Easy Homemade Sourdough Pop Tarts Recipe

Sourdough pop tarts are so ridiculously easy you’ll wonder why you’ve never made them before! Simple ingredients, minimal effort, and superior taste will have you rethinking the store-bought brand. 

This recipe is easily my most requested on IG! Every time I post, I have hundreds of followers asking for the recipe so I thought it needed its very own space here on my blog. 

Maybe you’re asking, “Why would I spend time making pop tarts from scratch when I can very easily pick up a box at the store?” Well, I don’t know if you’ve ever flipped over a box of Pop-Tarts and looked at the list of ingredients but a lot is going on in there. For companies to produce food that’s shelf stable for longer than a week, it requires extra ingredients and additives. Often these ingredients aren’t great for you. Some are downright unhealthy. According to the EWG, Pop Tart ranks an 8 on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most concerning. Yikes! 

“But they’re so convenient!” Yes, but what’s the actual cost of convenience? Our health? Believe me, once you start cooking from scratch with a well-stocked pantry you’ll be amazed at just how quickly you can put a meal on the table for your family. One that you won’t have any concerns about ingredients. If you’re interested in learning how to stock your pantry so that you can be prepared to cook more meals from scratch then you may want to grab my FREE Pantry Staples List. 

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Ingredients for Sourdough Pop Tarts

Let’s get down to business with a quick list of what you need to make delicious homemade pop tarts. It’s highly likely that you already have what you need in your pantry and fridge. Notice you don’t see any high fructose corn syrup listed below!

To Make A Basic Pie Crust

• All-Purpose Flour- I always recommend good-quality organic flour. 
• Salt
• Sugar- This is optional but you can add a tablespoon of granulated sugar to your dough mixture to sweeten it up just a little. 
• Cold Butter- Adding cold butter will create flaky layers to your dough.
• Sourdough Discard- Just a little discard will elevate the flavor of your dough and will help it to pull together.
• Egg- You’ll use the egg to egg wash the top of the unbaked pop tarts. This will give them a little shine and will help them to brown nicely. 

Filling
Jam- I recommend a delicious thick jam. The flavor can be whatever you prefer and you could make it from scratch or simply pick up a quality store-bought jar. 

• Sweet Glaze
• Powdered Sugar- While I recognize that powdered sugar isn’t good for you, you’ll only be adding a drizzle to the top of each pop tart. 
• Splash of Milk- I use whole milk but any other milk can be substituted. 

Tools & Supplies

Food Processor- I recommend using a food processor or high-powered blender but it’s not necessary. You can mix the dough by hand if you choose. I have a Ninja blender and the plastic blade works perfectly to incorporate the butter and discard into the dry ingredients without all of the fuss.

Pizza Cutter- This is a kitchen tool I use often when baking! It’s perfect for cutting the pie dough but you can also use a sharp knife.

Pastry Brush- For spreading the egg wash.

How To Make Sourdough Pop Tarts

Mix The Dough

Add the following to your food processor…
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of cold butter cubed

Pulse until mixed.

Then add 1/2 cup of sourdough starter discard and continue to pulse until a ball of dough forms. 

Chill

Once your dough comes together remove it from the food processor and form a disc shape with your hands. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours or up to 4 days. *You don’t have to ferment the dough. You can just let it chill for an hour but the flavor is best if it ferments. I like to prepare my dough at night and make fresh Pop-Tarts the next morning!

Roll and Fill

When you’re ready to make pop tarts, roll out your dough using a rolling pin onto a lightly floured work surface to 1/8 inch thick in a rectangle shape. Add flour to prevent sticking.

Now it’s time to add the sweet filling. Spoon the jam of your choice into the bottom half of the rolled-out pie crust.

Then carefully fold the dough over on top of itself so that the jam is sandwiched between the dough. 

Use your pizza cutter to slice into rectangles and then use a fork to press the edges closed. 

Brush egg wash on top of each pastry. An egg wash is just an egg that has been slightly beaten. 

Bake and Frost

Carefully place the pop tarts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (a bench scraper is perfect for this) and bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes until they are a rich brown color. You may see a little jam oozing out but no worries. 

In a bowl stir together ½ cup of powdered sugar and a splash of milk. You want it to be a syrup consistency. 

Drizzle the sweet glaze on the top of your homemade pop-tarts. 

Notes & Variations

Before rolling out your dough, you may want to sit it out a room temperature for about 30 minutes. This will make rolling the dough easier.

Brown Sugar Filling- Mix 1/4 cup of brown sugar with 1/2 tablespoon of flour. Add 1-2 tablespoons for filling. This happens to be my favorite flavor!

Nutella-Filled Pop Tarts- Use 1-2 tablespoons of Nutella inside your pop tarts.

How To Store and Freeze Homemade Poptarts

Store pop tarts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also store them in the fridge for a little longer. 

To freeze homemade pop tarts, wrap the baked BUT unglazed pastries in a few layers of plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Frozen pop tarts can be reheated in the toaster or pop them in the oven until heated through. 

If you’re interested in learning more about sourdough discard and how you can incorporate it into any recipe then you may want to check out my Sourdough Discard Mini-Course. You’ll learn all about discard and also get my best sourdough discard recipes!