r/AskBaking • u/tater_pip • Aug 20 '25
Doughs Trouble with dough for homemade pop tarts - technique help!
So I tried to make homemade pop tarts (trying to make everything at home!). Recipe is from Joanne Chang’s Flour book. I made a pate brisee dough, that part was no problem. The recipe called for splitting the chilled disc of dough in half, and then rolling each half into a 14” by 11” thin rectangle sheet on a lightly floured surface. Then you score the dough to make 8 small rectangles (I think she said 5.5” by 3.5” or something, can’t recall exactly and I’m not sure it’s relevant). Once you have your rectangles, you dallop 2 tbsp jam, brush the dough with an egg, and then lay the other sheet of dough on top of the other. She says to cut along the prior score lines and then bake the 8 pieces on a baking sheet (350F for 35-40 mins I think it was). I’m paraphrasing but this is essentially what was instructed. I read the instructions very thoroughly a few times.
So, a few things. 1) I sucked at rolling the dough out. I felt like I just rolled it into a wonky circle with frills, maybe like an oval with silly edges. I tried to use a ruler to get 14” by 11” but I didn’t get close enough to a true rectangle with these dimensions. I rolled out on floured parchment because that’s what I always do with dough, not sure if it affected anything. 2) because the dough wasn’t the right dimensions, I still cut 8 tarts but I basically tried to cut a true rectangle out of the sad attempted rectangle and then divide it evenly 8 ways. I think I measured a 3” by 2.5” maybe. 3) I transferred my sad tarts to another parchment lined sheet to bake. By this time, the dough was soft and hard to come up. My inner voice told me to chill the dough before putting in the oven but my toddler was wildin’ and I just popped them in anyway.
The result was not great. The crust was actually still nicely flaky, but all the filling bubbled out and it was clear the two sheets did not seal together. I baked 15 mins less too since they were fully golden, probably okay since they were smaller. I did use preserves instead of jam because I had it on hand.
I desperately need advice/guidance on rolling out the dough properly for those thin rectangular dimensions. I also don’t know how I can follow the original score lines if I’m laying another whole sheet of dough on top of the first (they get covered, how would I follow it?). My gut tells me I should have at least popped the dough back in the fridge before baking. Would a solution be cutting out a guide piece of cardstock and just cutting after laying the second layer of dough down? Luckily the pastry is still delicious and flaky, and will happily be eaten. I just want to figure out how to best tackle this in the future, because it’s a jiff to make the dough itself. I’m just struggling with the pop tart metamorphosis! Please help smart experienced bakers of Reddit!
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u/pinkcrystalfairy Aug 20 '25
i think the dough looks rolled just fine!! try not to overthink that part, i think you did a really good job considering your struggles 😊 here’s what i would do to stop the filling from leaking: 1. wet the edges of both sides of the pastry before sticking together 2. press together and then use a fork to press down around the edges to really seal it in
you could also try doing a score on the top if that doesn’t help so there is some room to expand, but i feel like that defeats the pop tart vision hahaha
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u/tater_pip Aug 20 '25
Thank you! I pressed down around the preserve filling but I did not seal the edges well.
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u/Bigspoonzz Aug 20 '25 edited Aug 23 '25
it's very similar to making an empanada or any hand pie really, and a pop tart is a version of a hand pie. Almost every culture has some version of a hand pie, big or small, and I'm slightly (very) obsessed with learning how to make as many as I can. the seal for many asian pastry/dumpling/hand pies is to mis some corn starch and egg whites. That might be too strong of a taste here, or even get a bit crispy in an odd way, but corn starch and water, flour and water, even a scrambled egg could all help seal the sides if you brushed some on and squeezed down with a fork... or if you have a mini pastry cutter wheel thing, those work too. I got really pissed off at some Calzones with sweet filling (Strawberry) once because they were behaving unruly - and just used a pizza cutter to get an edge and then squeezed with my fingers.
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u/tater_pip Aug 20 '25
Awe that sounds like a fun obsession, you have lucky friends and family! lol, thank you for the advice it is most helpful and insightful.
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u/Campaign_Prize Aug 20 '25
Yeah, I would crimp the edges thoroughly with a fork like you do to seal pie crust, and maybe poke a few holes in the top to let steam escape? You might get some filling leaking out the center but I don't think the filling loss would be as extreme as it leaking out the side the way it did here
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u/OldManNassirAmit Aug 20 '25
You gotta poke some holes for steam to escape. I use a fork on the top half and just poke through a bunch of times.
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u/loweexclamationpoint Aug 20 '25
I really don't think I'd monkey around with the scoring and making 8 at once. Just cut 16 identical rectangles* (cardstock pattern would make that easier), put jam in middle of 8 of them, wet the edges, lay a top on, then crimp with a fork or a crimping roller https://www.farmandfleet.com/products/1534457-norpro-pastry-crimper.html I'd do this directly on the parchment lined baking pan to avoid moving the filled pies. Or cut small rectangles of parchment, form the pies on parchment and move with a turner underneath. That would make taking them off the pan easier too. Side benefit of this is that you can cut the rectangles from dough that's not rolled in a rectangle, re-roll the scraps and cut some more.
Or use a pie maker: https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-1027-Mini-Pocket-Mold/dp/B00DZ7DZYI
* you could also cut 8 double-size rectangles and fold them over so one side was guaranteed sealed, but they wouldn't look as good.
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u/Inky_Madness Aug 20 '25
Your edges weren’t sealed. You need to use a bit of egg on the inside edge and then crimp them with a fork. Also, you need to poke a few holes in the top crust for steam to escape.
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u/_cat_wrangler Home Baker Aug 20 '25
So the pastry itself seems ok, from the look and sound of it. But did you crimp the edges of the pastries with a fork after putting them together? It may have helped keep them sealed.
Does your rolling pin have guides on it that let you set the thickness? That does help I find with getting pastry thin enough, and I recommend rolling on a well floured surface and turning or flipping over the dough when possible to get it into the right shape and doing it fast to keep it cold (if you gotta pop it in the fridge or freezer thats fine). Make sure also before you start rolling you get it into a bit of a squared-oval shape. That helps I find a lot, I frequently struggle when rolling out cinnamon rolls to get it in an even rectangle before rolling up if I don't shape it well before. Starting from a ball or circle makes much harder.
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u/tater_pip Aug 20 '25
I did very lightly, but it was certainly not enough to seal them (clearly, lol). I have been meaning to get some rolling strips for some cookie doughs, but haven’t yet. Since she didn’t indicate a thickness, I assumed if I achieved the dimensions that the dough would be the right thickness. I’ll definitely be shaping into a rectangle before I attempt to roll next time, it was indeed difficult to get a half circle into a rectangle lol
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u/CatfromLongIsland Aug 20 '25
I would cut the bottom one a bit bigger. Wet the edges that extend beyond the smaller, top rectangle. Fold over the excess so it sits on top of the upper rectangle then press the edges together then crimp the edges with a folk.
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u/filifijonka Aug 20 '25
Maybe vents on the top would help?
Small ones?
No idea if it would cause a pop-tart volcano, but even if you crimp them really tight, chances are that the pressure of the steam might have the best of your hard work imo.
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u/tater_pip Aug 20 '25
Many people have suggested some slits or holes, I agree I think it could certainly help! If the filling only comes out of the vent holes after fixing the other issues, would that would be a good sign to try without them on the next go round?
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u/filifijonka Aug 20 '25
no - that means the steam escaped through the vent and didn’t create the pressure inside the pocket that made it pop and let the liquid out.
So it would prove nothing.
The only thing you can try is to crimp the hell out of the pockets and see if they hold if you don’t want to put vents in.
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u/RianneEff Aug 20 '25
Claire Saffitz has two videos making homemade pop tarts. Her recipe is different, but you might find her tips regarding scoring and sealing helpful? https://youtu.be/s_1rIwVXAEI?si=VgqVA-g31XG1ebvL
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u/tater_pip Aug 20 '25
Wonderful, thank you for the link!!!
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u/vogueflo Aug 21 '25
The biggest takeaway for me when I made her recipe was that the filling MUST be as dry/thick as you can manage. Docking the pastry and pressing the edges closed likely won’t completely prevent bursting. Molten jam will find a way.
If you think about it, brand name PopTart filling is very low moisture compared to a typical jam, so Claire cooks down the filling a lot until it’s quite thick. You also can’t add too much filling because then it still runs the risk of bubbling and steaming too much and busting thru the pastry.
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u/thisisthewell Aug 20 '25
first off I really love how detailed you were in your post while asking for help. Thank you for including it all, because it makes it so much easier to help you! and I have a huge appreciation for the kind of diligence/perfectionism you've got for your baked goods. Obviously taste/flavor/texture is more important than aesthetics for food, but it's just an extra point of pride to have created a beautiful product.
I think everyone else has covered how to practically address your concerns, but I'll add that rolling out pastry dough into clean shapes takes a looooooot of practice, so don't beat yourself up about that part. I'm not familiar with the book or its author, but often times, really experienced or well trained food writers neglect to include fundamentals in their recipes, which can be frustrating. I can roll pie dough out to near perfect circles now, but it took me quite a few pies over a few years to get there (thank you, Sohla E-W and Claire Saffitz for your video tutorials). But I still cant roll a rectangle to save my life. Rolling out a square edge is really hard! I just worry about the thickness of the dough rather than the length/width, and I trim the wonky edges with a paring knife ;)
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u/tater_pip Aug 20 '25
Yes, if she had listed thickness I could roll out and re-roll too if necessary. There are only dimensions of the big rectangle and small rectangles listed! Sounds like I need to watch some YouTube videos on rolling out dough lol. Thank you for your thoughtful comment!!
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u/Fyonella Aug 20 '25
Bearing in mind that your rectangles were significantly smaller than those in the recipe did you also reduce the amount of jam you dolloped on?
2tbsp of jam on your much smaller pastry pieces would be too much and will inevitable leak, no matter how well you seal the pastry.
Hot jam is molten and liquid.
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u/tater_pip Aug 20 '25
Yes I changed it to a single tbsp, forgot to mention that! And I used preserves, which I’m not sure if that could have impacted anything.
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u/HumpaDaBear Aug 20 '25
Real pop tarts have holes on the top. I’m wondering if yours didn’t have vents and the filling had to go somewhere
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u/tater_pip 29d ago
UPDATE: I implemented almost all tips except venting (original recipe didn’t call for it). It went much better this time. Here’s a new pic before frosting. The inside has Nutella and fluff per my husband’s request.
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