This summer, my local grocery store had strawberries on sale pretty often, since they were in season. So, I stocked up and put them in the freezer for later use. Eventually, I noticed that my collection of strawberries started to get out of hand, so I made smoothies everyday and even snuck in a strawberry treat for myself… I mean, my son and I.  😉

I scoured my refrigerator and found a box of Pillsbury pie crust, which prompted the idea to make my own Pop Tart. I hadn’t had one in years and strawberry was my favorite flavor back in the day. This is perfect timing! I know the crust is not from scratch, but some mornings call for shortcuts, especially in “Mommy Land,” or when you just don’t have time to be whippin’ up dough. I know you understand! So, this is Semi-homemade.

The box came with two rolls of dough. I used one of them to make two mini pies for my first attempt. On another test round, I used both rolls of dough to make a huge pie like the one pictured below. However, in this post I’m going to show you how I made the two small pies.

The strawberry filling is from scratch and is so delicious. First, I put the strawberries in a sauce pan with a little bit of water and turned the burner on med/high. Then, I added my homemade Tahitian Vanilla Brandy extract, ground cinnamon, coconut palm sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  Once it started to boil, I turned the fire down to low and let the strawberries simmer for a little while. During this time, the strawberries became soft and began to form a thick sauce.

Once the sauce has reduced and thickened to my desired consistency, I removed the pan from heat and smashed the strawberries with a fork so that it becomes a chunky sauce. As I set it aside to cool, I rolled out my pre-made dough and cut it into rectangles. Pardon my lines of the dough pictured below. It’s not the neatest, but it won’t matter when it’s done.

Then, I added a nice chunk of the strawberry sauce towards the center of one half of the dough.

To seal, I dipped my finger in a glass of filtered water and ran it down the edges.  Then, I folded the other half of dough over the strawberry sauce and gently pressed down along the edges again.

I followed up with a fork and gently pressed down along the rim to help with the seal. This will really help to keep the strawberry sauce inside.

Covered it with an egg wash…

And baked it at 350 degrees F for about 10-15 min. Here it is fresh out of the oven…

While the pies were baking, I used some of the left over strawberry sauce to create an icing that pairs nicely with the tart filling, and added powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and melted butter.

To top it off, I splashed a tiny bit of Hibiscus and Himalayan Salt that I had in my cabinet. That’s the dark speckles you see in the photo below (I was dying to use it somewhere). Sprinkles would be a cool option too.

I absolutely loved making this dessert and it tastes so good! It’s quick and simple to make, without all of the extra ingredients that are in the commercial Pop Tarts. I have to admit that they do taste more like a pie than a traditional pop tart, but it works.  My son gave me the thumbs up on this, so that means I’ll be making this again. =)

What are your thoughts on this?  Did you enjoy pop tarts as a child? Comment below.

Peace and Love!

Yasmin