Go Back
Print
homemade strawberry pop tarts with strawberry filling, vanilla icing, and sprinkles

Homemade Strawberry Pop Tarts

Homemade Strawberry Pop Tarts have a sweet, slightly flaky pastry, are filled with strawberry jam, and iced with a simple vanilla glaze and sprinkles. This copycat recipe is SO much better than the sickly sweet store-bought version!

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword pop tarts, strawberry pop tarts
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Inactive Time 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yields: 12 pop tarts
Recipe by Tessa Arias

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 2 ¼ cups (290 grams) all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (65 grams) granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
  • ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons (100 grams) cold water
  • ½ teaspoon honey

For the filling:

  • Strawberry Preserves

For the egg wash:

  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons water

For the glaze:

  • 1 ½ cups (188 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 tablespoon corn syrup (about 22g)
  • Sprinkles (optional)

Directions

Make the dough:

  1. Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two sheet trays with parchment and set aside.
  2. In a food processor or large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Pulse lightly, or mix with a whisk, until just combined. Add the cubed butter all at once and pulse for 10-20 seconds, or if mixing by hand, cut the butter into the dry mixture with a pastry cutter for 5-6 minutes, or until the mixture looks sandy and no large clumps remain. Be careful not to overmix as the butter will get too warm.
  3. Pour in the cold water and honey in a steady stream while pulsing the dough mixture in the food processor, or if mixing by hand, pour cold water and honey into the dough mixture and mix, until the mixture comes together and a dough ball has formed. Check the dough to make sure that there are no visible flour or sugar patches, but don’t overmix.
  4. Remove the dough from the food processor or bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Fold the dough 2-3 times and shape into a 1-inch thick, 7-inch diameter circle. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

  5. Once the dough has cooled and rested, flour your work surface to roll out the dough. Roll the dough into a rectangle, about 3 feet in length, 8 inches in height, and about ⅛ of an inch thick. Using a pastry cutter, pizza cutter, knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into rectangles 3 inches wide x 4 inches in height. You should be able to cut between 18-20 rectangles depending on how thick the dough has been rolled.

  6. Lift 8 of the cut rectangles off your work surface with a spatula or bench scraper and place them onto one of the prepared baking sheets. These will be the bottoms of your pop tarts. Brush the dough lightly with water, ensuring that the edges get wet; otherwise the top and bottom dough won’t stick together completely when crimped and the filling will leak out. Fill each center with 1 heaping teaspoon of strawberry preserves, leaving about ¼-inch border from filling to the edge of the dough. Cover each filled pastry with a second dough rectangle and crimp the edges together with a fork. Repeat process with any remaining cut rectangles onto second prepared baking sheet.

Make the egg wash:

  1. In a small bowl, mix together the egg and water.
  2. Brush each filled rectangle with egg wash and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and the pastry is fully baked. Let cool completely before glazing, about 30-45 minutes.

Make the glaze:

  1. While the pop tarts are baking, in a small bowl, whisk together the sifted powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, and corn syrup, mixing until smooth. The glaze should be thick, but not too thick to spread.

  2. Use a spoon or offset spatula to glaze each cooled pop tart. Top with sprinkles of your choice.

  3. Leave to set for 30 minutes to 1 hour before eating, or at least 3 hours (or until they are dry to the touch - this will depend on your kitchen environment) before stacking on top of each other, to prevent the glaze from getting messed up and smearing, or sticking to the bottom of the pop tart placed on top of it.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

Optional: After crimping the edges, you can trim the edges of each Pop Tart with a sharp knife or pizza cutter for a super-straight, perfect finish!