaze on your cooled tarts. For the S’mores I do like to garnish with some graham cracker crumb to give it the authentic S’more taste.
Enjoy!
Tips on Making Homemade Pop Tarts
- Great pie crust is key! Use very cold butter, ice cold water, and don’t overwork the dough.
- Leave A Border. You want to make sure to leave about 1/4-inch border from filling to edge of the pie crust. Otherwise it might leak out!
- Don’t Add Too Much Filling. I add about 1 to 2 Tablespoons MAX of filling. Too much and you risk it leaking out.
- Seal the pop tarts really well. This dough is very tender and flaky. If you find your dough is tearing, just pop it back in the fridge for awhile. Seal it with the tines of a fork to get the best closure.
Recipe FAQ’s
Store pop tarts in an air-tight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. These are really best eaten fresh. If you can’t finish them within a few days, try freezing the leftover for a quick breakfast or snack in the future!
Yes! Once fully cooled, store the pop tarts in an air-tight container or zipper bag and freeze for up to 4 months. Easily reheat them in the toaster straight from frozen.Â
Other Recipes To Try
They say a sign of maturity is being able to delay pleasure for a greater result (or at least that’s what Google told me anyhow).
So clearly a sign of maturity is being able to put down that little cellophane package and bust out your rolling pin and whip up some homemade pop-tarts. So let’s recap. Maturity = making homemade Pop-tarts. Man if only my 23 year old self could see me now…
Homemade Pop Tarts
Ingredients
For the Pie Crust
- 3 cups (360 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 16 tablespoons (2 sticks, 227 g) cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
- 8-10 tablespoons ice water
For The Frosted Strawberry
- 3/4 cup strawberry jam
For The Brown Sugar Cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (107 g) light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
For The S'mores
- 3/4 cup marshmallow fluff
- 8 mini Hershey bars (or 2 regular chocolate bars or milk chocolate chips)
For Vanilla Glaze
- 1/2 cup (60 g) powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon milk water, or cream
- sprinkles for topping
For Cinnamon Glaze
- 1/2 cup (60 g) powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon water milk, or cream
For The Milk Chocolate Ganache
- 3 ounces (1/4 cup) heavy cream
- 1 cup (6 ounces) milk chocolate chips
- graham crackers crumbs for garnish
Instructions
To Make The Pie Crust
- In a food processor or by hand, stir together the flour and salt. Sprinkle very cold butter over the top and pulse for a few seconds or cut the butter with the pastry cutter/fingertips until it is about the size of split peas.
- Sprinkle half of the ice water over the flour mixture and mix gently to dampen flour. Add the remaining water in two stages and continue to pulse or stir until a dough forms. When enough water has been added to allow dough to hold together, gather it into a ball and transfer to lightly floured surface.Press dough into a flat disk, then place in large zipper bag. Refrigerate dough for at least an hour or overnight.Â
To Shape The Pop Tarts
- Cut dough in half. Keep the second half wrapped in plastic wrap and in the fridge. Roll out one half of the dough onto a lightly floured surface to a 13 by 11 inch rectangle (about 1/4 inch thick). Trim dough so sides are even and straight, to a 12 by 10 inch rectangle.
- Cut the dough into eight 5 by 3 inch rectangles.
- Arrange 4 rectangles onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Brown sugar cinnamon: If making brown sugar cinnamon: Simply measure and place all the ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine.
- Add Filling. For each rectangles, place one tablespoon (to 2 tablespoons max) of filling in the center. Spread out but leave a 1/2 inch border. Place another rectangle on top and use a fork to crimp the edges to prevent the filling from leaking out in the oven. Poke the top of each poptart with a few holes with the tines of a fork to allow steam to escape as they bake.
- Refrigerate. After they are all prepared, refrigerate to firm up again for another 30 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough disk.
- Egg Wash and Bake. When ready, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Make egg wash and brush each poptart with a little egg wash. Place the prepared cookie sheet in the pre-heated oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Place on a cooling rack before applying glaze.
Make Glaze
- To prepare vanilla glaze: Combine all three ingredients and stir to combine. You may find you need to add either more powdered sugar or milk to achieve the desired consistency. If making cinnamon glaze, then add cinnamon. Then simply spread the glaze on your cooled tarts. For frosted strawberry, sprinkle on sprinkles.
- For milk chocolate ganache: Heat heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl for about 30 seconds until very hot (but not boiling). Add chocolate chips. Let sit for 1-2 minutes. Then stir until smooth. Frost cooled poptarts and then sprinkle on crushed graham crackers.
Video
Notes
- Great pie crust is key! Use very cold butter, ice cold water, and don’t overwork the dough.Â
- Leave A Border. You want to make sure to leave about 1/4-inch border from filling to edge of the pie crust. Otherwise it might leak out!
- Don’t Add Too Much Filling. I add about 1 to 2 Tablespoons MAX of filling. Too much and you risk it leaking out.Â
- Seal the pop tarts really well. This dough is very tender and flaky. If you find your dough is tearing, just pop it back in the fridge for awhile. Seal it with the tines of a fork to get the best closure.Â
Emily E says
Do you think I could prepare these the day before I want to have them? Not the glaze, obviously, but up to the point of baking? Refrigerate until the next day when I bake?
Heather says
Hi Emily, oh yes definitely! IN fact letting them sit in the fridge overnight will help firm up the pie crust and make for a wonderfully flaky pop tart.
Liz says
These look fantastic! Does the marshmallow fluff stay gooey after baking and cooling or does it firm up a bit? Im looking for a firmer filling than fluff as I dont want to clean it off of everything from toddler/kid hands :/? Thought maybe I could add a bit of pwd sugar if needed. Thanks!
Heather says
Haha completely get it! Firms up a bit but does stay a bit gooey. Just depends on when you dig in! Powdered sugar might help yes.
Kushigalu says
These are so cute and fun. I love all the flavors. Thanks for sharing.
MJ says
We love homemade pop tarts in our house, but never thought to make s’mores flavors until I saw this recipe. SO glad we did! YUM!
Catherine says
These were always a childhood favorite but even as an adult they’re still fun! Homemade is always best…delicious variety here. I think I’ll treat the family to a batch this weekend.
Jamie says
Oh this is so fun to make and I love how there’s 3 flavors! The s’mores is my favorite!
Mandy says
I can NOT get the top rectangle to”pinch” to the bottom rectangle. I followed all of your steps. Used a fork to cinch the edges, they were not adhering to each other so I put them in the fridge for another 30 min then tried to punch them together again and now it’s even worse. Why can’t I get the top and bottom rectangles to seal to each other???
Heather says
Hi Mandy! Sorry to hear you are having issues with sealing the tarts. Colder dough will definitely be harder to seal- so let them warm up a few minutes for the dough to soften the. Try again and then you could also use your finger and dampen the bottom edge with a little water and then place the top
On and try sealing. That might help!
Mandy says
Ohhh okay thank you. I thought you said putting it on the fridge would help. I will try this on the second batch!
By the way, the first batch I made brown sugar cinnamon and while I had problems with the top and bottom of the pop tart sealing together (which caused some of the insides to leak out during baking) they were still delicious!!! I am a pop tart addict being a toddler mom and I’m sick of buying them all the time so I wanted to start making my own and the first trial presented problems but I am definetly going to try again because the taste was amazing!
PS- I did not have parchment paper and just used Pam on the baking sheet and it worked just as well.
Heather says
I do pop them in the fridge before they bake but after they are sealed so it helps firm up the pastry dough a bit – I’ll make sure that’s clear in the instructions 🙂 but I’m so glad you loved them!! And yes I love pop-tarts too but OMG the junk in them so much better making them at home. Glad you loved the recipe!!
Mama Maggie's Kitchen says
Yummy. Yummy. My mouth is watering. I want to eat that! My son will love this, too!
Heather says
He definitely will! Thanks Maggie 🙂
Tristin says
I very, very rarely buy those delicious pre-packaged pop tarts because they are so full bad ingredients. I know exactly what’s going into these and I know my kids are going to LOVE them!
Heather says
Hi Tristin! I couldn’t agree more! Hope your kids love them:)
Addison says
Cue all the nostalgia! These homemade Pop Tarts are just too cute and SO FUN! Love all the flavors!
Heather says
Thanks Addison!
Veronika says
I didn’t have poptarts for so long…. Yours look amazing, going to try to make them this weekend and will let you know how they came out 😉
Heather says
Thanks Veronika! Yes let me know 🙂
Eva says
Not being based in the States, pop tarts are something I did not grow up with. But while I wouldn’t be too drawn to the packaged version (at least now as an adult. Young me would have a different opinion), the homemade ones you present here make me want to bake some! Sounds like fun, and I can’t get the silvery packaged thingies here anyway!
Heather says
Super fun Eva! And way better than the silver ones anyway 😉
Enriqueta E Lemoine says
My kids are both big and tall teenagers, but I bet if I make them these beautiful pop tarts, they are gonna go back on memory lane, to the time in which they loved to have in their school lunch bags. Thanks for sharing.
Heather says
Thanks Erinqueta! Yes it’s such a fun way to take a trip down memory lane!
veenaazmanov says
Delicious and very creative. Kids to love it. Amazing Glaze options too.
[email protected] says
Thanks Veena!
Marta says
Such a clever way to prepare breakfast! They were very easy to make! Instead of s’mores, I filled a few with hazelnut spread (my husband and son love it). We’ll see how they enjoy them tomorrow!
Thank you!
Heather says
Thanks Marta! Yes I LOVE filling them with Nutella as well 🙂