As the before or after school snack of so many childhoods, pop tarts have a special place in our hearts. With an ever-changing variety of flavors, shiny foil wrappers, and quite possibly the easiest preparation ever, store-bought pop tarts might seem hard to beat–but today’s recipe proves otherwise! My homemade strawberry pop tarts have a delightfully flaky (not crumbly) golden brown crust, a bright strawberry jam filling, and a firm, tasty icing that is totally foolproof. Oh, and did I mention they have no preservatives, artificial colors, or artificial flavors? Once you taste these, you won’t be reaching for the store-bought version anytime soon! When developing this recipe, I opted to use my versatile and foolproof homemade pie dough for the crust. Not only is it buttery and tender, it’s also SO simple to bring together with absolutely no guesswork required. The strawberry jam filling is quick and easy too, taking just a few minutes on the stove. And finally, the glossy, perfectly-set icing is the same one I use on my easy sugar cookies–it tastes so much better than royal icing! Top them off with your favorite sprinkles, and you’ve got yourself a delicious homemade breakfast, snack, or dessert. Let’s get started!
What You Need
While they’re not as simple as tearing and toasting, these homemade strawberry pop tarts are still easy to make. Here are some of the key ingredients you’ll need:
Flour. Use all-purpose flour. As you work with the dough, you may need to add more flour to keep it from sticking. Sugar. You’ll need granulated sugar for the crust and filling, and powdered sugar for the icing. Butter. While you can use either salted or unsalted for the filling (only a ½ Tablespoon), you should stick with unsalted butter for the crust–and it should be very cold.Sour cream. Sour cream adds moisture, binds our crust together, and infuses a lovely flavor. Don’t worry, you won’t actually taste the sour cream itself!Cornstarch. Corn starch helps thicken the filling so it becomes its own layer. No soggy crusts here!Strawberries. While I’m using fresh strawberries today, I’ve also included instructions on how to use frozen fruit below. Also, if strawberry isn’t your thing, you can use another berry, or you could even use one of the filling suggestions from my hand pies.Lemon juice. Just a small amount of lemon juice brightens the flavor of the strawberry filling. Egg. Before and after we fill our homemade pop tarts, we’ll brush them with an egg wash. Yes, we’re brushing both sides! Putting egg wash on the inside keeps the filling from soaking into the crust, ultimately helping us achieve a crisp crust throughout. Brushing egg wash on the outer crust adds a nice golden color. Corn syrup. For a glossy, firm-setting icing, you’ll need a little corn syrup. For those concerned, this is NOT the same as high-fructose corn syrup! I love using this ingredient for a firm, but not too hard, glossy icing. If you really must skip it, you can, but your icing won’t set as firm and won’t be shiny. Milk. To make sure our icing is spreadable, we’ll add some milk. You may need more than I call for if you decide to skip the corn syrup.Sprinkles. These are optional, but really, what’s a strawberry pop tart without the sprinkles?
SAM’S TIP: If you’re looking for more of a toaster strudel result, you can use the same filling with a double batch of my puff pastry dough or a store-bought puff pastry. Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Homemade Strawberry Pop Tarts
Making the Crust
Filling
How to Assemble Homemade Strawberry Pop Tarts
SAM’S TIP: Unlike store-bought pop tarts, once these have been frosted they won’t hold up in a toaster (the icing will melt right off). I like to pop mine in the microwave for a few seconds–but just know that the icing becomes pretty melty when heated. Enjoy!
More Homemade School Snack Recipes You Might Like
Cosmic BrowniesCheese CrackersRice Krispie Treats RecipeHomemade Granola Bars
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
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