Sourdough Pop Tarts are easy to make and taste SO much better than any store bought pop tarts or toaster pastry. Using sourdough discard, these homemade sourdough pop tarts are the best buttery pastry filled with your favorite fruit jam and topped with a lemon sweet glaze!
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I love finding recipes that use up my extra sourdough starter. I feed my starter every day even if I don’t have a plan of what to use it for. Because I cook almost exclusively from scratch, I usually end up using it for something. But there are those days when I just run out of time and the starter deflates before I have a chance to put a recipe together like this sandwich bread. When that happens, I love to make these sourdough starter discard pop tarts, sourdough crackers, sourdough buttermilk biscuits, or another discard recipe.
This recipe for sourdough pie crust has been super popular on Pinterest, and for good reason! This crust is so buttery and flaky, and the extra hint of sourdough tang is so delicious. I use it to make all of my pies (including this super delicious pumpkin pie from scratch) and this amazing chicken pot pie. I inevitably end up with leftover sourdough pie crust each time I make one of these recipes, and we love using the extra to make these homemade pop tarts! We call them pop tarts for fun, but they’re really just a simple hand pie. They are super easy to make, they’re SO flaky and delicious, and they don’t have all the junk and sugar that store bought pop tarts have. My kids LOVE them!
sourdough pop tarts ingredients
- all purpose flour – organic, if possible
- sea salt – Redmond Real Salt is the BEST
- cold butter – salted or unsalted
- sourdough starter, active or discard – no starter? Grab one HERE.
- fruit jam – we love strawberry or raspberry
- powdered sugar
- lemon juice
- filtered water – we LOVE and highly recommend a Berkey water filter
how to make sourdough pop tarts
PREPARE THE CRUST
Begin by adding the dry ingredients, flour and salt, to a food processor and pulse a few times to mix evenly. Then, add the cubed, cold butter to the flour mixture. Pulse until the butter is broken down into large crumbles. Finally, add the sourdough discard, and pulse again until the dough forms a ball. If the dough is too dry, add a teaspoon of ice water at a time until the pie dough comes together. If the dough is too sticky, add a little flour and pulse again until combined. Be careful not to over mix the dough – this will cause it to be tough instead of soft and flaky.
If you don’t have a food processor, add the flour and salt to a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Next, add cold, cubed butter and cut it in with a pastry cutter (or you could shred cold butter using a cheese grater). Finally, add the sourdough discard and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. If the dough is too dry, add cold water, a teaspoon at a time. You may need to mix with you hands to incorporate the dough. Press the dough together until there are no more dry bits of dough.
This dough can be used right away OR long-fermented. If you would like a fermented dough, wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 48 hours. Allow the dough to come to room temperature before rolling it out.
ROLL THE DOUGH AND FILL
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Roll until the dough into a rectangle shape is about 1/8″ thick. Add flour as needed to prevent sticking.
Trim the pastry dough around the edges to make a perfect rectangle. Using a pizza cutter or a bench scraper, cut the dough into 6 long strips, as shown by the photos.
On one end of the rectangular shape, scoop 1-2 Tablespoons of jam, leaving room around the edges. To close them up, wet your finger and run it along the edges of the pop tart (this will help the seams seal so jam doesn’t leak out). Pinch them closed, and then press around the edges with a fork to give them pretty edges.
Place the unbaked pop tarts onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
BAKE AND GLAZE
Preheat the oven to 375°F and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack.
While the pop tarts are cooling, prepare the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk powdered sugar, water and lemon juice until there are no lumps. It will be a thin glaze. When the pop tarts are fully cooled, drizzle some of the glaze over the top of each pop tart. Allow the glaze to harden, about 10 minutes. Enjoy!
If you glaze the pop tarts before they are fully cooled, the glaze will melt and most of it willrun off.
recipe notes and variations
- Any sweet filling for these homemade pop-tarts will work! Try blueberry jam, raspberry jam, strawberry jam, nutella, or a brown sugar filling. (You may want to omit the lemon in the glaze if you choose something other than a fruit filling.)
- Once in a while we add some of these dye-free rainbow sprinkles to the top after glazing, just for fun!
- Store the leftover pop tarts in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- To make ahead, prepare the pop tarts and bake according to the recipe. Allow to cool completely and freeze in an airtight container. When you’re ready to use them, allow them to thaw at room temperature and glaze when they are fully defrosted.
best sourdough discard recipes to try –
- Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Sourdough Discard Scones
- Sourdough Pancakes or Waffles
- Sourdough Discard Crackers
- Sourdough Pie Crust
- Sourdough Buttermilk Biscuits
recipe card for sourdough pop tarts
Sourdough Pop Tarts
Yield: 6 pop tarts
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Sourdough Pop Tarts are easy to make and taste SO much better than any store bought pop tarts or toaster pastry. Using sourdough discard, these are the best buttery pastry filled with your favorite fruit jam and topped with a lemon sweet glaze!
Ingredients
Sourdough Pastry Dough
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup plus 2 T cold butter
- 1/2 cup sourdough discardd
Fruit Filling
- 1/2 cup strawberry or raspberry jam
Sweet Glaze
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbls water
- 1 Tbls lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Add the dry ingredients, flour and salt, to the food processor and pulse a few times to mix evenly. Then, add the cubed, cold butter to the flour mixture. Pulse until the butter is broken down into large crumbles. Finally, add the sourdough discard, and pulse again until the dough forms a ball. If the dough is too dry, add a teaspoon of ice water at a time until the pie dough comes together. If the dough is too sticky, add a little flour and pulse again until combined.
- NOTE: This dough can be used right away OR long-fermented. If you would like a fermented dough, wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 48 hours. Allow the dough to come to room temperature before rolling it out.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Roll until the dough into a rectangle shape is about 1/8" thick. Add flour as needed to prevent sticking.
- Trim the pastry dough around the edges to make a perfect rectangle. Using a pizza cutter or a bench scraper, cut the dough into 6 long strips, as shown by the photos.
- On one end of the rectangular shape, scoop 1-2 Tablespoons of jam, leaving room around the edges. To close them up, wet your finger and run it along the edges of the pop tart (this will help the seams seal so jam doesn't leak out). Pinch them closed, and then press around the edges with a fork to give them pretty edges.
- Place the unbaked pop tarts onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack.
- While the pop tarts are cooling, prepare the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk powdered sugar, water and lemon juice until there are no lumps. It will be a thin glaze. When the pop tarts are fully cooled, drizzle some of the glaze over the top of each pop tart. Allow the glaze to harden, about 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
To make the sourdough pastry dough without a food processor - add the flour and salt to a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Next, add cold, cubed butter and cut it in with a pastry cutter (or you could shred cold butter in a cheese grater). Finally, add the sourdough discard and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. If the dough is too dry, add cold water, a teaspoon at a time. You may need to mix with you hands to incorporate the dough. Press the dough together until there are no more dry bits of dough.
Any sweet filling for these homemade pop-tarts will work! Try blueberry jam, raspberry jam, strawberry jam, nutella, or a brown sugar filling. (You may want to omit the lemon in the glaze if you choose something other than a fruit filling.)
Store the leftover pop tarts in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
To make ahead, prepare the pop tarts and bake according to the recipe. Allow to cool completely and freeze in an airtight container. When you're ready to use them, allow them to thaw at room temperature and glaze when they are fully defrosted.
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