Homemade Pop Tarts
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Delicious 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. These strawberry pop tarts are homemade and a must try!
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 pop tarts.
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 the days of store-bought pop tarts, I have found great satisfaction in making pop tarts from scratch. Like these Smores pop tarts, or these chocolate fudge pop tarts. 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.
Homemade strawberry pop tarts were my go to pop tart. I couldn’t resist the frosted store-bought kind with the strawberry jam filling.
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Table of contents
Why This Recipe Works
- So much better than store-bought pop tarts! These have so much flavor, and a wonderful flaky pastry.
- Can easily be frozen for later. If you don’t want to eat them all at once you can freeze these, baked or unbaked.
- Made with strawberry jam but you can customize these to whatever you want!
Ingredients Needed
Note: The entire recipe, with ingredient quantities and recipe directions can be found at the bottom of the page. Scroll to the bottom or click “Jump To Recipe” button at the top of the post.
- Flour– Use regular all-purpose flour. Be sure to measure the flour correctly.
- Salt
- Butter – You want to use cold unsalted butter for a flaky pie crust. If using salted butter, omit the added salt. Read more here about unsalted butter vs. salted butter.
- Water – Use ice cold water.
- Strawberry jam – You can use any jam you like here!
- Powdered sugar – If you have run out, try making your own homemade powdered sugar.
- Milk – Any milk will work here.
- Vanilla
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.
You can also make the pie crust by hand using a pastry cutter and work in the butter this way.
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!
Assemble the pop tarts
Remove one disk of dough from refrigerator and using a floured rolling pin, roll out on lightly 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.
Place one tablespoon of jam in the center.
Place another square on top and use a fork to crimp the edges to prevent the filling from leaking out in the oven.
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.
After they are all prepared, place in the refrigerator on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet to firm up again for another 30 minutes. Then repeat with the remaining dough disk.
Before baking be sure to brush on the egg wash.
When ready, preheat the oven to 375oF (190oC). 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 icing.
Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl 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.
Recipe Tips
- Great pie crust is key! Use very cold butter, ice cold water, and don’t overwork the pie 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.
Storage Instructions
Store pop tarts in an airtight 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!
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.
Recipe FAQ’s
You absolutely can. Or even try using puff pastry!
For store-bought pop tarts, they are already baked so you are just simply warming up the sweet strawberry filling but for these they need to baked first because of the raw pie dough.
Pop tarts are a classic breakfast pastry made from two rectangular pie crusts, and filled with some sort of sweet filling. A glaze is usually drizzled over the top. There are many flavors and varieties now available in the grocery store.
More Recipes To Try
If you are craving more homemade breakfast treats then be sure to try my chocolate pop tarts made with a chocolate pastry and rich chocolate filling and glaze.
Of course you can’t go wrong with my apple turnovers, cherry turnovers or blueberry turnovers!
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Homemade Pop Tarts
Ingredients
For the Pie Crust
- 3 cups (360 g) unbleached all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 16 tablespoons (2 sticks, 227 g) cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
- 8-10 tablespoons ice water
Filling
- ¾ cup strawberry jam
Egg Wash
- 1 egg mixed with 1 Tablespoon water
Glaze
- ½ cup (57 g) powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon milk (or you can use water, or cream)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- sprinkles for topping
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. 3 cups (360 g) unbleached all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 16 tablespoons (2 sticks, 227 g) cold unsalted butter 8-10 tablespoons ice water
- 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.
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.
- 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. ¾ cup strawberry jam
- 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℉ (190℃). 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. 1 egg mixed with 1 Tablespoon water
Make 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. Sprinkle on sprinkles. ½ cup (57 g) powdered sugar 1 Tablespoon milk ½ teaspoon vanilla extract sprinkles
Video
Notes
- Recipe Updated: If you’re looking original recipe that was pop tarts 3 ways, you can find the brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts here, or the Smores pop tarts recipe here.
- Storage: Store pop tarts in an airtight 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! 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.
- 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.
Could you use store bought dough? I don’t have a food processor. Thanks!
Hi Bre, you definitely can! Or you can make your pie crust by hand as well. Hope that helps!
Do you have a recommendation on how to add some sort of protein into the filling? My daughter loves these but I’d love to be able to get some protein in her on our busy mornings
Hi Alex, not sure about adding direct protein but you could always make a savory version with scrambled eggs and cheese in the middle!
Can they be frozen?
absolutely!
Are these able to go in a toaster?
You want to bake these in the oven, not in a toaster – the pie crust wouldn’t fully bake and probably fall apart in a toaster.
Alissa Segersten holds a Four year certification in scientific studies’ in Sustenance from Bastyr College and an Expert’s of Science in Human Nourishment and Practical Medication from the College of Western States. She is a Useful Nutritionist, the mother of five youngsters, an entire food sources preparing educator, proficient recipe engineer, and cookbook writer.
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?
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.
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!
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.
These are so cute and fun. I love all the flavors. Thanks for sharing.
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!
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.
Oh this is so fun to make and I love how there’s 3 flavors! The s’mores is my favorite!
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???
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!
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.
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!!
Yummy. Yummy. My mouth is watering. I want to eat that! My son will love this, too!
He definitely will! Thanks Maggie 🙂
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!
Hi Tristin! I couldn’t agree more! Hope your kids love them:)
Cue all the nostalgia! These homemade Pop Tarts are just too cute and SO FUN! Love all the flavors!
Thanks Addison!
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 😉
Thanks Veronika! Yes let me know 🙂
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!
Super fun Eva! And way better than the silver ones anyway 😉
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.
Thanks Erinqueta! Yes it’s such a fun way to take a trip down memory lane!
Delicious and very creative. Kids to love it. Amazing Glaze options too.
Thanks Veena!
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!
Thanks Marta! Yes I LOVE filling them with Nutella as well 🙂