Milk/Cream

Homemade Pop Tarts

September 12, 2014
4
2 Ratings
Photo by londonbakes
  • Makes 8
Author Notes

A layer of bubbling hot jam, sandwiched between flaky pastry and topped with sprinkles -- surely the best way to start the day. —londonbakes

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the pastries:
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 cold egg, beaten
  • 1 tablespoon cold water (optional)
  • 8 tablespoons jam or preserves
  • 2 tablespoons milk or beaten egg, for brushing the top of the pop tarts
  • For the topping:
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons hot water or milk
  • Sprinkles, to decorate
Directions
  1. Place the flour, butter, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times until the butter is pea-sized.
  2. Add the egg and pulse again until the dough starts to come together; if necessary, add a little ice water so that the dough coheres.
  3. Bring the dough together with your hands and knead it a couple of times until it's smooth. Wrap it in plastic and chill it for half an hour.
  4. Once it has chilled, divide the dough in two balls and roll out each part out as thinly as possible.
  5. Cut each piece of dough into eight rectangles, about 3 x 4 inches in size. You may have to re-roll the scraps to get the eight, but it should work.
  6. Place eight of the rectangles on a baking sheet and add a heaping teaspoon of jam or the filling of your choice to the center of each. Place one of the other rectangles over each filling-topped pastry and press down to seal the edges.
  7. Use a fork to get a pretty pattern on the sides, then prick a few holes in each pastry so that the steam can escape.
  8. Place the pastries in the freezer until they're firm. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350° F. When you're ready to bake, brush the pastries with a little beaten egg or milk and put them in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.
  9. Remove to a wire rack to cool. If you want to eat them like a real Pop Tart, enjoy them straight from the oven, while the filling is so hot that it burns your mouth.
  10. Or, leave them to cool a little while you make the glaze by mixing together the powdered sugar and a little hot water or milk until you have a dollop-able consistency. Spread the pastries with the glaze and top with colorful sprinkles.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • amanda russell
    amanda russell
  • Änneken
    Änneken
  • Babette
    Babette
  • Vivian
    Vivian
  • Isobel
    Isobel
Kathryn writes the baking blog London Bakes (www.londonbakes.com) and likes a proper English biscuit to dunk in her cup of tea.

11 Reviews

amanda R. March 22, 2020
Made these today and they are pretty delicious. I made my own strawberry jam and did get 8 pop-tarts, with re-rolling scraps. I brushed them with milk, and sprinkled with sugar, and baked for about 30 minutes total. Then I made a simple sugar and milk glaze to go on top.
 
Änneken November 6, 2016
I made those yesterday and they came out perfectly! I doubled the batch and it yielded 22 pop tarts (3x4 inches). I love that the pastry has only very little sugar in it which creates a great contrast with the sweet jam and icing.
 
Babette October 7, 2014
As hard as it is to forget the sugary, artificial deliciousness of real Pop Tarts, these ones can! They are so buttery and sweet, yet aren't nearly as bad for you as the originals. I recommend using all natural or organic ingredients to reduce the "guilt-factor" and also (if you're feeling extra nostalgic) pair these with hot chocolate and a few episodes of your favorite childhood TV show, and you're good to go! http://babetteandbuttons.wordpress.com
 
Vivian October 5, 2014
Thank you Isobel. I will try these. My granddaughter loves chocolate pop tarts.
 
Vivian October 5, 2014
Hi, if I wanted to use chocolate filling
, how would this work?
 
Isobel October 5, 2014
Hi! I'm not an expert, but I looked this recipe up : http://www.halfbakedharvest.com/homemade-chocolate-fudge-poptarts/
It's a chocolate pop tart recipe and it has instructions for a fudge filling. I think you could probably just use their filling with this recipe and it would work :)
 
Isobel September 30, 2014
This is an amazing recipe. My whole family adored my pop tarts (and they don't even like real pop tarts!)
The only problem is that they really don't make that many. It says 8, but I only got 6 out of the pastry. I would suggest either making 2 x 3 rectangles, or doubling the recipe for the dough.
I used mainly raspberry jam for the filling, but I actually put some rose jam in there. I think the rose jam was from a specialty store and made out of rose petals. It was very strong so I just mixed it in with the raspberry jam. It turned out amazing! I dyed the icing pink and decorated with crystalized roses. It turned the pop tarts into gourmet little pastries!
 
Mandy S. October 26, 2014
I agree, Isobel, I also only get 6 out of it. My son is nuts and didn't like them but I did!
 
Shakirah September 29, 2014
I love that this recipe uses minimal sugar.
 
Riley T. September 28, 2014
But can you put them in the toaster? And can they be savory?
 
Karl R. September 12, 2014
Think I might have to try this next time my nieces are over!