There's nothing better than a Wild Berry Pop Tart with that nostalgic blue and purple swirled frosting! Make them at home with fresh fruit, homemade shortbread cookies, and a dye-free glaze for a special treat without all the additives.
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Why You'll Love These Wild Berry Pop Tarts
- So nostalgic! Bring yourself back to childhood with these wild berry pop tarts! With the perfectly sweet blue and purple swirled glaze, they look just like the original you grew up eating. You can also try other nostalgic recipes, like these homemade gogurts, dinosaur chicken nuggets, and spaghettios.
- Made with fresh fruit! The filling for these homemade pop tarts is made with fresh fruit, just like these homemade push up popsicles. The filling uses a mix of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries to give it the traditional wild berry flavor.
- Unlike other homemade pop tart recipes! Most homemade pop tarts use puff pastry or a pie-like crust as the base. However, when I recently tasted the store-bought pop tarts, I was quickly reminded of a shortbread cookie instead. This recipe includes shortbread cookies on top and bottom of the fruit filling, giving it the best crumbly cookie texture.
- Uses a dye-free frosting! I recommend using this dye-free food coloring for a perfectly colored glaze that's free from artificial colors.
Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar (or confectioner's sugar) in the crust is a traditional addition to shortbread cookie dough. I recommend using it instead of granulated sugar for these cookies.
- Strawberries, Blueberries, and Raspberries: This combination of berries gives these pop tarts the best wild berry flavor. However, you can use just one or a combination of the three if you need to.
- Dye-Free Food Coloring: Feel free to use any food coloring you enjoy. If you're looking for a dye-free option, Amazon or Whole Foods have a few to choose from.
⭐️ See recipe card below for descriptions and quantities of each ingredient. Then, watch this brief tutorial on Instagram!
Instructions
- Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Step 2: Add powdered sugar. Beat again until smooth. Then, add vanilla and beat until combined.
- Step 3: Add flour, cornstarch, and salt. Beat until just combined. Don’t overmix.
- Step 4: Form the dough into a disc and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.
- Step 5: While the dough is chilling, make the filling by adding strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and maple syrup to a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Step 6: Pour the berry mixture into a saucepan and set on the stove over medium heat. Cook for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
- Step 7: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Step 8: Remove dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle, about ⅛-inch thick.
- Step 9: Cut 3 x 4½ inch rectangles out of the dough. Gather the scraps and repeat until all dough has been rolled and cut into rectangles.
- Step 10: Place half of the rectangles on the prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch or two between each one. Top with about 1 tablespoon of the filling, leaving a small border around the edges.
- Step 11: Place the rectangles without the filling on top of the ones on the baking sheets. Use a fork to crimp the top and bottom edges together, all around the border of each rectangle. Use a toothpick to poke holes on top of each pop tart.
- Step 12: Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- Step 13: To make the glaze: In a bowl, combine 3 cups powdered sugar and ¼ cup milk. Add 10 drops each of red and blue food dye, then whisk to turn it purple. Spread the purple glaze on top of each pop tart, from edge to edge.
- Step 14: In another bowl, combine ¾ cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon milk. Add 15 drops of blue food dye, then whisk to turn it blue. Add the blue glaze to a zip top bag and cut off a small piece of the corner. Use the bag to drizzle the blue glaze on top of the purple. Allow glaze to harden before eating.
⭐️ Tip: Don't forget to chill the dough! Chilling the dough helps to solidify the butter in the cookies, ensuring that it's not too sticky when rolled into rectangles. It also helps in building the perfectly flaky texture, representative of store-bought pop tarts.
Substitutions and Alterations
- Strawberries, Blueberries, and Raspberries - If you're low on berries, you can use any combination of these berries. You can also use blackberries.
- Pure Maple Syrup - I like using pure maple syrup to flavor the fruit filling. However, you can also use honey, light brown sugar, or granulated sugar instead.
How to Store Homemade Pop Tarts
To store: Store these Homemade Wild Berry Pop Tarts in an airtight container on the counter up to 5 days.
To freeze: Freeze in a freezer-safe container up to 6 months.
To defrost: Defrost pop tarts on the counter for a few hours until softened, or up to overnight.
Top tip!
Make sure to properly reduce the berry filling! If the jam isn't thickened enough, it'll turn the pop tarts watery and make them fall apart as they bake. Typically, 30 to 40 minutes is enough time to thicken the mixture.
Recipe FAQs
Do homemade pop tarts need to be refrigerated?
These homemade pop tarts do not need refrigeration. Store in an airtight container on your counter instead.
What makes this homemade pop tart recipe different than others?
This recipe is made of homemade shortbread cookie dough instead of puff pastry or flaky pie crust! The consistency is more similar to the store-bought kind and the homemade fresh fruit filling takes things up a notch even more!
Related Recipes
Looking for more nostalgic recipes? Try these:
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
Recipe
Homemade Wild Berry Pop Tarts
There's nothing better than a Wild Berry Pop Tart with that nostalgic blue and purple swirled frosting! Make them at home with fresh fruit, homemade shortbread cookies, and a dye-free glaze.
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Servings: pop tarts
Calories: 662kcal
Cost: $15
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the Filling
- 1 (16 ounce) container strawberries, diced
- ⅔ cup blueberries
- 1 (6 ounce) container raspberries
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
For the Icing
- 3 ¾ cups powdered sugar, divided
- ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon milk, divided
- Red and blue dye free food coloring
Instructions
- To make the crust: Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat butter until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add powdered sugar. Beat again until smooth. Add vanilla and beat until combined.
- Add flour, cornstarch, and salt. Beat until just combined. Don’t overmix.
- Form the dough into a disc and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.
- While the dough is chilling, make the filling by adding strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and maple syrup to a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Pour the berry mixture into a saucepan and set on the stove over medium heat. Cook for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened. You should be able to run a spoon through the bottom of the pan and see that the jam takes a few seconds to come back together. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle, about ⅛-inch thick.
- Cut 3 x 4 ½ inch rectangles out of the dough. Gather the scraps and repeat until all dough has been rolled and cut into rectangles.
- Place half of the rectangles on the prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch or two between each one. Top with about 1 tablespoon of the filling, leaving a small border around the edges.
- Place the other half of the rectangles without the filling on top of the ones on the baking sheets. Use a fork to crimp the edges together, all around the border of each rectangle. Use a toothpick to poke holes on top of each pop tart.
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until the edges turn lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- To make the glaze: In a bowl, combine 3 cups powdered sugar and ¼ cup milk. Add 10 drops each of red and blue food dye, then whisk to turn it purple. Spread the purple glaze on top of each pop tart, from edge to edge.
- In another bowl, combine ¾ cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon milk. Add 15 drops of blue food dye, then whisk to turn it blue. Add the blue glaze to a zip top bag and cut off a small piece of the corner. Use the bag to drizzle the blue glaze on top of the purple. Allow glaze to harden before eating.
Last step!Please consider leaving a review to let me know how you liked this recipe!
Notes
- Make sure to properly reduce the berry filling! If the jam isn't thickened enough, it'll turn the pop tarts watery and make them fall apart as they bake. Typically, 30 to 40 minutes is enough time to thicken the mixture, but you might need more or less time, depending on the size of your saucepan.
- Powdered sugar is traditional in shortbread cookies. I recommend using this instead of granulated sugar for the dough.
Nutrition
Calories: 662kcal | Carbohydrates: 92g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 106mg | Potassium: 84mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 56g | Vitamin A: 960IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 2mg
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