Homemade Sourdough Pop Tarts: A Recipe from the Farm

Last Updated on May 15, 2024 by TheFarmChicken

flaky layers of a homemade sourdough pop tart

How fun are these? A sourdough discard treat your kids will love to eat just as much as you! My kids think they are so good! These Homemade Sourdough Pop Tarts: A Recipe from the Farm bring back memories of my pop tart eating days and boy were they one of my favorite treats. My mom didn’t buy them very often but when she did the hardest decision was…. should I have strawberry or brown sugar. What is your go to pop tart flavor?

I really do love brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts. This homemade version is no exception. The frosting is sweet but oh so good, paired with the flaky crust and gooey filling…yeah you might have to eat another. The flaky crust is almost like puff pastry or pastry dough but so much easier to mix together.

I love how this recipe is so simple to put together. You can easily make this same day (you could do it ahead of time too if you prefer). The crust itself is 4 simple ingredients. You can make so many different kinds too! Brown Sugar Cinnamon, strawberry, chocolate, blueberry, etc.! More on making different kinds below. Let’s learn how to make these Homemade Sourdough Pop Tarts, so much better than store-bought pop tarts.

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a tulip from the farm with sourdough pop tarts

Ingredients for Homemade Sourdough Pop Tarts: A Recipe from the Farm

Butter

You want your butter cold and cut into small cubes. You want the butter to be nice and cold to help create flaky layers. The small cubes make it easier to incorporate into the flour. I originally tested this recipe using unsalted butter but decided to try just regular salted butter and that is what I settled on.

All-Purpose Flour

I use all-purpose flour in this recipe. A pantry staple.

Sourdough Starter Discard

This is a discard recipe, and you want your sourdough discard to be cold when added to the flour and butter.

Need a sourdough starter? Check out Learning Sourdough with Agnes to get started making a sourdough starter! Before you know it, you will be making recipes with active sourdough starter and sourdough starter discard.

Cold Water

You want the water to be good and cold. This helps keep the butter from melting which in turn gives you a beautifully flaky crust.

Brown Sugar

Used in the filling and the icing brown sugar adds the right color and flavor to these pop tarts.

Cinnamon

Just a little bit of cinnamon but it goes a long way at adding big flavor to these pop tarts.

Pure Vanilla Extract

The vanilla is in the filling and rounds out the flavors in this delicious filling.

Powdered Sugar

Powdered sugar is used to make the glaze/frosting.

Heavy Whipping Cream

Just a couple tablespoons to get the frosting/glaze to the right consistency for spreading on the pop tarts.

Want to make a different kind of Pop Tart?

Simply omit the brown sugar and cinnamon in the glaze and choose a filling flavor you prefer.

If you want to make them extra fancy use some colored sprinkles (these ones are dye-free) to make them colorful.

Other Pot Tart Flavor Combos:

Strawberry: Strawberry Jam with a White Glaze (add a little bit of jam to the glaze to make it a pretty pink color)
Chocolate: Place two squares of chocolate (milk, dark, etc.) in the pop tart and use the same glaze recipe but melt 2 oz of chocolate and add it to the glaze. Enjoy!
Blueberry: Blueberry Jam with a White Glaze (add a little bit of jam to the glaze to make it a pretty blue color)

You really could use any fruit jam flavor you wanted. The possibilities are endless!

The Process of Making Sourdough Pop Tarts:

dough ready to go in the fridge for sourdough pop tarts

crust rolled out in rectangle sourdough pop tart

close up of cut pop tarts and filling in them

rolled out and filling inside sourdough pop tarts

poked and ready for the oven sourdough pop tarts

sourdough pop tarts fresh out of the oven

the dry ingredients for the frosting/glaze

Sourdough pop tarts a recipe from the farm

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Homemade Sourdough Pop Tarts: A Recipe from the Farm

8 T cold butter, cubed (120g)
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour (200g)
½ cup sourdough discard, cold (140g)
6 T water, cold (78g)

Brown Sugar Filling

½ cup brown sugar (105g)
1 tsp cinnamon (3g)
2 tsp vanilla extract (10g)

Brown Sugar Pop Tart Glaze:

½ cup powdered sugar (58g)
1 T brown sugar (15g)
¼ tsp cinnamon (1g)
3 T cream (39g)

Egg Wash:

1 egg yolk
1 tsp water

Instructions for Pop Tart Crust:

First, in a large mixing bowl add the flour and cubed butter. With a pastry cutter or fork take and cut in the butter into the flour as you would for pie dough. Make sure to take your time on this step. You want the butter to be well incorporated before you continue to the next step.
Next, add the cold water (I usually just use cold from the tap) and the sourdough starter discard to the flour mixture. Using your hands knead the dough together until all the dry flour is gone. You shouldn’t need any more water but if you find the flour is not incorporating after working with it for a while then you can add a couple teaspoons more.
After you have the crust incorporated take and cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to let the dough chill for at least 45 minutes or up to 5 days.

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling:

In a small bowl mix all 3 ingredients together and then set aside.

Instructions for the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Frosting:

In another small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. When that is well mixed take and add the cream and whisk together until smooth. You want the frosting to be fairly thick.
If you need to you can add some powdered sugar to thicken it or cream to thin it if it seems too runny.

Assembling the Pop Tarts:

Once at least 45 minutes have passed take your dough from the fridge. This dough can be sticky so be sure to flour your clean work surface liberally. See picture.
Using a rolling pin roll out the dough into a 10” x 24” rectangle.
Taking a pizza cutter, sharp knife, or bench scraper, clean up the edges so they are straight and then cut the rectangle into 3 inch by 10-inch-long strips.
Using a teaspoon, place 2 teaspoons of filling on the bottom half of the pop tart rectangle shape. Continue with this until all the pop tarts have 2 tsp of filling on them.
Next take and combine the egg yolk and water in a small bowl and beat with a fork. Using a pastry brush, brush edges of the rectangle. This helps create a seal, so all the filling doesn’t ooze out.
Once the edges are egg washed fold the pop tart in half and crimp the edges shut with a fork.
Transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and continue with the rest of the pop tarts until all have been sealed. I like using a bench scraper to transfer these from the work surface to the baking sheet, but you could also use a spatula.
Using the leftover crust you can make about 1 more pop tart. And then just bake any remaining scraps on the baking sheet for a little treat. (I like to sprinkle the scrap pieces with cinnamon sugar. Yum!)
When all the pop tarts have been transferred to the baking sheet take your fork and poke the top of each pop tart multiple times making sure to get through that first layer of dough.

Baking the Pop Tarts:

Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees and bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Transfer the pop tarts to a cooling rack and let cool before frosting. I use a butter knife to frost the top of the pop tart.
Frost and enjoy!

Note: I find it much easier to add the butter and cut it in but if you would rather you can also use a cheese grater to grate the butter and add it to the flour.

You can store the leftovers in an airtight container with the lid cracked or a bag that is not all the way sealed.

Ingredients

Pastry Dough Ingredients:

8 T cold butter cubed (120g)
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour 200g
½ cup sourdough discard cold (140g)
6 T water cold (78g)

Brown Sugar Filling:

½ cup brown sugar 105g
1 tsp cinnamon 3g
2 tsp vanilla extract 10g

Brown Sugar Glaze/Frosting:

½ cup powdered sugar 58g
1 T brown sugar 15g
¼ tsp cinnamon 1g
3 T cream 39g

Egg Wash:

1 egg yolk
1 tsp water

Instructions

Instructions for the pastry:

First, in a large mixing bowl add the flour and cubed butter. With a pastry cutter or fork take and cut in the butter into the flour as you would for pie dough. Make sure to take your time on this step. You want the butter to be well incorporated before you continue to the next step.
Next, add the cold water (I usually just use cold from the tap) and the sourdough starter discard to the flour mixture. Using your hands knead the dough together until all the dry flour is gone. You shouldn’t need any more water but if you find the flour is not incorporating after working with it for a while then you can add a couple teaspoons more.
After you have the crust incorporated take and cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to let the dough chill for at least 45 minutes or up to 5 days.
Instructions for the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Filling:
In a small bowl mix all 3 ingredients together and then set aside.

Instructions for the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Frosting:

In another small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. When that is well mixed take and add the cream and whisk together until smooth. You want the frosting to be fairly thick.
If you need to you can add some powdered sugar to thicken it or cream to thin it if it seems too runny.

Assembling the Pop Tarts:

Once at least 45 minutes have passed take your dough from the fridge. This dough can be sticky so be sure to flour your clean work surface liberally. See picture.
Using a rolling pin roll out the dough into a 10” x 24” rectangle.
Taking a pizza cutter, sharp knife, or bench scraper, clean up the edges so they are straight and then cut the rectangle into 3 inch by 10-inch-long strips.
Using a teaspoon, place 2 teaspoons of filling on the bottom half of the pop tart rectangle shape. Continue with this until all the pop tarts have 2 tsp of filling on them.
Next take and combine the egg yolk and water in a small bowl and beat with a fork. Using a pastry brush, brush edges of the rectangle. This helps create a seal, so all the filling doesn’t ooze out.
Once the edges are egg washed fold the pop tart in half and crimp the edges shut with a fork.
Transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and continue with the rest of the pop tarts until all have been sealed. I like using a bench scraper to transfer these from the work surface to the baking sheet, but you could also use a spatula.
Using the leftover crust you can make about 1 more pop tart. And then just bake any remaining scraps on the baking sheet for a little treat. (I like to sprinkle the scrap pieces with cinnamon sugar. Yum!)
When all the pop tarts have been transferred to the baking sheet take your fork and poke the top of each pop tart multiple times making sure to get through that first layer of dough.

Baking the Pop Tarts:

Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees and bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Transfer the pop tarts to a cooling rack and let cool before frosting. I use a butter knife to frost the top of the pop tart.
Frost and enjoy!

Notes

Notes: I find it much easier to add the butter and cut it in but if you would rather you can also use a cheese grater to grate the butter and add it to the flour.

You can store the leftovers in an airtight container with the lid cracked or a bag that is not all the way sealed.

Servings: 9 pop tarts

These Sourdough Pop Tarts are so fun! A couple of years ago I went to Florida on a family vacation. There was a bakery that had something very similar to these and I wanted to find them again! Turns out now I can bake them in my own home. Yum! Let me know below if you have any questions or thoughts on the recipe. Enjoy and thank you for stopping by TheFarmChicken. Oh, and these pop tarts don’t fit in the toaster!

Sincerely,

Mariah | TheFarmChicken

The Best Sourdough Discard Recipes all in one spot:

TheFarmChicken Sourdough Discard Recipes

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is pop tart crust made out of?

Pop tart crust is very similar to pie crust. My recipe is a combination of flour, water, sourdough discard and butter.

Can you make pop tarts in the oven?

Yes! Simply bake and enjoy! The pop tarts you get in the store are already baked and you just rewarm them in the toaster or microwave.

What is sourdough discard?

Sourdough discard in short is any fed and active sourdough starter that you don’t use when it is at its peak. Removing this from your starter it is the discard. You can read all about it on my post about How to Use Sourdough Discard.

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