Homemade Strawberry Pop-Tarts

Want to make your favorite childhood snack at home? These Homemade Strawberry Pop-Tarts are super easy, filled with strawberry jam and glazed to perfection.

I was feeling kind of nostalgic the other day and I decided I wanted to throwback to my glory days and make some iconic Pop-Tarts!! Strawberry Pop-Tarts to be exact. 

There’s something so satisfying about taking a popular food item, making your own version of it and falling in LOVE with it! We have been making these for years and they needed a little update!

Strawberry Pop-Tarts were such an easy breakfast, snack, or dessert. Now with this homemade recipe, you don’t have to feel as guilty about giving them to your kids or sneaking one for yourself. 

You know the ingredients going into these DIY pop tarts and you can change them up as needed. No hidden ingredients and nowhere near the number of additives as the boxed kind. 

Homemade Strawberry Pop-Tarts are definitely a family favorite treat around my place and I’m so much happier whipping these out than ripping open a box. 

These are also super simple to whip up? Seriously like less than an hour total of cook, chill and assemble time! For real, this is way less time-consuming than jumping in my car and going out to get myself a box….possibly.

Some of our other favorite breakfast recipes we have on our site include: Chocolate Nutella Muffins, Egg in a Hole, and these Cherry Danishes.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

• Takes your favorite go-to breakfast and snack and takes it up a level – these things are HUGE! You only need 1 homemade vs 2 store bought.
• Uses simple pantry staple ingredients.
• This homemade pop-tart recipe comes together in less than an hour from start to finish.  

INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM)

All-purpose flour
Granulated sugar
Butter
Cold water
Vanilla
Strawberry preserves
Powdered sugar
Milk
Red sanding sugar

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY POP-TARTS, STEP BY STEP

1. Add your flour and sugar to a food processor and pulse to combine. 
2. Now add your butter to the processor and pulse again until it comes together. 
3. Add the vanilla and slowly add your water as you turn on the processor. Don’t over mix. 
4. Ball up the dough and cover with saran wrap. Chill the dough for at least 20-30 minutes. 
5. After the dough has chilled, sprinkle flour over the clean work surface. Roll out your dough into a large 1/4″ thick rectangle. 
6. If you have a stencil, use it. Otherwise, grab a pop-tart or something else rectangle and about the size of your desired pop-tarts and start tracing with a knife around the stencil to create 12 equal rectangles. 
7. After done tracing, cut them with a knife and remove excess dough. If you can’t make 12, make as many as you can. Once you’ve cut out as many as you can, roll out the leftover dough to make more. 
8. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray and line with parchment paper. Place 6 of your dough rectangles on the parchment paper. 
9. Add about 2 Tablespoons of strawberry preserves to the center of each pop-tart and spread around the dough. 
10. Place the remaining 6 rectangles as tops of each of your pop-tarts and press the edges together with a fork to seal the tarts. 
11. Make 6 rows of ventilation holes on each pop-tart top so the filling doesn’t escape through the sides. 
12. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool. 
13. Once they’ve cooled, make your icing by mixing the powdered sugar and milk together, 1 Tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency. 
14. Spread the icing onto cooled pop-tarts and immediately sprinkle with red sanding sugar. 

CAN YOU TOAST HOMEMADE POP TARTS?

Unfortunately, I don’t recommend toasting these, the icing will melt. That’s one (and maybe the only!) drawback of homemade vs store bought pop-tarts. 

DO STRAWBERRY POP-TARTS HAVE REAL STRAWBERRIES?

The store bought pop-tarts have a very minimal amount of dried strawberries in them. When you look at the ingredients, it’s actually a letdown that there’s not more.

However, with this Homemade Strawberry Pop-Tart recipe, you use strawberry preserves with bits of strawberries in it.

You can use your own preserves and really know how much strawberries go into making them.

CAN I CHANGE THE PRESERVES? 

Absolutely! Want to make other flavored pop-tarts? No problem. Swap out the preserves and you can swap the sanding sugar if desired.

Some of my other favorite flavors include blueberry, cherry, blackberry, lemon and so much more. You can use your favorite flavors, jam or jelly also works with these.

CAN I USE PREMADE DOUGH?

Yes, you can use premade pie crusts for the dough if you want. You’ll want enough to make the amount that this recipe calls for, so I would recommend at least 2 crusts.

HOW TO STORE

Extra Strawberry Pop-Tarts can be stored in an airtight container for 2-3 days on the countertop. They are the best when you first make them though. 

You can freeze these as well. Wrap them in plastic, then aluminum foil, and store them in a freezer-safe bag for up to 2 months.

Let thaw on the counter before enjoying. Do not microwave to thaw them, the icing will melt and could change the texture and not taste the same. 

TIPS AND TRICKS

• The icing is best when freshly made. If possible, wait to ice the pop-tarts until you’re ready to enjoy them. 
• Adding just a tad lemon juice to the strawberry preserves helps the flavor POP!
• Make and refrigerate the dough earlier in the day so it’s faster to make your homemade pop-tarts. 
• If trying to squeeze more pop-tarts out of the leftover dough, only scrape it all and retry once. If you do it more than that, the dough may change flavor and consistency and will not be as easy to handle.
• You can easily double this recipe if needed to make more pop-tarts. 

Get ready to make everyone get excited while you’re making these Homemade Strawberry Pop-Tarts! They really are the perfect go-to breakfast, snack or quick dessert idea. 

IF YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: 

• Honey Bun Bread Pudding
• Breakfast Crunchwrap
• Homemade English Muffins

If you’ve tried this HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY POP-TARTS RECIPE or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!

Strawberry Pop-Tarts

Want to make your favorite childhood snack at home? These Homemade Strawberry Pop-Tarts are super easy, filled with strawberry jam and glazed to perfection.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 669kcal

Author: Tornadough Alli

Ingredients

POP-TARTS:

• ▢ 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour more for sprinkling
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 cup cold salted butter cut into cubes
• ▢ ½ cup cold water
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ▢ 12 tablespoons strawberry preserves

ICING:

• ▢ 1 cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 1-2 Tablespoons milk
• ▢ Red sanding sugar

Instructions

• Add your flour and sugar to a food processor and pulse to combine.
• Now add your butter to the processor and pulse again until it comes together.
• Add the vanilla and slowly add your water as you turn on the processor. Don't over mix.
• Ball up the dough and cover with saran wrap. Chill the dough for at least 20-30 minutes.
• After the dough has chilled, sprinkle flour over the clean work surface. Roll out your dough into a large 1/4" thick rectangle.
• If you have a stencil, use it. Otherwise, grab a pop-tart or something else rectangle and about the size of your desired pop-tarts and start tracing with a knife around the stencil to create 12 equal rectangles.
• After done tracing, cut them with a knife and remove excess dough. If you can't make 12, make as many as you can. Once you've cut out as many as you can, roll out the leftover dough to make more.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray and line with parchment paper. Place 6 of your dough rectangles on the parchment paper.
• Add about 2 Tablespoons of strawberry preserves to the center of each pop-tart and spread around the dough.
• Place the remaining 6 rectangles as tops of each of your pop-tarts and press the edges together with a fork to seal the tarts.
• Make 6 rows of ventilation holes on each pop-tart top so the filling doesn't escape through the sides.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool.
• Once they've cooled, make your icing by mixing the powdered sugar and milk together, 1 Tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
• Spread the icing onto cooled pop-tarts and immediately sprinkle with red sanding sugar.

Notes

1. The icing is best when freshly made. If possible, wait to ice the pop-tarts until you're ready to enjoy them. 
2. Adding just a tad lemon juice to the strawberry preserves helps the flavor POP!
3. Make and refrigerate the dough earlier in the day so it's faster to make your homemade pop-tarts. 
4. If trying to squeeze more pop-tarts out of the leftover dough, only scrape it all and retry once. If you do it more than that, the dough may change flavor and consistency and will not be as easy to handle.
5. You can easily double this recipe if needed to make more pop-tarts. 

Nutrition

Calories: 669kcal | Carbohydrates: 91g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 260mg | Potassium: 101mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 43g | Vitamin A: 950IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 3mg

Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.

Tried this recipe?Mention @TornadoughAlli or tag #TornadoughAlli!

Nutrition Disclaimer

Originally published March, 2016