• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Start here
  • Baking 101
  • Recipes
  • Shop

The Bake School

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Start here
  • Baking 101
  • Recipes
  • Shop
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Start here
    • Baking 101
    • Recipes
    • Shop
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Breakfast recipes

    Published on: June 3, 2015 by Janice; Updated on: January 30, 2023 13 Comments

    How to make homemade Pop-Tarts

    1.2K shares
    • Facebook52
    • Yummly
    • Email
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Learn how to make homemade Pop-Tarts, including the process and steps to get to this recipe. I did a lot of tests to get the filling for pop-tarts just right.

    Rhubarb apple pop tarts

    I don't know why, but I thought this recipe for homemade pop tarts would be easy to develop. Hah! I'm funny that way. Of course, I was absolutely wrong!

    Developping a pop tart filling
    Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    The filling

    Pop-Tarts have a jammy, thick filling. Starting with a homemade (or store-bought) fruit compote like a rhubarb apple compote (with a few raspberries thrown in to help the compote achieve a pretty pink hue) is too watery to fill them.

    • mix it with cornstarch or a thickener, and heat it to get that cornstarch to thicken it—not recommended. This doesn't work super well and the Pop-Tarts end up hollow.
    • cook it down to a thick fruit butter (like apple butter)—recommended! Boiling it down to remove as much water as possible until it is super thick, almost like a fruit paste just on the verge of caramelizing works well to make a filling.
    Making rhubarb apple pop tarts

    Minimizing puffing in the oven

    The puffing led me to believe that maybe I also should bake from frozen so as to minimize the ability of the pastry to lift upwards before setting. So I tried that, but I still wasn't satisfied and I didn't like how the top pastry appeared slightly under-baked.

    Homemade pop tarts with rhubarb apple filling and sprinkles

    I also tried baking at a higher temperature and baking at a lower temperature. At a higher oven temperature, the pop-tarts burned too fast. At a lower oven temperature, the pop-tarts just looked funny.

    Hollow homemade pop tart

    Getting the pastry right

    Then I started to tweak the pastry dough recipe because I noticed it was a bit sticky as I rolled it, so I made two half-batches of dough, one using the sanding method and the other using the creaming method, and both with less milk added at the end. Both versions of the crust seemed pretty similar to me once baked. Perhaps the dough made by the "sanding" method might have been ever so slightly sandier (duh!).

    I also tried docking the top pastry layer extra before baking with the hope of venting them better. That might have worked, but it also resulted in a more broken top pastry layer.

    Rhubarb apple butter

    I can say that cooking down the compote into a rhubarb apple butter was brilliant. The filling tastes a lot like tart rhubarb but mellowed by the apple, and it is absolutely dreamy when sandwiched between two pieces of sweet pie crust.

    I can say that with less milk added to the crust recipe, there was less puffing in the oven, or rather there was puffing and cracking, which helped let steam escape. I suppose with more milk, the hydrated starches glue the dough better, leading to puffing of the dough that doesn't crack or break as easily. I noticed this while rolling as well: the dough with less milk was a touch more fragile. I guess it's a little "shorter" in texture.

    Full homemade pop tart

    If you try this recipe, please let me know how it goes. I did my best to get it right, but after a while, I also hit a point where I was saturated and couldn't see straight. Or if you have suggestions on ways of improving this, I'm all ears! And if this story sounds familiar, that's because I also toiled over other hand-pie recipes, like these blueberry almond mini pies and these blueberry hand pies. Don't worry, if you don't have the patience for pop-tarts and hand pies, there are also lots of full-sized pie recipes to explore!

    • sliced maple apple pie
      Maple apple pie
    • Bacon and egg pie with a decorative spiral pie crust
      Bacon and egg pie
    • Maple syrup custard pie
      Maple syrup pie
    • Milk Bar pie sliced and ready to serve.
      Milk Bar pie (formerly Crack pie)
    Homemade pop tarts with rhubarb apple filling and sprinkles
    Save Recipe Saved! Print Pin
    5 from 6 votes

    Rhubarb apple pop tarts

    Prevent your screen from going dark
    You can make pop tarts at home. First make a thick fruit butter, like the rhubarb apple butter (recipe below) and a pastry dough, then assemble and bake. These pop tarts are glazed and decorated sprinkles.
    Course Breakfast
    Cuisine American
    Prep Time 45 minutes
    Cook Time 22 minutes
    Total Time 1 hour 7 minutes
    Servings 12
    Calories 252kcal
    Author Janice

    Ingredients

    For the dough

    • 250 grams bleached all-purpose flour, 2 cups
    • 50 grams granulated sugar, ¼ cup
    • ¾ teaspoon Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
    • 125 grams unsalted butter, diced and kept cold
    • 1 large egg yolk(s)
    • 60 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat), you may need up to 85 mL or ⅓ cup

    For the pop tarts

    • 188 mL rhubarb apple butter, ¾ cup
    • 1 large egg(s), whisked

    For the glaze (optional)

    • 125 grams icing sugar, 1 cup
    • 1 tablespoon whole milk (3.25 % fat), hot
    • 1½ tablespoon corn syrup
    • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • Rainbow sprinkles

    Instructions

    To make the dough

    • In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, and salt. Drop in the cold butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a crumble. Add the egg yolk and half the milk, and pulse. Add more milk as needed until the dough comes together in the food processor.
    • Divide the dough in 2, patting and pressing each half to combine and form rectangles. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill for at least 45 minutes.

    To assemble and bake the pop tarts

    • Working with half the dough, roll it out very thin into to a large rectangle and trim into a 9"x16" (if you can, if not, don't worry). Cut into 12 pieces that are ~3"x4" (or if your dough is too uneven, cut less pieces and reroll the scraps!). Brush 6 of the pieces with the whisked egg and dollop 1 tablespoon of rhubarb apple butter along the center of each, leaving a border. Top each with another rectangle of pastry and press the edges to really seal them. Transfer to a parchment lined tray and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
    • Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Transfer the chilled pop tarts to a parchment-lined baking sheet and dock the tops of each to make lots of little air holes for steam to escape. Bake for about 20 or so minutes until the edges are golden brown. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
    • Repeat to form 6 other pop tarts with the other half of the dough.

    To decorate the pop tarts

    • Make the glaze by whisking the hot milk into the icing sugar with the corn syrup and the vanilla. The glaze will be thick but fluid. You can add a couple drops of lemon juice to help perk up the flavour.
    • Spread a thin layer of glaze on top of each pop tart and top with a generous amount of sprinkles.
    Give backIf you enjoy the free content on this website, say thank you!
    Tried this recipe?Mention @bakesomethingawesome or tag #bakesomethingawesome!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 252kcal
    Homemade pop tarts with rhubarb apple filling and sprinkles
    Save Recipe Saved! Print Pin
    5 from 6 votes

    Rhubarb apple butter

    Prevent your screen from going dark
    This is an easy recipe for thick rhubarb apple butter, which is a very thick fruit compote that can be used to fill pop tarts, breakfast streudel pastries, and hand pies
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Cook Time 25 minutes
    Total Time 35 minutes
    Servings 2 cups
    Calories 29kcal
    Author Janice

    Ingredients

    • 525 grams McIntosh apples, 4 cups peeled and chopped
    • 450 grams fresh rhubarb, 4 cups chopped
    • 2 tablespoon water
    • 10 Fresh raspberries
    • 150 grams granulated sugar, ¾ cup

    Instructions

    • Combine all the ingredients in a large soup pot and heat on medium–high. Bring the mixture to a boil.
    • Mash the fruits with a potato masher and continue simmering the compote on medium heat until it's reduced to about 2 cups. The compote will get very, very thick, and you will be able to run a wooden spoon through it and form a pretty stable groove. It will be thick like tomato paste almost.
    • Cool overnight in the fridge
    Give backIf you enjoy the free content on this website, say thank you!

    Notes

    Calories calculated based on 1 tablespoon (15 mL) serving of rhubarb apple compote
    Tried this recipe?Mention @bakesomethingawesome or tag #bakesomethingawesome!

    Nutrition

    Calories: 29kcal

    More Breakfast recipes

    • A jar of homemade milk jam viewed from the top to show the gooey, thick texture.
      How to make dulce de leche
    • A cinnamon raisin bun on a black plate being eaten, with a cup of coffee on the side.
      Cinnamon rolls with raisins
    • Waffles on a plate with maple syrup and a pat of butter.
      Easy waffle recipe
    • Homemade maple butter
      How to make homemade maple butter
    1.2K shares
    • Facebook52
    • Yummly
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    Baking resources

  • Baking conversion charts
  • Baking ingredients and pantry staples
  • Baking substitutions
  • Common baking conversions
  • Choosing baking pans
  • How to measure ingredients for baking
  • Mixing methods
  • Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Amy @ What Jew Wanna Eat says

      June 03, 2015 at 9:26 am

      These look absolutely perfect! All your hard work and pop tart eating paid off 🙂

      Reply
    2. Courtney @ NeighborFood says

      June 03, 2015 at 11:26 am

      I have so been there before with a recipe I'm testing. Usually by the time I get it right, the thought of eating any more of them is so unappealing I have to give all the perfect ones away. These look like your hard work and serious taste testing paid off though! They're so lovely, and I'm sure that rhubarb filling is just tangy and divine!

      Reply
    3. Olivia @ livforcake says

      June 03, 2015 at 11:58 am

      Well these look absolutely adorable and delicious! I admire you for sticking with it, I would have given up after eating the first 11 pop tarts, hah! The final product turned out perfect!

      Reply
    4. Joanne B says

      June 03, 2015 at 3:24 pm

      Where did you find rhubarb? I live in Montreal and have been looking for it. I want to make an upside-down rhubarb cake, a la Martha Stewart, for my daughter's birthday this weekend.

      Reply
      • Janice says

        June 03, 2015 at 3:36 pm

        I saw some at the Atwater market yesterday, actually. This rhubarb came from my mother's garden though.

        Reply
        • Joanne B says

          June 03, 2015 at 3:53 pm

          Thanks! I'll go tomorrow.

          Reply
    5. janet @ the taste space says

      June 04, 2015 at 8:10 am

      Good on you for continuing to find the best recipe.. but I am curious, is it developing or developping?

      Reply
      • Janice says

        June 04, 2015 at 6:04 pm

        Oh my! It's definitely "developing". How embarrassing! Remember that article in the NY Times that explained how self-editing is difficult because your brain sees what it knows you meant to write, and not actually what you wrote? I'm going with that as an excuse 😉

        Thanks for letting me know, Janet! I'll fix it now.

        Reply
    6. Helene Meurer says

      June 04, 2015 at 5:06 pm

      Well, I REALLY appreciate that you shared the development process on these. We as readers learned so much more this way. I love love love the ingredients and concept of these and will definitely try... but it may have to wait till next year because here on Vancouver island we are well past rhubarb season 😉

      Reply
      • Janice says

        June 04, 2015 at 6:05 pm

        Our rhubarb season is so much later than yours. It's so funny. But once the rhubarb hits the market, we can find it 'til August even!

        I bet this would work with any kind of apple+berry butter too. Or even a good quality apple butter from the market 😉

        Reply
    7. Teresa says

      June 05, 2015 at 3:34 pm

      Even if they're not perfect, those pop tarts look perfect. And it sounds like you had a very delicious round of experimentation, if nothing else!

      As for the dough, I wonder if something a little more like a galette dough might work.

      Reply
    8. Shareba says

      June 12, 2015 at 9:40 pm

      These look amazing! I've been looking for a good pop tart recipe, so I'll be trying this recipe soon! I'll probably go with a straight up strawberry filling though.

      Reply
    9. Natalie Dawn says

      May 18, 2018 at 8:16 am

      How long would this rhubarb butter keep for please I j'adore rhubarb X

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    This is a picture of Janice Lawandi

    Hi, I'm Janice! I am a baking-obsessed recipe developer with a PhD in Chemistry who writes about baking and the science of baking.

    More about me →

    Give back

    If you enjoy the free content on this website, consider saying thank you!

    Eggless chocolate cake

    Chocolate layer cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate sprinkles on a cake stand.
    Learn to make an eggless chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting!

    Bake for Easter

    • Mini Eggs cookies cooling on a wire rack.
      Easy Mini Eggs cookies
    • Mini Egg bars cut into squares and served on small plates with a glass of milk on the side and a bowl of Mini Eggs.
      Mini Eggs blondies
    • Brownies decorated with Easter eggs cut into squares to serve.
      Easter brownies with Mini Eggs
    • Freshly baked carrot muffins being served on plates with butter.
      Moist carrot muffins
    • A slice of carrot cake layer cake with cream cheese frosting on a pale blue plate with a fork and striped linen napkin.
      Eggless carrot cake
    • Hot cross bun on a pink plate split open and served with butter.
      How to make hot cross buns for Easter weekend

    Bake with citrus

    • Lemon loaf cake topped with lemon icing and fresh raspberries being sliced to serve it
      Lemon loaf cake
    • Jars of homemade lime marmalade on a cooling rack.
      Lime marmalade
    • Pavlova cake filled with whipped cream, lemon curd, and raspberries being served.
      Pavlova
    • Orange pie with saltine crust and topped with orange marmalade glaze.
      Orange pie
    • A pot of homemade marmalade ready to be canned in jars.
      Orange marmalade
    • A pink glass plate with lemon bars.
      Easy lemon bars

    Baking conversions

    Buy the baking conversion charts NOW!

    How to poach pears

    Poached pears on an enamelware plate.
    This easy poached pears recipe is simple and you can use the poached fruit for salads, appetizers, and desserts!
    This is a picture of Janice Lawandi

    Hi, I'm Janice! I am a baking-obsessed recipe developer with a PhD in Chemistry who writes about baking and the science of baking.

    More about me →

    Give back

    If you enjoy the free content on this website, consider saying thank you!

    Eggless chocolate cake

    Chocolate layer cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate sprinkles on a cake stand.
    Learn to make an eggless chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting!

    Bake for Easter

    • Slices of chocolate babka bread
      Dark chocolate babka for Easter
    • carrot focaccia with feta and almonds
      Carrot focaccia
    • Let's bake with carrots-
      What to bake with carrots
    • Button-shaped cookies - Honey flavoured cookies
      Honey sugar cookies (cut-out cookies)
    • carrot cake
      Glazed carrot cake

    Bake with citrus

    • A pink plate filled with lemon shortbread cookies and with a yellow napkin.
      Lemon shortbread cookies
    • Pink grapefruit marmalade on toast on a plate with a striped linen.
      Grapefruit marmalade
    • Slices of orange cranberry cake served on pink glass plates with forks.
      Orange cranberry bundt cake
    • Rubbing lemon zest into granulated sugar in a bowl to make lemon sugar.
      How to make lemon sugar
    • Drizzling lemon cranberry muffins on a wire rack with lemon icing.
      Cranberry lemon muffins
    • A scoop of lemon ice cream served on a speckled plate with a cone and a black spoon
      Lemon custard ice cream

    Baking conversions

    Buy the baking conversion charts NOW!

    How to poach pears

    Poached pears on an enamelware plate.
    This easy poached pears recipe is simple and you can use the poached fruit for salads, appetizers, and desserts!

    Footer

    If you enjoy the free content on this website, consider saying thank you!

    Buy Me a Pound of Butter

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Meet Janice
    • FAQ
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and conditions
    • Accessibility
    • Press

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Services
    • Portfolio

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    COPYRIGHT © 2023 · THE BAKE SCHOOL