Start your morning off with a flakey homemade pop-tart filled with a healthy mixed berry chia jam.
Honestly, I only made these Berry Chia Jam Pop-Tarts for two reasons. (And neither reason is because I love Pop-Tarts.) I mean, I like them in a nostalgic sense but they really aren’t my jam (pun intended!).
These pastries came about because
- I had a bunch of berries that were on the edge of going bad and I hate throwing away expensive organic berries.
- I really love the look of bright sprinkles on white frosting. Here’s a link to my favorite sprinkle shop!
What can I say, I’m an honest blogger and sometimes I make things just because it’s what I have on hand, not always because I love the food.
Now, these pop-tarts are really made to be customizable. I’m going to give you a base recipe to work with and you can mix and match for what works for you when it comes to creating the chia jam to stuff inside.
Chia Jam
Chia jam is really easy to make. I enjoy it because it’s pretty much foolproof, it’s packed with good for you omega-3s from all the chia seeds, and you can do it with whatever fruit you have on hand.
The ratio is quite simple
- 2 cups fruit
- 2 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or agave or honey)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
You simply heat the fruit and mash them slightly over medium heat. Once they look a bit jammy, stir in the sweetener, chia seeds, and the lemon juice. Put it all the in the fridge and when you come back in about 60 minutes the chia seeds will have done their magic.
Voila! You have jam.
Pastry prior to baking.
Pop-tarts baking in the oven.
Golden, flakey pop-tarts cooling before frosting.
The Pastry
You can make your own pastry for these pop-tarts, but if you want the easy way out, grab yourself a pack of store-bought pie crust and go to town cutting out 4×3 inch rectangles to form your pop-tart shells. There is NO shame in that. In fact, if it’s already in your fridge you should just use it because we all know that the doughboy makes some dang good pie crust.
But, if you really want to impress the family, you can choose to make your own pastry dough. Like the chia seed jam, it’s a handful of ingredients and difficult to mess up.
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening (preferably Crisco butter flavored)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup ice water
Whisk together the flour and salt, cut in the shortening then add in the water. Knead just a tad, then let it rest in the fridge for 20-minutes and roll it out. Voila! You have better than store-bought pastry dough ready to cut into 3×4 inch rectangles and your family will be uber impressed. (Side note: that’s my grandma’s pie crust recipe and it’s delicious!)
Next up, make the pop-tarts.
Simply put a few teaspoons of jam into the center, dab the edges with an egg wash and layer on a matching top. Before baking you crimp the edges with a fork to seal in the jam, poke a couple of holes in the top to release the steam when they bake then after a quick rest in the fridge you pop those babies in the oven until they’re golden.
Frost & Decorate
After the pastries have cooled slightly, spread on a simple glaze of confectioner’s sugar & milk and top with a few fancy sprinkles for a little bit of glam.
Devour immediately.
- Chia Jam
- 1 cup strawberries, finely diced
- ½ cup blueberries
- ½ cup raspberries
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or agave, or honey)
- pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- For the Pastry Dough
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening (Crisco butter flavored, preferred)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup ice water
- For the Glaze
- ¾ cup confectioner's sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- To make the chia jam, place the berries into a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. While heating, stir and mash the berries constantly until a jammy sauce consistency is formed, slight berry bits/chunks are fine. Add in the maple syrup and a pinch of salt and stir. Add in the chia seeds and lemon juice. Stir until combined. Remove from heat and place the mixture into a glass or heat-proof container. Place the container in the fridge and let sit for 60-minutes or overnight until chia seeds have matured creating a jam consistency with the berries.
- For the pastry dough, whisk together the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening until pea-sized pebbles form. Fold in the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and using your hands, gently press the dough together until it forms a ball. Gently cut the ball in half and pat each half into discs, about 6 to 8 inches in diameter. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to rest for 15-20 minutes.
- When you're ready to bake the pop-tarts, line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats and set aside.
- Remove the discs from the fridge and allow it to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. Roll one disc out into a rectangle slightly larger than 9 inches by 12 inches, trimming as needed. The dough should be about ⅛th inch thick if rolled correctly. Using a ruler cut out 4x3 inch rectangles, baking 9 in total. Place the rectangles on to the prepared baking sheets leaving 1-2 inches between each on the baking sheet. These are the bottom of your pop-tarts
- Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the second set of dough, creating 9 more rectangles that are 4x3 inches, these are the top of your pop-tarts.
- Prepare the egg wash by whisking together 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of milk.
- To assemble the pop-tarts, place 1½ - 2 teaspoons of chia jam into the center of the pop-tart bottom, spreading it out evenly, leaving about ¼ inch of clean dough around the edge. On the clean edges, lightly brush the egg wash. Top each jam filled bottom with the top of a pop-tart and gently press the edges together.
- Using the tines of a fork, crimp around the edges of the pop-tarts, sealing the jam inside. With a toothpick, gently poke 8-10 holes into the top of each pop-tart to allow any steam to escape, this will keep your pop-tarts from bubbling up while baking.
- Place your assembled pop-tarts into the fridge for 15-20 minutes to rest. While resting, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Remove the pop-tarts from the fridge and bake in the oven for 25-27 minutes. At the 20 minute mark, check the pop-tarts to see if the edges are browning. If they are getting a little dark, place a sheet of foil over the pop-tarts for the remaining 5-minutes to keep the edges from burning. Remove the pop-tarts from the oven and allow to cool for 5-minutes on the sheet pan before transferring to a cooling rack.
- While the pastries are cooling, make the glaze by whisking together the confectioner's sugar, milk and vanilla extract until it forms a spreadable consistency. If too thick, add a ½ teaspoon more of milk as needed. If too thin, add an additional 1 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar as needed.
- Once the pastries have cooled but are still slightly warm, use a spatula to frost them with 1-2 teaspoons of the frosting. Serve immediately or keep in a cool, dry place for up to 3 days.
