Strawberry Lemonade Poptarts
Homemade, vegan strawberry chia jam filled pastries slathered with lemon glaze — the best way to start the day!
Ingredients
Strawberry Chia Jam
- 1 1/2 cup strawberries, sliced
- 1 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
- 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1-2 tbsp pure maple syrup, or any sweetener of choice
Dough:
- 2 cup All Purpose Flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 tbsp sugar, I use cane sugar
- 2/3 cup salted vegan butter, chilled & cubed. See note.
- 4-6 tbsp ice water
Lemon Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp nondairy milk or water
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- zest of one large lemon
Instructions
Strawberry Chia Jam:
- In a small saucepan, add the strawberries and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until soft and tender.
- Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice, maple syrup, and chia seeds. Mash the jam with a fork until your desired consistency. Taste and adjust the lemon and maple syrup depending on the sweetness and tartness of the strawberries. Don’t sweeten the jam too much because the pop tart glaze will be very sweet! Set aside to thicken.
- Optional: If you like a completely smooth jam, add the chia jam to a blender and puree until nice and smooth, adding a couple tbsp of water if needed. If desired, grate in some lemon zest after blending the chia jam.
Dough:
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour and sugar.
- Add in the chilled, cubed vegan butter. Cut the butter into flour using a pastry cutter or two butter knives until mixture becomes crumbly and resembles a coarse meal.
- Stir in the ice water, one tbsp at a time, until the dough just comes together to form a ball. I usually add about 5 tbsp of ice water. Then, gently form dough into a large disc, divide in half, and wrap each half separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375F. Once chilled, remove one half of dough from fridge and let sit for 10 minutes at room temperature. On a clean and floured surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 1/8th inch thick. Trim edges to create a clean rectangle. You can re-roll any scrap pieces of dough as needed at the end.
- Cut the clean rectangle into evenly sized smaller rectangles, about 3x4 inches each.
- Use a fork to prick the centers of half the small rectangles. These will be your tops.
- Place 1-2 tbsp of the chia jam in the center of the remaining rectangles. Place the pricked rectangles over the jam, and use a wet fork to crimp and seal the edges.
- Place poptarts on a parchment lined baking sheet, and place in fridge while you repeat the process with the second half of the dough. If desired, brush or spray the tops of the poptarts with oil or nondairy milk to get golden brown colored poptarts. Once all poptarts are prepared, bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes.
Lemon Glaze:
- Whisk together powdered sugar, nondairy milk, vanilla, and lemon zest until nice and smooth. Spread the glaze over the poptarts. Enjoy!
- Optional: If there is extra strawberry chia jam and lemon glaze left at the end, you can combine both and drizzle it over the poptarts to add a pop of color!
Notes
2/3 cups of butter = 1 whole stick + 3 tbsp of butter, approximately.
The salted vegan butter can be substituted with unsalted butter or cold coconut oil. However, if you're substituting, just be sure to add 1/2 tsp of salt to the dough mixture.
Although this is a very easy dough to make, you can substitute it with store-bought pie crust if you don’t want to go through the hassle of making your own. Just be sure it’s vegan friendly!
Storing: Store pop-tarts in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or longer in the refrigerator.
Freezing: Baked and unglazed pop-tarts can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw and reheat in oven at 350F for 10 minutes.