This is a recipe for the best homemade pop tarts ever!! What makes this homemade pop tart SO great? This post also covers how to make pastry dough and how to make buttercream icing…the (not so) secret ingredients!

Are you looking for a Valentine’s Day Treat? Try These Homemade Pop Tarts!

With Valentine’s day around the corner I wondered what kind of cute and delicious treat I could make. I wanted something that would start the day and get you in the Valentine’s Day spirit. Homemade pop tarts seemed like the perfect thing to do just that!

Ingredients for 8 Homemade Pop Tarts:

For the Pastry dough:
– 2 cups flour
– 1 cup of unsalted butter cubed and chilled
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1 teaspoon sugar
– 4 tablespoons cold water

For the filling:
– 8 tablespoons strawberry jam
– fresh strawberries

For the Buttercream Icing:
– 1 cup confectioners sugar
– 3 tablespoons butter (softened)
– 2 tablespoons milk
– 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

How to Make Pastry Dough

If you are wondering how to make pastry dough, this recipe is for sure for you! To make the dough, whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Add in the butter, using a mixer or 2 knives. ‘Cut’ the butter into the flour mixture entirely until it forms even clumps. Add in your water, 1 tablespoon at a time and continue to mix. I find at this point mixing with my hands can be helpful (yes, this is against all pastry making rules, but it works for me!). When the pastry dough is made, gather it into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for about an hour. Now you know how to make pastry dough!

Roll out half of the dough on a clean surface which is lightly floured. Cut rectangles that are approximately 3″x5″. These are the base of your pop tarts. Place your pop tarts evenly on a baking tray that is lined with parchment paper.

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Mmmm, now that you know how to make pastry dough the sky is the limit! I suggest you try this peach galette recipe to start though 😉

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Add Jam to Your Homemade Pop Tarts

Use the strawberry jam of your choice and spread it thinly, 1 tablespoon on each base. Thinly slice strawberries and lay them on top of the jam. This is a lovely fresh touch. Note of caution: if you add too much jam it will spill out the sides of the tart and get all over your pan. If this happens to you, be sure to remove your pop tarts from the pan quickly to prevent them from sticking when the excess jam hardens. (Can you tell this happened to me? hehe!).

Put the jam covered pop tart bases into the fridge to chill while you roll out the top dough. Again, cut the dough into 3″x5″ rectangles and place the tops on jam covered bases. Using a fork, seal the edges of your homemade pop tarts.

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees and place the tray in the bottom half of an oven. Bake until the edges of your homemade pop tarts are slightly brown; it should take about 25 minutes.

How to make Buttercream Icing

Buttercream icing is the best and definitely makes these homemade pop tarts! However, any icing will be great for this recipe so feel free to prepare icing in your desired method. I went for buttercream icing. This is made with confectioners sugar, milk, and butter in the amount listed above. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl completely. I added one drop of red food colouring to make the icing a festive soft pink and topped the homemade pop tarts with heart shaped sprinkles. Allow the tarts to cool slightly before icing.

What could be better than warm homemade pop tarts? Happy Valentine’s Day!

As always, the lovely plates and napkins in my blog post are from Anthropologie!

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