If you enjoyed pop tarts as a child, then you have to try these strawberry pop tarts. These pop tarts taste fresh, buttery, and a lot better than the boxed kind (in my opinion).

For this strawberry pop tart recipe, I created an easy pie dough for the exterior of the pop tart, which smells great in the oven. Each pop tart is stuffed with strawberry preserves, topped with simple icing and rainbow sprinkles.

What you need to make pop tarts

A large baking sheet – this recipe will make six pop tarts. Here’s the GoldTouch brand from Williams Sonoma that I love. I used the three-quarter sized sheet for this recipe.
Food processor – to create a quick pie crust (mostly flour and butter!)
Plastic wrap
A rolling pin
Parchment paper – so our pop tarts don’t stick to the baking sheet.

What kind of preserves should I use?

Find a jar of jam or preserves that consist of real fruit and regular sugar. I grabbed a jar of Trader Joe’s brand strawberry preserves which was great quality. If possible, stay away from a jam that is full of artificial flavors.

The icing on top of the pop tarts is also super simple: just powdered sugar and a touch of milk. That’s all you need!

Can I make different kinds of pop tarts?

Totally! This recipe is specifically for strawberry pop tarts with white icing and rainbow sprinkles, but you can easily replicate a few other flavors:

Blueberry Pop Tarts: swap strawberry preserves for blueberry preserves. The icing and sprinkles can remain the same.
Cherry Pop Tarts: swap in cherry preserves or jam. Swirl a few drops of the cherry jam into the icing to make it light pink. Sprinkle with sugar sprinkles.
Raspberry Pop Tarts: use raspberry jam or preserves. Top with white icing and red sprinkles.

You can make a lot of different renditions of these pop tarts by using the same pie crust process. Feel free to go crazy!

Homemade strawberry pop tarts with pie crust

How to make Strawberry Pop Tart pie dough

In a food processor, add the flour, light brown sugar, granulated sugar and salt. Pulse for a few seconds until smooth.
Chop up your cold butter into little cubes. Add the butter to the processor and pulse again until smooth. Add the ice cold water (about 1 tbsp at a time) and pulse until the ingredients gather into a large dough ball. The batter will still be soft and a bit sticky. If it is feeling absolutely messy and sticky, add a 1/4 cup more of flour and pulse again.
Remove the dough from the processor and knead a couple times with your hands. Slice the dough in half and form the dough into two uniform oval discs. Wrap them both in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Making the actual pop tarts

Flour a work surface and preheat the oven to 350°F. Add parchment paper to the sheet pan. Remove one of the discs from the fridge and while working quickly, unwrap the dough and begin rolling it out into a thin, large rectangle, about 13 by 10 inches. Cut the edges off to form a large and even rectangle.
Cut the dough into smaller, even rectangles. Pick them up carefully and place them onto the parchment-lined pan. You should have about six of them.
Add a heaping tablespoon of the strawberry preserves into the center of each pie crust square. Be sure to leave the edges clean.

Dab the perimeter of each pie crust square with cream. NOTE: This will help the tops of the pop tarts adhere to the bottoms, and it will help prevent the jam from seeping out.
Remove the second pie crust oval from the fridge and repeat the rolling and cutting process. Be sure to cut out six rectangles! Take each top and place it carefully onto each pop tart, smoothing the edges and pressing the edges together gently.
With a fork, crimp the edges around the perimeter of each pop tart. Then poke about four or five small holes in the top of each tart for ventilation. NOTE: This is also important to ensure that your pop tarts do NOT explode. Then place the whole sheet in the freezer to chill for five minutes.
With a brush or your fingers, brush the remaining cream onto the tops of the pop tarts. Then place them into the oven to bake for 30 minutes, or until the pop tarts have firmed up and turned slightly golden. Allow to cool completely.
To make the icing, stir the powdered sugar and whole milk together until smooth.
Drizzle the icing onto each pop tart. Top with rainbow sprinkles. Serve warm or allow the icing to set, about 1 hour.

Do I need to pop these in the toaster?

The answer is NO, since we are baking them. They are already quite flavorful, soft but crisp and jammy. But if you want to give them a bit of heat, I would pop them in the microwave for a few seconds at most. This icing isn’t as forgiving as a boxed pop tart – it melts!

How to store your pop tarts

Be sure to let the icing set, which will take about an hour or so. After that, feel free to stack them into a plastic airtight container. They can be stored at room temperature for 3-4 days.

You can also FREEZE these easily – place them in plastic bags and pop them right in. Let them thaw for about 30 minutes before heating up for a few seconds in the microwave if you want them warm.

Other recipes to try

If you enjoyed these strawberry pop tarts, try out these other recipes:

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