These homemade strawberry pop tarts are so good, and are easily made fast in the air fryer or the oven. Make these delicious pop tarts using refrigerated pie crust, strawberry jam, a quick homemade glaze, and sprinkles to decorate!
Equipment
Air fryer
Cookie cutter or sharp knife (I used a heart that was about 3 inches)
Fork
Small bowl
Silicone brush
Spoon
Rolling pin (optional)
Ingredients
1(15 oz) pkg refrigerated pie crustsYou should have two flat (9 inch) pie dough disks.
3/4cupStrawberry preserves or jamKeep 1/4 cup to the side for the frosting
1cuppowdered sugar
1Egg
4tablespoonssprinklesoptional
Instructions
Lay the pie crust out flat on a lightly floured surface. With the cookie cutter, cut out 16 heart shaped pieces. Cut carefully to fit as many hearts as you can on the pie crust.
On a heart-shaped crust, add 1 tablespoon of the preserves in the middle of the heart. Spread it out evenly on the heart shape but leave a border around the edges to seal the pop tarts. You'll need between 1/4 and a 1/2 inch border. Continue adding the preserves to half of the hearts.
Crack the egg into a small bowl and beat it with a fork or whisk until the yolk is mixed well into the white to make an egg wash. Dip the silicone brush in the egg wash and evenly spread the egg wash around the edges of the pastry surrounding the strawberry filling. Repeat for all of the crust with strawberry in the center.
Place an unfilled heart-shaped pie crust on top of the crust with the preserves in the center. Use a fork to press down the edges and create a seal around the entire edge. Repeat for each strawberry filled heart until you have filled all of the pastries.
Dip the silicone brush in the egg wash and cover the tops of each of the pastries with egg wash. Using a fork to poke about 6 to 8 holes in the top of your top layer pastry.
For Baking In The Air Fryer
Depending on the size of your air fryer, place as many pastry hearts in your air fryer that will fit. You want your the pastry to all sit comfortably in the air fryer without overlapping. It's ok if the pastries touch just a little.
Cook your pop tart at 370° for 7 minutes. Once the timer is done, open your air fryer, and flip the pop tarts. Continue to cook at 370° for an additional 3 to 4 minutes, or until they are light brown on both sides. Transfer to a cooling rack or clean kitchen towel to cool.
For Baking In The Oven
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake on parchment paper or a lightly oiled pan for 10-14 minutes, flipping them halfway through the baking time so they bake more evenly. The outside will be light brown and the inside should be a little gooey but the pastry itself should be cooked all the way through. Transfer to a cooling rack or clean kitchen towel to cool.
Adding The Frosting
While your pastries are cooling, mix together the powdered sugar and remaining 1/4 cup of preserve or jam with a whisk. This frosting does thicken as it sets, so make sure you do this step right before you are ready to frost the poptarts.
Place the cooled pop tarts on parchment paper for easy cleanup. Drizzle the frosting over the pop tarts. Add sprinkles right after you drizzle the frosting before the frosting has set. Enjoy!
Notes
Let the pie dough warm to room temperature before you begin unrolling whether you are using a refrigerator version or a frozen version. This will keep the dough from cracking and splitting.
If you don't have quite enough dough to make all 16 heart cutouts, you can use the scraps. Gather up any scraps and form a ball. On a lightly floured surface, reroll the ball into a flat pie crust that is about the same thickness as your other hearts. This should be about a 1/8 inch thick.
If you don't have a heart shaped cookie cutter, you can use a cookie cutter of your choice or use a sharp knife to cut the dough into rectangles.