These pop tarts are filled with a smooth blueberry jam, wrapped in a perfectly crisp, flaky pie crust, and topped with a drizzle of blueberry icing. They’re better than the store-bought ones!
Reasons to Make Homemade Pop Tarts:
- Ridiculously delicious without a ridiculous amount of effort required
- Cute as can be
- Perfect back-to-school snack or breakfast
- Because you love yourself
- A portable treat/snack/afternoon pick-me-up
- Did I mention – DELICIOUS
Seriously – these are so good. SO good! The level of ease here is pretty nice too. If you’re comfortable with making homemade pie crust these will be a breeze.
If not, I have lots of photos and tips below and in my pie crust tips post to help you out. If all else fails – you can use store bought pie crust (I won’t tell!).
The filling is made with jam and the icing is made with a little more jam + some powdered sugar + a splash of heavy cream.
How to Make Homemade Blueberry Pop Tarts
Note: I chose to use blueberry jam for mine, but you can sub your favorite flavor – strawberry, raspberry, etc.!
First – we make the pie crust! Cut your butter into the flour using a pastry cutter (this is the one I use)
– it makes this step an absolute BREEZE, add water, use your hands to help it along and form it into two discs. Freeze for 15 minutes. You can do this! There’s no reason to be afraid of pie crust!
Next up, roll out your dough on a floured surface. Cut into rectangles! I made 3x 4 or 5″ ish rectangles and got 12 pop tarts. Don’t worry about measuring them though – I just estimated them for the most part. They weren’t all the exact same size and that’s ok!
Top a rectangle with your jam mixture, brush the edges with egg wash using a pastry brush
, add the matching rectangle on top, pinch the edges together, crimp edges with a fork, brush the whole thing with egg wash, prick holes in the top, and bake!
While they bake, mix up your 3-ingredient icing. Add some crushed freeze-dried fruit if desired – blueberries, strawberries, etc. These are the freeze-dried blueberries
that I used!
Let your pop tarts cool, then drizzle with icing! Enjoy immediately. They’re best eaten the first day or two.
If you won’t go through 12 pop tarts in a day or two (but you probably will) you can definitely cut the recipe in half. On the opposite hand, you can double it if you need to feed a larger crowd!
I’m obviously not going back to school but I mean, do you really even need that excuse to make homemade blueberry pop tarts? I think not! This is the second time that August is coming to an end and I’m not going back to school. It’s the first time for Grant.
I’m glad I’m done with school, but there is a tinyyy little nerdy gene somewhere in my mind that is a little sad that I’ll never head back to school with a fresh, new backpack or take another “first day of school” picture.
On the bright side, my “homework” now consists of making and eating homemade pop tarts. I think I can deal with that.
Happy baking, happy eating, and happy back-to-school for those of you who have kids or are in school!
Did you make this recipe? Snap a photo and leave a comment!
Be sure to follow bluebowlrecipes on instagram and tag #bluebowlrecipes with your photo! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the bluebowlrecipes Facebook page. I’d love to see what you make!
Homemade Blueberry Pop Tarts
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 16 tbsp butter 2 sticks
- 2 tbsp shortening
- 8-10 tbsp cold water
- 3/4 tsp salt
For the Filling
- 1 1/4 cup blueberry jam Or your favorite flavor
- 1 tbsp tapioca starch Or corn starch
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 egg FOR EGG WASH
For the Icing
- 1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 4-5 tbsp heavy cream
- 2 tbsp blueberry jam
- freeze dried blueberries optional
Instructions
- Make the crust: Make one recipe perfect pie crust. Once you've made the dough, form it into two balls, and slightly flatten them into discs. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Make the filling: Add the water and starch to a small bowl and stir together until the starch is dissolved. Add this mixture to a bowl with the blueberry jam and stir until well combined. Set aside. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the egg in a small bowl.
- Assemble the pop tarts: Work with one disc of dough at a time. Move the second one to the fridge after the 15 mins so it doesn't freeze solid. Flour your counter and begin to roll out the disc of dough, turning constantly so it doesn't stick to the counter. Be patient - you're not trying to roll the dough all the way out in one go. Once it's about 12" across, cut the scraggly edges off to make a semi-even rectangle. Cut smaller (3 x 4.5" ish) rectangles out of the large rectangle. Transfer half the rectangles onto the baking sheet. Top each one with 1-2 tbsp of the jam. Brush the edges with the egg wash using a pastry brush. Add a second rectangle to the top, and pinch the edges together to seal the pop tart. Crimp the edges by pressing the tines of a fork into them, all the way around, and poke a few holes in the top with a fork. Brush the whole pop tart with egg wash.
- Bake: Bake for 19-23 minutes, or until the crust is lightly golden brown, and is firm when tapped. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.
- Frost: Mix frosting ingredients together. Crush some freeze dried blueberries and add to the frosting (optional). Spoon dollops of frosting over the cooled pop tarts. (I recommend putting a piece of parchment or wax paper on a cookie sheet and setting your cooling rack with the pop tarts on top of this. It will catch the icing that drips off to save your counters from a sticky mess!). Top with more crushed freeze dried blueberries (optional).
- Serve + Store: Enjoy immediately! These are best the first or second day. The pie crust loses some of it's crisp-ness after that. Store leftovers at room temp, in an airtight container.
Nutrition
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Cami says
Delicious!! But mine puffed up so much. How did yours stay so flat when baking?
Stephanie Simmons says
Hi Cami! I’m not sure – it may have to do with the size of the pieces of butter in your dough, or how much you folded/turned the dough as you were gathering it together. It’s probably not a big deal – as long as they tasted good! 🙂
Kaitlin says
Amazing, amazing, amazing. That crust is everything! We couldn’t stop eating them. Thanks for sharing.
Stephanie Simmons says
Thank you Kaitlin! So glad you enjoyed these. 🙂 They’re definitely a favorite in our house.
Lauren Kester says
I could not be more pleased with how these turned out!! I used freeze dried strawberries and pastel sprinkles to make them “Disco Berry” themed. Not only are they gorgeous but the taste is out of this world! Thank you so much for the recipe! This is going to be a family staple!
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks so much, Lauren! So glad you loved these – and the disco berry theme sounds SO fun!
sarah thomas says
LOVED this recipe! this was my first time making pop tarts, and i’m always hesitant with pastry dough because i’ve never been able to nail it. i subbed the blueberries for marionberry, and they were maybe my favorite baked good i’ve ever made. thank you for such a simple, delicious recipe!
Stephanie Simmons says
Thank you so much, Sarah, for your kind comment! So glad you enjoyed these – they’re one of my favorites too! ❤️❤️
Andrew Mysz says
Planning to make these, freeze, and ship to a convalescent friend. What suggestions would you make about doing this?
Stephanie Simmons says
Hi Andrew! I haven’t tried shipping these before so I can’t speak from experience BUT here are two articles I found that have some good tips for shipping baked goods. I would bake the pop tarts as normal and let them cool fully first. I also think that wrapping each individual pop tart would be a good idea. I also asked a few baking sources online what they think so I’ll leave another comment if I hear back from them! Hope this helps!! 🙂
-https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/heres-the-best-way-to-ship-cookies/
-https://www.ups.com/us/en/services/knowledge-center/article.page?kid=d746b8ce
Stephanie Simmons says
Here’s another link to King Arthur Flour’s website where they talk about how to ship baked goods! https://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2014/10/19/shipping-news/
Lisa says
I’ve made these several times now—always to rave reviews. I’m wondering though, can I make the pie crust dough in advance? Thanks!
Stephanie Simmons says
Hi Lisa! So glad to hear that! ❤️ yes you can – You could make it up to 5 days in advance and store the discs – tightly wrapped in plastic wrap – in the fridge! You could also freeze it for up to 2 months. Wrap the discs well in plastic wrap and a layer of foil, if freezing it. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight before using. Hope that helps! ?
Sally says
I just made these and they were easier than I expected and they’re fabulous! Your pie crust recipe is awesome, especially with the pastry cloth. I’m not very good with homemade pie crust but I think that’s changing with this recipe. I’ll be serving these little cuties to a bunch of teenagers tomorrow and I know they’re going to love them!
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks so much Sally! I’m so glad to hear that you liked these! Pie crust is tricky but I find the more you make it, the better you get at it 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment + rating – appreciate it!
Christian Eissele says
Homemade?! They look SO GOOD! I’m definitely going to have to try this recipe 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks so much! ?
chelsea says
RUNNING home to make these now!!! They look DELISH!!! Thank you so much for the recipe.
Stephanie Simmons says
Haha yay! Thank you so much Chelsea! ❤️
Meggin says
OH MY GOSH…. How delicious!!!!
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks Meggin!
Chef Mireille says
these are way better than store bought pop tarts – what a delicious looking treat! Yum!
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks so much! ❤️
Briana says
Yummy!
dikla frances says
OMG! I love it!!! The crust looks so flaky I can taste it! AND these pies are so pretty! store bought what?
Stephanie Simmons says
Haha thanks Dikla! ❤️
Jacqueline Debono says
I’ve never made pop tarts but yours look so good, I need to try making them! No school age young people in my house, but I’m happy to eat them myself!
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks Jacqueline! ❤️
Stine Mari says
I don’t like the store bought pop tarts, but these – these look amazing!! That flaky crust, omg, I’m drooling right now.
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks so much Stine! ❤️
Stacy Streuli says
This looks like a Pop Tart I’d actually eat, haha!! Love that they are little hand pies.
Stephanie Simmons says
Haha thanks Stacy!
Adriana Lopez Martin says
Nothing like a homemade pop tart with natural fruit and ingredients. Love your version and the topping looks so nice and yummy. I need one!
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks Adriana! ❤️
Vanessa says
Kismet. We were just at a restaurant/bakery the other that made their own pop tarts. Now, here is a recipe just for me… well, it’s for everybody of course but I really wanted to make my own pop tarts so this makes me happy. Thank you!
Stephanie Simmons says
Wow! Too funny! ?? Glad this was timed so well – enjoy! ❤️
Tara says
That blueberry icing on top is so pretty! I’ve had somewhat mixed results with pie crust, so I’ll definitely read through your tips before making these. I always hated going back to school. Now that I’m not a student anymore, I love this time of year – getting excited for fall baking! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Stephanie Simmons says
Haha Tara I feel the same!! I can’t wait to get out the fall decor & candles & recipes! Hope you enjoy the pop tarts ❤️
Haylie Abele says
These look so amazingly delicious and simple! So much better than store-bought! Can’t wait to give these a try! Awesome recipe, Stephanie! <3
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks Haylie!! Hope you love them ❤️
Kelly Anthony says
I love how you added the freeze dried blueberries for a pop of color for the icing. So smart!
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks Kelly! It was a rare stroke of genius ?
Michelle says
What a great idea! And I can probably get the kiddos to make them with me since they will want to gobble them up right away.
Stephanie Simmons says
Yes!! This would be a fun recipe to make with kiddos ?? Enjoy!
Linda says
I used to love PopTarts so much since they’re good for breakfast on the go. But I do love your version better since it’s healthier, fresh, and amazing flavors combo!
Stephanie Simmons says
Exactly why I love these!! I love to treat myself and I always feel better about it if I make it myself!
Amanda says
Oh, my. Those are just adorable, and they look delicious! I need to give these a whirl.
Stephanie Simmons says
Thanks Amanda! ❤️
Gloria says
When my kids were small they LOVED PopTarts. Wouldn’t they be thrilled if I whipped a batch of these!! I know they would taste SOOOO much better than the boxed variety. I think my grandkids would love these too.
Stephanie Simmons says
Agreed!! They’re less “hurt-your-teeth-sugary” which I love! I bet you’ll win Grandma of the century if you make these for your grandkids!