These homemade Puff Pastry Pop Tarts are absolutely adorable and so easy to make with jammy centers and flaky crusts. They're a simple homemade version of the sweet breakfast treat. You can customize the recipe by using your favorite jam or even homemade, then they’re then topped with a powdered sugar glaze / icing that adds the perfect finishing touch.
Ingredients
See below for an overview of the ingredients – full details and ingredient quantities can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Puff pastry: store-bought puff pastry sheets are one of my favorite things – I really like the brands Pepperidge Farms or Dufour.
- Jam: any of your favorite fruit jams! The jam is added as the filling as well as to the icing. I used blueberry in this iteration of it, which is why my icing is purple.
- Egg: for the egg wash, which helps the puff pastry get golden brown when it bakes.
- If you don't want to use egg, you can substitute heavy cream instead.
- Water: to thin out the egg wash.
- Powdered sugar: the base of the glaze.
- Salt: to balance the sweetness of the glaze.
- Whole milk: thins out the glaze.
- Lemon zest: fresh lemon zest brings a nice brightness to the glaze.
Step by step instructions
Learn how to make these homemade pop tarts by reading the steps and referencing the photos below.
1. Roll both sheets of puff pastry dough into 12x10 inch rectangles with a rolling pin, then cut each sheet into 6x equal rectangles (12 total – 6 for top, 6 for bottom).
2. Spoon 1 tablespoon jam into the center of 6 of the puff pastry rectangles, then spread it out using the back of a spoon or knife, leaving ½” border around the edge.
3. In a small bowl whisk together the egg and a dash of water.
4. Brush the egg wash around the edge of each pastry
5. Top each of the 6 pastries with the remaining 6 and crimp the edges using a fork to seal them together.
6. Brush egg wash over the tops of the pastries and slice a slit in the center for some air to escape.
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F for 15 minutes until deeply golden.
8. In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients for the icing.
9. Let the pastries cool a bit and then drizzle over top of each pop tart.
Recipe variations
- Make them savory by using something like a tomato jam or pumpkin butter and adding a bit of brie that’ll get deliciously melty when baked.
- Take them up a notch by using homemade jam, you can really customize the flavors to your preference that way.
- Use different flavored jams based on the season! For example, fig jam in the fall, strawberry jam in the summer, apricot jam in the spring, cranberry jam in the winter.
- For the icing, you can make it your desired consistency by thinning it out with more milk or thickening it with more powdered sugar.
Tips and tricks
- To cut the pieces you can use a sharp knife or even a pizza cutter / pasta cutter.
- You can make these smaller by cutting the puff pastry 12 squares instead of 6 rectangles. Or you can use a cookie cutter to cut into any of your favorite shapes – I would suggest something pretty simple though because they puff up a lot and won't hold the shape of something more intricate very well.
- As opposed to using pre-made puff pastry, if you want to try your hand at making a quick homemade puff pastry, give this recipe a try!
- To defrost puff pastry, I suggest either putting it in the fridge overnight or if you didn’t plan ahead, leave it out at room temperature for about 30mins - 1 hour until it’s pliable.
- If you don't have a rolling pin, you can use any large glass bottle.
- For a little more decoration on top you can add rainbow sprinkles.
Storage
Store these easy puff pastry pop tarts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
FAQs
Jam contains the full fruit, whereas jelly is made with fruit juice.
Make sure you cook them long enough! You want the tops to be pretty deeply golden brown.
Sure! I have not tried it, but I’m sure it would work perfectly fine.
The classic brand is more shortcrust / pie dough adjacent (so the texture is more like a pie crust).
Did you make this recipe? Leave a rating and review below and tag me on social!
📖 Recipe
Puff Pastry Pop Tarts
Ingredients
- 2 sheets of puff pastry thawed
- ¾ cup jam
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 large egg
For the icing
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon jam
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉.
- Roll both sheets of puff pastry dough into 12x10 inch rectangles with a rolling pin, then cut each sheet into 6x equal rectangles (12 total – 6 for top, 6 for bottom).
- Spoon 1 tablespoon jam into the center of 6 of the puff pastry rectangles, then spread it out using the back of a spoon or knife, leaving ½” border around the edge.
- In a small bowl whisk together the egg and a dash of water.
- Brush the egg wash around the edge of each pastry
- Top each of the 6 pastries with the remaining 6 and crimp the edges using a fork to seal them together.
- Brush egg wash over the tops of the pastries and slice a slit in the center for some air to escape.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F for 15 minutes until deeply golden.
- In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients for the icing.
- Let the pastries cool a bit and then drizzle over top of each pop tart.
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