These easy homemade strawberry pop tarts are next-level delicious! The flaky, buttery pie crust base perfectly complements the sweet and tart flavor of the strawberry jam filling. Finished with a naturally flavored strawberry glaze and crushed freeze-dried strawberries, this homemade strawberry pop tarts recipe is simply divine!
How to Make Flaky Pie Crust
This (5) ingredient flaky pie crust recipe serves as the perfect base for these pop tarts. Here is what you will need to make crust:
Key Ingredients
- Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- Unsalted Butter
- Granulated Sugar
- Salt
- Cold Water
Tips for Making Flaky Pie Crust Recipe
- Keep Butter and Liquid Cold – the idea behind this is to keep the pie dough cold throughout its preparation. A cold pie dough prior to baking results in a flaky, more crisp crust as opposed to a warm dough. To ensure that these ingredients remain cold, I like to keep them refrigerated right until I am ready to use them. For extra insurance, ice cubes may be added to cold water to help keep its temperature cold.
- Butter (Fat) Should be Cut into Varying Sizes – when cutting butter into flour mixture, try to not overly cut/work the butter. The goal here is to cut the butter just enough so that you have a mixture of medium to small chunks of butter incorporated into the dry ingredients.
- Avoid Adding Too Much Liquid – pie crust dough generally does not require too much liquid but just enough to bring the ingredients together and form into a workable dough. To help avoid the error of adding too much liquid, add the liquid a little at a time until pie dough mixture starts to clump up and form into a ball. If you were to squeeze some of the dough in the palm of your hand and it holds its shape without crumbling or breaking apart, then enough water has been added.
- Refrain From Overworking Dough – once pie dough starts to take shape and form into a ball/clump together, stop mixing the dough. Transfer to a work surface and shape into a slightly flattened disk. Dough does not need to be kneaded or overworked in any way. Doing so, will strengthen the gluten in the dough and result in a dense instead of delicate, flaky pie crust.
- Chill Dough Before Using – pie dough in general requires refrigeration before rolling into desired shape and baking. Chilling the dough allows the butter/fat in the dough to firm back up. During the baking process, chilled butter will create air pockets in dough as it melts resulting in a flaky pie crust. I like to take it a step further and freeze shaped dough for 30 minutes before baking just to ensure that butter in dough is fully chilled before hitting the oven.
Homemade Strawberry Jam
For the strawberry jam filling in these pop tarts, I wanted the natural sweet and tart flavor of the jam to shine. With that in mind, I kept things simple and made a homemade strawberry jam consisting of just (3) ingredients with an optional fourth ingredient. Here is what you will need to make strawberry jam from scratch:
Key Ingredients
- Fresh Strawberries
- Granulated Sugar
- Fresh Lemon Juice
- Lemon Zest (Optional)
To make jam, add all of the ingredients into a medium heavy bottom saucepan. Stir ingredients to combine and cook under medium-low heat until all the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium-high and continue to cook strawberry mixture stirring intermittently until it starts to thicken, about 10-15 minutes. Remove strawberry jam from heat. Once the jam has cooled to room temperature, transfer to an airtight container. If strawberry jam is not to be used right away, it should be kept refrigerated.
How to Make Pop Tart Frosting (Strawberry Glaze)
For the best strawberry flavor, strawberry glaze recipe is naturally flavored with some of the remaining homemade strawberry jam. In addition to the strawberry jam, powdered sugar and milk are used to whip up this incredibly easy and oh-so-yummy strawberry glaze! Just enough milk is added to make a glaze that is thick enough to not run off pop tarts but thin enough to spread without difficulty.
How to Make Homemade Strawberry Pop Tarts (Assembly)
- Roll out and cut pie dough into (14) 3×4 inch rectangles.
- Add strawberry jam filling into the center of (7) of the pie dough rectangles.
- Place remaining pie dough rectangles over filling.
- Press the edges of the dough to enclose before crimping pop tarts.
- Brush pop tarts with egg wash and use a fork, toothpick or skewer to make air holes on top of pop tarts.
- Freeze pop tarts for 30 minutes before baking until golden brown.
- Cool pop tarts to room temperature and top with strawberry glaze.
- Sprinkle tops of glazed pop tarts with crushed freeze-dried strawberries, sprinkles or desired topping.
How to Store Pop Tarts
Pop tarts are best eaten the day it is baked; however, leftover pop tarts stored in an airtight container will last 1-2 days in the fridge and 1-3 months in the freezer. When ready to serve, chilled/frozen pop tarts should be heated in a toaster or conventional oven to restore flaky crust texture. I do not recommend heating pop tarts in the microwave as this will make the crust soggy.
Can Flaky Pie Dough be Made in Advance?
Yes, most certainly! Pie dough made in advance and tightly wrapped in plastic wrap will last up to 1 week in the refrigerator and up to 1-2 months in the freezer.
When ready to use pie dough that has been refrigerated for more than 2 hours, simply rest dough at room temperature for 15-20 minutes to soften up dough before using. This will help prevent pie dough from cracking as it is being rolled and shaped.
When ready to use pie dough that has been stored in the freezer, allow frozen dough to thaw either in the fridge or at room temperature until soft enough to roll and shape without cracking.
Can Pop Tarts be Made in Advance?
Yes, they certainly can! Shaped, un-baked pop tarts layered between parchment or wax paper and stored in an airtight container will last 1-3 month in the freezer. When ready to serve, pop tarts may be baked straight from the freezer but will require a slightly longer bake time, about 5-6 more minutes.
Where Can I Find Freeze-Dried Strawberries?
To buy freeze-dried strawberries in person, I would recommend checking out your local grocery or health food store. To purchase freeze-dried strawberries online, then without question, Amazon, is your best option.
Looking for More Scrumptious Eats, Checkout the link Below:
If you make this recipe, please make sure to let me know by tagging me @nourishedendeavors on Instagram or by leaving a comment in the comment section down below so I can find out how this recipe turned out for you! If you have any questions, ask away! I would love to answer your questions! Happy baking!
PrintHomemade Strawberry Pop Tarts
These easy homemade strawberry poptarts are next level delicious! The flaky, buttery pie crust base perfectly complements the sweet and tart flavor of the strawberry jam filling. Finished with a naturally flavored strawberry jam and crushed freeze-dried strawberry, this homemade strawberry pop tarts recipe is simply divine!
- Prep Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes (Not including Refrigeration Time)
- Cook Time: 22 Minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 52 minutes
- Yield: 7 Pop Tarts 1x
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 1/2 Cups (188 g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 Teaspoon Granulated Sugar
- 3/4 Teaspoon Salt
- 10 Tablespoons (5 oz) Unsalted Butter, Cold, Cubed
- 1/2 Cup (120 ml) Cold Water
Homemade Strawberry Jam
- 1 lb Fresh Strawberries, Hulled and Quartered
- 1/4 Cup (50 g) Granulated Sugar
- Juice of 1/2 Large Lemon
- Zest (1) Large Lemon, Optional
Strawberry Glaze
- 1 Cup (110 g) Powdered Sugar, Sifted
- 1 Tablespoon Homemade or Store-Bought Strawberry Jam
- Whole Milk
Assembly
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 Tablespoon Whole Milk or Filtered Water
- Freeze-Dried Strawberries, Optional
Instructions
Pie Crust
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar and salt. Mix ingredients to combine.
- Add cubed butter into the flour mixture. Use hands or a spoon to coat butter pieces in flour mixture.
- Using a pastry cutter, cut butter into flour mixture. The goal here is to end up with butter chunks varying in size from medium to small.
- Gradually, add cold water into flour mixture 1 tablespoon at a time using a fork to gently work water into dough. You will not need to use all of the water just enough to bring dough together. When you are able to squeeze some of the dough in your hand without it falling apart, no more water needs to be added. I used a total of 4 tablespoons of cold water.
- Transfer pie crust dough onto a clean work surface. Equally divide and shape dough into 2 slightly flattened disks.
- Wrap both disks of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-4 hours or overnight. If refrigerating dough overnight, allow dough to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. This will soften up pie crust dough making it easier to roll without cracking.
Strawberry Jam
- In a medium heavy bottom saucepan, add the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and zest (optional).
- Stir ingredients together under medium low heat until all of the sugar is dissolved.
- Increase heat to medium high and bring strawberry mixture to a boil stirring intermittently as it cooks. I like to mash some of the strawberries while leaving some whole as jam cooks but this is optional.
- Strawberry jam is ready once mixture takes on a thickened syrup-like consistency, about 10-15 minutes.
- Remove jam from heat and allow to cool to room temperature in the saucepan before transferring to an airtight container i.e. sealed jar.
Pop Tart Assembly
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small mixing bowl, add and whisk the egg and milk together to combine.
- Working with one disk of dough at a time, transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface.
- Lightly flour the top of dough before rolling into a 7×13 inch rectangle with 1/8 inch thickness.
- Using a ruler and pastry cutter (or sharp knife), trim dough into a 6×12 inch rectangle before cutting into 6 smaller rectangles measuring 3×4 inches.
- Evenly arrange rectangle pieces on the prepared baking sheet and place in the freezer.
- Repeat rolling and cutting process with second disk of dough.
- Combine the scraps from the first and second disks of dough and roll into a rectangle with 1/8 inch thickness.
- Cut out two rectangles measuring 3×4 inches. In total, you should have 14 pie dough rectangles.
- Retrieve baking sheet with the first batch of pie dough rectangles from freezer.
- Using a pastry brush, apply some of the egg wash over the outer edge (about 1/8 inch) of these rectangles. They will serve as the pop tart base.
- Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the strawberry jam into the centers of base rectangles. Slightly spread jam out within border.
- Place the remaining 7 pie dough rectangles over the filling of pop tarts. Gently press the edges together to enclose the filling.
- Using a fork, crimp the edges of all 7 pop tarts before brushing the tops with the remaining egg wash.
- Use a fork or toothpick to prick air holes over the top surface of pop tarts.
- Assemble pop tarts at least 1 inch apart on a large parchment lined baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes to allow the butter in pie dough to firm back up before baking.
- During the last 15-20 minutes of freeze time, preheat the oven to 375F(190C).
- Bake pop tarts for 22-24 minutes rotating the pan halfway through bake time. Pop tarts are ready when pie crust appears golden brown with a flaky texture.
- Cool pop tarts on baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
Strawberry Glaze
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the powdered sugar.
- In a separate small mixing bowl, add the strawberry jam and 2 teaspoons of milk. Whisk ingredients to combine.
- Pour strawberry jam mixture into the bowl with powdered sugar and whisk until a slightly thick but spreadable glaze is achieved.
- If glaze appears too thick, whisk in additional milk, 1/2 teaspoon at a time until a slightly thick but spreadable glaze is reached. (The goal here is to end up with a glaze that is thick enough to not run off the pop tarts but thin enough to spread without difficulty. Glaze should have the consistency of lava.)
- Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the glaze over cooled pop tarts.
- Use an offset spatula to evenly spread glaze over the center surface of pop tarts.
- Sprinkle crushed freeze-dried strawberries or sprinkles over glazed pop tarts.
- Allow glaze to set for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Pop tarts are best eaten the day it is baked; however, leftover pop tarts stored in an airtight container will last 1-2 days in the fridge and 1-3 months in the freezer. When ready to serve, chilled/frozen pop tarts should be heated in a toaster or conventional oven to restore flaky crust texture. I do not recommend heating pop tarts in the microwave.
- Shaped, un-baked pop tarts layered between parchment or wax paper and stored in an airtight container will last 1-3 month in the freezer. When ready to serve, pop tarts may be baked straight from the freezer but will require a slightly longer bake time, about 5-6 more minutes.
- Leftover strawberry jam stored in an airtight container will last 1-2 weeks in the fridge. Jam stored in the freezer will last 1-3 months. When ready to use, thaw jam in the fridge or at room temperature until no longer frozen.
- Freeze-dried strawberries may be purchased from your local grocery or health food store or online from Amazon.
- In place of freeze-dried strawberries, pop tarts may be topped with sprinkles or any toppings of choice.
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