Strawberry PopTart Bars

PopTarts are one of those delicious and nostalgic treats that you remember enjoying as a kid. My life changed when my sister told me to put my PopTarts in the toaster – as a seven-year-old these things blow your mind. This recipe is a play on that delicious pastry we all know and love. This recipe is a shortbread cookie baked between a layer of strawberry preserves, topped with a vanilla glaze and colorful sprinkles. I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

How To Make Strawberry PopTart Bars

These delicious little squares of strawberry and shortbread goodness are so easy to make and are the perfect treat for everyone of all ages. Let’s get into the details!

Preparing The Dough

The dough is made with cold, cubed butter. This is going to create the most tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture. Since the Strawberry Pop Tarts that we all know and love are made with what tastes like a cross between pie dough and sugar cookie dough, I thought that this sweet shortbread dough would be the perfect compromise.

Mixing The Dough

When it comes to mixing the dough, I recommend using a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment or an electric mixer on low speed to combine the cold, cubed butter and sugar. This is going to help break down the butter and allow it to combine a bit easier. Once we add in the dry ingredients I recommend using a silicone spatula. You can also use your hands to make this process a bit easier. The dough should come together nicely but still be a bit crumbly.

How To Make Vanilla Glaze

Making glaze is extremely easy and only requires three ingredients; confectioner’s sugar, milk (or water), and vanilla extract. Of course, you can add whatever flavor extract you’d like but for the sake of this recipe and the purpose of creating a fun twist on the Strawberry PopTart. Simply mix all of these ingredients together until you have a nice, smooth texture then add to your cooled cookie bars.

The key to creating the perfect glaze is in the consistency. We don’t want a glaze that is too thin and becomes transparent once settling on top of our bars, but we also don’t want a glaze that’s too thick that it doesn’t spread or looks too thick and chunky on top of our bars. You can always fix the texture of your glaze by adding more milk (or water), or more confectioner’s sugar depending on which one you need more of to bring your glaze back to a perfect consistency. Try to add these ingredients one tablespoon or teaspoon at a time when trying to adjust the consistency.

More Recipes To Try

• Chocolate Strawberry Sheet Cake
• Strawberry Swiss Roll
• Copycat Philadelphia Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
• Strawberry Meringue Gingersnaps
• Strawberry Shortcake Muffins
• Floral Linzer Cookies

How To Store Strawberry PopTart Bars

These bars should be kept in an air-tight container, a plate sealed with plastic wrap, or a ziplock baggie in the fridge for up to 5 days. They can also be kept stored and sealed in the freezer for up to 3 months. These bars are best enjoyed fresh but are more than capable of holding up after being stored. I recommend allowing them to come to room temperature before enjoying.

Strawberry PopTart Bars

Recipe by Maddison Koutrouba – thesqueakymixer.com

5.0 from 2 votes

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Servings

9

servings

Cooking time

25

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold & cubed

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 2 eggs, room temperature

• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 3/4 cups strawberry jam or preserves

• Vanilla Glaze

• 1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

• 1 1/2 – 2 Tbsp. whole milk

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 2-3 Tbsp. colorful sprinkles for decorating (optional)

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a *” x 8″ pan with butter and line with parchment paper hanging out the sides of the pan for an easy release later on.
• In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, mix the cold, cubed butter and sugar. Mix on low speed for about 2 minutes – there will still be small chunks of butter and this is ok.
• Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture and continue to mix on low speed.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix just until the dough starts to come together. If you are mixing by hand, you can gently bring the dough together with your hands. It will be crumbly but should form together when pressed.
• Eyeball about half of the dough and place it into our prepared baking pan. Flatten the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan using the back of a measuring cup or your hands. Spread an even layer of jam on top of this then top the jam with the remaining dough while crumbling and sprinkling it over the jam layer. Do your best to distribute the components of each layer evenly.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top of the bars is lightly golden brown. Allow them to cool completely in the pan before releasing and decorating.
• To make the glaze, whisk together all of the ingredients. It’s best to add the milk a little at a time so you can ensure the perfect texture. If your glaze is too thin and looks watery, add more confectioner’s sugar (one tablespoon at a time). If your glaze is too thick and hard to mix, add more of the milk. When lifted out of the bowl with a spoon the glaze should form slow ribbons in the bowl that disappear after a few seconds.
• Remove the bars from the pan once they’ve cooled and add the glaze on top. While the glaze is still wet, add your sprinkles.
• Slice the bars into even squares and enjoy!

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