Homemade Pop Tarts With Strawberry Lemon Chia Jam

That’s a mouthful…I know. But it is SO WORTH IT!

Here’s the game plan. We’re going to take store bought pie crust, stuff it with a quick and healthy homemade chia jam, smother it in a light icing, and decorate with sprinkles until our hearts are content.

So, let’s get to it!

Let’s start with the chia jam. I’ve not been shy about how I feel about chia jam. I’m absolutely obsessed with it. And, I’m on a mission to convert everyone to chia jam lovers. In my opinion, the beauty of chia jam is how the fruit gets to truly shine without being weighed down by sugar. Chia jam relies on the natural pectin in fruit combined with the liquid absorbing chia seeds to help thicken the jam to a spreadable consistency. The only sweetener we add is up to a tablespoon of agave syrup to balance out our fruit, and that’s it. Since we’re not adding cups upon cups of sugar to this jam, it’s so much better for us in the long run. And, that’s not even mentioning the health benefits of chia seeds like the high protein, antioxidants, fiber, and heart healthy omega 3 fatty acids.

We only need 4 ingredients for our chia jam: fresh or frozen strawberries, a lemon, chia seeds, and agave syrup. That’s it! We’ll add our strawberries to a small saucepan with a little lemon juice. Then we’ll bring it to a simmer, mash the berries to break them up a bit, and let them simmer for about 10 mins until the berries have thickened. Then, we add in our chia seeds, some lemon zest, and a squeeze of agave syrup; and mix it all together. And then, the jam is complete! We’ll let it chill in the fridge for about an hour to help it thicken up a bit. And then, we can prepare our pie crusts.

Since we’re making the jam from scratch, I think it’s a fair trade off to use a store bought pie crust. We’ll use the refrigerated crust that comes in a two pack, and we’ll follow the box instructions on how to bring the crust to room temperature. Now, here’s where you have a choice to make. Since we’re approaching Valentine’s Day, I thought it’d be super fun to make heart shaped pop tarts. You could also make squares, circles, or rectangles. The size and shape of your pop tarts will ultimately determine 2 things: how many you can get out of the pie dough and how much jam you’ll stuff them with. Using 4x4 squares, I was able to make 4 pop tarts total. But by using a 3 inch heart shape, I got about 8 pop tarts. You can re-roll your scraps of unused pie dough to get more pop tarts out of it, but I think the dough can get a little wonky doing that.

Once we have our dough cut out, we’re going to spread our chia jam over the center of half of the pie cut outs. Then, we’ll line up our top pieces of crust, and gently press around the edges to help fuse the two pieces of dough together. To really make sure our pie pockets are sealed, we’re going to go back around the edges with the tines of a fork which will help make sure all that delicious jam stays inside the dough where it belongs. Then, we’ll brush the tops of our pop tarts with egg wash so they get golden and shiny. And, we’ll cut little slits into the top of crust to keep these from exploding in the oven. Then, to the oven they go to bake for a couple of minutes until they’re shiny and golden.

After our pop tarts are finished baking, we’ll give them a couple minutes to themselves to start to cool down a bit. Then, they get topped with a simple icing made from milk and powdered sugar plus allllll of the sprinkles. Give the icing 15ish minutes to set, and it’s time to eat.

Here’s what I love the most about these pop tarts. They are the PERFECT mix of sweet, savory, and tart. The strawberry lemon chia jam on the inside of the pop tart is so fresh and slightly tart, but you really wouldn’t know that it’s actually good for you because it tastes so decadent. The pie crust is buttery and flaky and feels almost savory when partnered with its sweeter counterparts. Then, that icing on top is what lets you know you’re having a treat because it’s light, but just sweet enough to satisfy you. It’s such a flavor bomb on your tongue while being nostalgic in your heart. And, I feel way less guilty about eating these than I do about eating the store bought ones that come in that foil wrapper.

As a bonus…these reheat well too! I actually like them straight from the fridge. But, you can also reheat them in the oven (or a toaster oven…but not a stand up toaster) at a low heat to help crisp them back up.

Ok, everyone. If you’re looking for a special breakfast treat for your loved ones this Valentine’s Day (or any other day of the year), these pop tarts are definitely it!

I hope you guys enjoy! And, let’s eat!