Swap out the unheard processed chemicals for natural ingredients and create a filling with your favorite flavors with our homemade Pop Tarts recipe! We have been revisiting this recipe, creating batch after test batch, modifying it to suit our home kitchen, and yours too!
While this recipe receives updates as we continue to test and improve, we invite you to cook along and share your homemade Pop Tarts with us!
Ingredients
Pastry Dough
Filling
This varies based on the flavor you are looking to make. Below is just a list of optional ingredients you can use to create your filling. For flavor ideas, visit the bottom of the recipe for a list of combos.
Jam flavor of your choosing
Cream cheese, room temperature
Nutella
Peanut butter or Nut butter of your choosing
Chocolate spread
Frosting (optional)
2 cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Sprinkles
Assembly
All-purpose flour (for dusting)
1 large egg, being used for both the frosting and the assembly
Pinch of sea salt
Directions
1. Follow the directions to make the pie crust.
2. Preheat oven to 300°. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 14x10” rectangle.
It is okay if you don't roll your dough into a perfect rectangle. Using a kitchen ruler and butter knife, or a pastry or pizza roller, you can trim the edges, creating a rectangle. Set aside the scraps for later use.
3. Using a kitchen ruler and butter knife, without cutting all the way through the pastry, lightly score straight lines on the dough to make a 4x4 grid, giving you 8 rectangles in total. (If you have more or fewer rectangles, it is completely fine. You can make your Pop Tarts as big or small as you want!) During this step, you can also outline slightly smaller rectangles inside the bottom rectangles as an outline for where your filling will go.
4. Divide filling among the bottom rectangles, about a heaping tablespoon each. Using a small offset spatula or a spoon, spread the filling into an even layer so it fills up the smaller rectangle, leaving about 1/4" of the border exposed.
5. For the top rectangles, prick them with a fork.
6. Crack an egg, separating the egg's white into a medium bowl and placing the egg's yolk into a small bowl. Set aside the egg's white for making the frosting later. Beat to blend the yolk and brush the blended yolk over the pastry, working around the filling.
If you cannot have eggs, you can brush with oil. We used sunflower oil for ours, but any oil of choice will work.
7. Drape the top layer of rectangles over the bottom later, aligning the slabs and pressing firmly around the filling to seal the pastry closed. Use a bench scraper, pastry/pizza roller, or knife to cut down between the rectangles. Using a fork, crimp the edges.
Joe:
With the leftover dough scraps, you can make a smaller pop tart or dumpling. This step is completely optional and an added benefit for a straight out the oven taste test/snack.
8. Space Pop Tarts evenly on a baking sheet and bake until golden underneath and puffed but still pale on top, about 13-15 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet.
9. Add salt to the reserved egg whites and whisk until foamy. Add powdered sugar a little bit at a time, whisking constantly and vigorously until you have a smooth. Using an offset spatula or small icing spatula, spread an even layer on the surface to form a thin and even rectangle, leaving about 1/4" border.
10. Add lemon juice and vanilla to the icing and whisk to combine. Repeat the spreading technique again. Before the icing starts to set, top pop tarts with sprinkles. Let sit at room temperature at least 1 hour to let the icing set before serving.
11. Store the Pop Tarts in an airtight container in the fridge. If you frost your Pop Tarts, let it sit for 24 hours to set. When ready, reheat in an oven at 300° until warmed, about 5 to 8 minutes.
Flavor ideas for filling:
Peanut butter and Jelly
Nutella
Jam flavor of choice
Mixed berry - a mixture of 3 different jams of choice
Peanut butter and chocolate
Cream cheese and jam of choice
Cream cheese and crumbled Oreo cookies
