Build a Better Kitchen,

One Ingredient at a Time.

A FREE guide to essential tools, pantry staples, and foundational cooking skills.

Homemade Poptarts with Seasonal Fruit Jam

Aug 19, 2025

There’s something about poptarts that sparks instant nostalgia. Those little pastry pockets filled with jam (and often topped with a sweet glaze) were the ultimate after-school snack or Saturday morning treat. But when you make them from scratch, they become so much more than just a convenience food.

Homemade poptarts are buttery, flaky, and filled with real jam you actually want to eat. The dough is rich, almost like puff pastry meets pie crust, and the filling can be whatever you love most — strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, or even something unique like fig or peach. Once you make these, you’ll never look at a box of store-bought poptarts the same way again.

Why Make Homemade Poptarts?

Sure, you can buy them. But when you make them yourself:

You control the ingredients — real butter, high-quality flour, your favorite jam.
They’re customizable — any filling, any glaze, any sprinkle.
The texture is unbeatable — buttery, golden pastry that shatters into layers with each bite.
They’re freezer-friendly — bake one batch, stash them away, and pop them in the oven whenever the craving strikes.

Recipe: Homemade Poptarts

Yield: 10 pastries

Dough

469 g (3 ¾ cups + 1 tablespoon) all-purpose flour
9 g (1 ½ teaspoons) salt
6 g (1 ½ teaspoons) sugar
340 g (1 ½ cups) Plugrá or high-fat European-style butter, cold and cubed
177 g (¾ cup) ice water mixed with 1 teaspoon vinegar

Filling & Finish

1 (16 oz / 450 g) jar of your favorite jam or preserves
1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
Optional: Sugar in the Raw for sprinkling OR glaze for finishing

Instructions

1. Make the dough:
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and sugar. Toss the cubed butter into the dry ingredients to coat. Pour the mixture onto a clean work surface. Using a bench scraper or pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like peas and parmesan. Return everything to the bowl and add the vinegar-water all at once.

Using a bowl scraper, fold the dough by scraping from one side of the bowl to the other until there’s no visible water at the bottom. Scoop from one corner and gently press the dough over itself. Give a quarter turn and repeat until the dough just comes together with no dry patches. Work quickly so the butter doesn’t soften.

Divide the dough into 2 equal squares, about 1 inch thick. Seal any cracked edges, wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight).

2. Shape the pastries:
On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of dough into a rectangle roughly 8.5 x 15.5 inches. Using a ruler, mark 3-inch sections across the long end and 4-inch sections across the short end. This should yield 2 rows of 5 rectangles per sheet.

On one large rectangle, brush a ½-inch border of egg wash around the edges of each marked rectangle. Spoon a generous amount of jam into the center, leaving room to seal. Place the second rectangle of dough on top, gently pressing around each jam pocket to seal.

Cut along the marked lines to separate the pastries. Using a fork, crimp all edges to lock in the filling. Poke 3 steam vent holes into the top of each poptart. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until completely firm. Reserve the egg wash.

3. Bake:
Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Brush the frozen poptarts with egg wash. If you’re skipping glaze, sprinkle with a little Sugar in the Raw. Bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown and flaky.

If glazing, let the pastries cool slightly before drizzling with icing.

Glazing Options

Ingredients
1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
2–3 tablespoons (30–45 ml) milk or heavy cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
If the glaze is too thick, add a splash more milk, ½ teaspoon at a time, until it reaches a pourable consistency.
Spread or drizzle over cooled poptarts. Let sit for 15–20 minutes to set.

Classic glaze: Powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla.
Berry glaze: Powdered sugar mixed with reduced jam or fruit puree.
Hibiscus Glaze: (pictured) Ground hibiscus, powdered sugar, and milk.
Fun glaze: Add sprinkles while the glaze is still wet.

Tips for Success

Don’t skip the chill time. Cold butter is key to flaky layers.
Freeze before baking. This helps the poptarts hold their shape.
Make ahead: Shape and freeze unbaked poptarts up to 2 months. Bake straight from frozen.

✨ Homemade poptarts are everything you loved as a kid — only better. They’re buttery, flaky, fruity, and endlessly customizable. Make a batch, stash them in the freezer, and treat yourself to a little nostalgia whenever you want.

Stay connected with the latest posts, recipes & events!

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates.
Don't worry, your information will not be shared.

We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.