Cheddar Blackberry-Thyme Pop Tarts

These cheddar blackberry thyme pop tarts are a deliciously sweet, homemade update on the classic breakfast pastry!

I combined cheddar, blackberries, and thyme to recreate one of my favorite childhood breakfast treats with a twist. They aren’t your standard toaster treats. These pastries contain real fruit and a shortcrust pastry dough that makes them more like a hand pie.

Ingredients You Will Need

• Blackberries
• All-purpose flour
• Fresh thyme
• Cheddar Whisps (optional)
• Cornstarch
• Salt
• Sugar
• Butter
• Eggs
• Lemon juice
• Milk
• Water
• Powdered Sugar
• Vanilla Extract

Step-by-Step Instructions

To make the dough

• Add flour, Whisps, cornstarch, salt, and sugar into a food processor. Pulse ingredients a couple of times, just to combine the ingredients.
• Add cubes of butter to your dry mixture and pulse about 1-2 times. Small chunks of butter should still be visible in your dough.
• Add egg to the dry mixture in the processor and pulse 2-3 times, or until egg is fully incorporated.
• Add a tablespoon of water at a time. Pulse the mixture between each addition until you have a soft dough.
• Remove dough from the food processor and shape it into a round disc.
• Cover it in plastic wrap and let it chill in your fridge for about 45 minutes to an hour.

To make the blackberry thyme jam

• Get a medium saucepan and place your blackberries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice in it. Mix the ingredients, ensuring the dry ingredients are fully covering your berries.
• Place the saucepan with your berry mixture on your stovetop on medium heat. Stir occasionally.
• Let berries break down a bit until the mixture begins bubbling. Add thyme to the berry mixture.
• Stir constantly until the mixture thickens. The jam will be ready when it coats and sticks to a spoon.
• Remove from heat. Let your jam fully cool and place it in an airtight container.

How to assemble your pop tarts

• Preheat your oven to 350F and set aside two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
• Take the dough out of the fridge. Place your disc of dough between two pieces of parchment paper or a clean and lightly floured surface.
• Roll dough about 1/4 of an inch thick and trim edges to get a rectangle. Cut into smaller rectangles that are 4 inches long and 2 ½ inches wide. Re-roll and cut as needed to get 12 rectangles.
• Combine an egg and milk into a small bowl to make an egg wash.
• Place three pastry rectangles on each baking sheet. Brush egg wash around the edges of each rectangle.
• Place about 1 ½ to 2 tbsp of jam in the middle of each pastry.
• Place one of your remaining six pastry rectangles on top of your prepared one, lightly pressing it to seal the tarts together.
• Using a fork, crimp the edges of each tart and brush each tart with egg wash.
• Place both baking sheets in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until your pop tarts are golden brown.
• Let each tart completely cool.

How to make your icing

• While tarts are cooling, prepare the icing by placing powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla into a large bowl.
• Using an electric mixer or whisk, mix all ingredients until a very thick icing is formed. (Add extra milk if necessary, but the ideal icing is quite thick).
• Add a tablespoon of jam and mix until fully incorporated.
• Spoon or drizzle the desired amount of icing onto each cooled tart. Let icing harden.
• Enjoy your pop tarts!

Storage Tips

• Store iced pop tarts in an airtight container
• If there is excess jam left, store it in the fridge for no longer than five days.

Extra Tips for This Recipe

• While this recipe contains the addition of cheese snacks if you can’t find them or would prefer not to add them, you can swap them out for ¼ cup of flour. The crust won’t have that cheesy element, but they will still taste great!

• I use a food processor to bring my dough together faster. My hands also run a little warm, so the food processor is a good way for the butter to remain cold within the dough. If you don’t have a food processor, don’t worry! You can make these without one: a pastry cutter or your hands will work just fine.

Print Pin

5 from 1 vote

Cheddar Blackberry-Thyme Pop Tarts

Your favorite breakfast pastry's flavors are now elevated! With a savory cheddar crust and a sweet, but slightly herbaceous crust, these handheld treats are the perfect remedy to cure your sweet and salty cravings.

Course Dessert

Keyword baking, dessert, fruit

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Cooling Time 25 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 6 poptarts

Calories 433kcal

Author Breanna

Equipment

• Food Processor

Ingredients

Cheddar Dough

• 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup finely ground Cheddar Whisps
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• ½ tsp salt
• pinch of sugar
• ½ cup cold butter (cut into cubes)
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp ice water

Blackberry Thyme Jam

• 16 ounces frozen blackberries
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Egg Wash

• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp milk

Icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1-2 tbsp milk + extra as needed
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp blackberry-thyme jam

Instructions

Dough

• Add flour, Whisps, cornstarch, salt, and sugar into food processor. Pulse ingredients a couple of times, just to combine the ingredients.
• Add cubes of butter to your dry mixture and pulse about 1-2 times. Small bits of butter should still be visible in your dough.
• Add egg and pulse 2-3 times, or until egg is fully incorporated.
• Add a tablespoon of water at a time, pulsing mixture between each addition until you have a soft dough.
• Remove dough from food processor and shape it into a round disc. Cover it in plastic wrap and let it chill in your fridge for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Blackberry Thyme Jam

• Get a medium saucepan and place your blackberries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice in it. Mix the ingredients, ensuring the dry ingredients are covering your berries.
• Place saucepan with your berry mixture on your stovetop on medium heat. Stir occasionally.
• Let berries break down a bit until the mixture begins bubbling. Add thyme.
• Stir constantly until the mixture thickens. The mixture will be ready when it coats and sticks to a spoon.
• Remove from heat. Let mixture fully cool and place in an airtight container.

Pop-Tarts

• Preheat your oven to 350F and set aside two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
• Take dough out of fridge. Place your disc of dough between two pieces of parchment paper or a clean and lightly floured surface.
• Roll dough about 1/4 of an inch thick and trim edges to get a rectangle. Cut into smaller rectangles that are 4 inches long and 2 ½ inches wide. Re-roll and cut as needed to get 12 rectangles.
• Combine an egg and milk into a small bowl to make egg wash.
• Place three pastry rectangles on each baking sheet. Brush egg wash around the edges of each rectangle.
• Place about 1 ½ to 2 tbsp of jam in the middle of each pastry.
• Place one of your remaining six pastry rectangles on the top of your prepared one, lightly pressing it to seal the tarts together.
• Using a fork, crimp the edges of each tart and brush each tart with egg wash.
• Place both baking sheets in oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until your pop tarts are golden brown.
• Let each tart completely cool.

Icing

• While tarts are cooling, prepare icing by placing powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla into a large bowl.
• Using an electric mixer, mix all ingredients until a very thick icing is formed. (Add extra milk if necessary, but the ideal icing is quite thick).
• Add tablespoon of jam and mix until fully incorporated.
• Spoon or drizzle desired amount of icing onto each cooled tart. Let icing harden.
• Enjoy your pop tarts!

Notes

• Blackberry-thyme recipe yields about 1 1/2 cups. 

Nutrition

Serving: 6g | Calories: 433kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 96mg | Sodium: 342mg | Potassium: 196mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 731IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 2mg