Flaky pie crust hand pies filled with a tart and sweet strawberry rhubarb jam. Topped with a glaze and sprinkles, these strawberry rhubarb hand pies are the perfect nostalgic treat.
I don’t know about y’all, but I’ve been feeling super nostalgic lately. With my sister leaving for college in only a few months, all my childhood memories have been flooding back and surprisingly rhubarb is apart of a lot of them. Both my families ranches in Texas and North Dakota have rhubarb patches in them and rhubarb pie is my favorite of my grandma’s recipes. It was also one of my grandpa’s favorite desserts, second to pecan pie. He passed away 5 years ago and since we lived on opposite sides of the country, we never really got to know each other but rhubarb pie is one of the few memories I have of him. I originally set out to create a classic rhubarb pie recipe for my blog, but when the idea for cute pop-tart inspired hand pies entered my brain, I couldn’t resist.
Hand Pie Ingredients:
Rhubarb: I go more in depth to it below, but it adds such a nice tartness to the strawberries.
Orange Juice: I use plain old Tropicana, the added sugar in it balances the bitter tart rhubarb well.
Strawberries: Nothing fancy here, grab them at your local farmer’s market alongside the strawberries.
Vodka: This is completely optional, but it limits gluten development which makes for a much more tender dough.
How to make Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies:
Start by making the pie dough since it has to chill for an hour. Pulse the dry ingredients just to combine them, then pulse in the butter. I tend to go for a flakier almond sized butter pieces crust, but since these hand pies are free form in the oven pulsing the butter down to pea sized pieces is the only way they’ll hold their shape. Then, drizzle in the water and vodka until a shaggy dough forms. Under hydration in pie dough is a true American epidemic, so be sure to hydrate all the flour in the dough.
While the pie dough chills, make the strawberry-rhubarb jam. Boil the rhubarb and orange juice together for five minutes until the rhubarb is tender and very little orange juice remains. Then, add in the strawberries and sugar and cook for another 3-4 minutes until thick, jammy, and bubbling. Cover and let cool in the fridge.
To assemble, roll the dough into a 1/4″ thick rectangle. Then, cut the dough into 12 4×3 inch rectangles (it’s okay if you have to re-roll the dough once). Dock the dough. Match together pieces of dough that fit the best together and sandwich them between the cooled jam and egg wash. Bake at 350ºF until golden brown and the bottoms are crisp. While they bake, whisk together a the simple. Spoon them with their icing, add sprinkles, and enjoy!
Rhubarb 101:
Rhubarb is a tart stalk fruit, technically vegetable, that is mostly used in baking because it is too sour and bitter and eat on its own.
I rarely find can find rhubarb at my local grocery store, they may carry it for a bit of the season or in the frozen section though. I recommend buying rhubarb at your local farmer’s market, local farmers will sell it at the best quality and at peak ripeness.
There is none! The same way there are green and red apples, there is green and red rhubarb. However, green and rhubarb cook and taste almost completely identically and I’ve tested this recipe with both. You won’t get that same red color with green rhubarb obviously, but it will taste the same.
Yes and no, the leaves of rhubarb are poisonous when eaten in high amounts but the stalks we eat and bake with isn’t. Be sure to keep your rhubarb leaves away from dogs.
Tips and Tricks:
- Don’t overwork the pie crust. If the butter is getting soft and the dough is getting sticky, cover it in plastic wrap again and re-chill it for 20 minutes.
- Keep a close eye on the jam. This jam burnt the first time I made it since I’m not the most attentive in the kitchen. To ensure your jam doesn’t burn, check it at both 3,4, and 5 minutes.
- Let the jam fully cool. The jam thickens as it cools so if the jam is warm, it won’t be set enough to stay inside the pop tarts.
- Weigh your ingredients, weight is a much more accurate measurement to volume and will ensure all of your ratios are correct. Kitchen scales are super cheap and will be your new kitchen obsession.
Want more summer fruit recipes? Try These:
If you tried these, please leave a review! It helps more people see this recipe, thanks!
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Strawberry Rhubarb Pop Tarts
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cooling Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 6 hand pies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: breakfast
Description
Flaky pie crust hand pies filled with a tart and sweet strawberry rhubarb jam. Topped with a glaze and sprinkles, these strawberry rhubarb hand pies are the perfect nostalgic treat.
Ingredients
Dough:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (210g)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar (12g)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
12 tablespoons cold cubed unsalted butter (170g)
1/4 cup ice cold water (more or less may be necessary depending on climate)
1 tablespoon (10g) vodka
Strawberry Rhubarb Filling:
1.5 cup rhubarb chopped into small half moons
1/4 cup orange juice or water
2/3 cup fresh strawberries, quartered
1/3 cup granulated sugar (65g)
1/2 tsp salt
Assembly:
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 drops red food coloring
sprinkles
Instructions
Pop Tart Dough:
1) In a food processor combine the flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and salt. Pulse just to combine.
2) Add in the cold cubed butter and pulse until the butter is in pea sized pieces. Drizzle in the water and vodka and pulse just until a shaggy dough forms.
4) Dump the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and shape it into a rectangle. Let chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Strawberry-Rhubarb Filling:
1) In a saucepan, simmer the orange juice and chopped rhubarb together for 4-5 minutes until the rhubarb is tender.
2) Add in the strawberries, sugar, and salt and heat on medium high while stirring until the jam has begun to boil.
3) Pour into a heat-proof bowl, cover, and let chill until completely cool.
Assembly:
1) Roll the chilled dough into a rectangle of a 1/4 inch thickness using flour only as necessary. Cut the dough into 12 4×3 inch rectangles. Match together pieces of dough that fit the best together.
2) Place one piece of the dough onto a lined baking sheet. Dock the dough by pricking the bottom of it with a fork.
3) Spoon 1 tablespoon of the jam into the center of the rectangle leaving a border around the edge. Brush the border with the egg wash before placing the other dough rectangle gently on top of it.
4) Crimp the edges of the two pieces of dough together with the back of a fork and dock the top in the same way we docked the bottom. Brush with egg wash and repeat assembly process for the remaining 5 pop tarts.
5) Bake at 350ºF for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
6) While the hand pies bake, whisk together the milk, strawberry extract, vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and red food coloring until the glaze reaches your desired consistency.*
7) Once the hand pies have cooled, spoon the glaze onto the hand pies and garnish with sprinkles.
Notes
*The amount of milk needed may vary on your kitchen climate.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 hand pie
- Calories: 470
- Sugar: 28.2g
- Sodium: 372mg
- Fat: 24.4g
- Saturated Fat: 15g
- Carbohydrates: 57.9g
- Fiber: 1.9g
- Protein: 5.6g
- Cholesterol: 89mg
Keywords: pop tarts, strawberry rhubarb, hand pie, turnover, pie crust
Photo Inspiration: https://thebakersalmanac.com/homemade-strawberry-pop-tarts/
[…] Rhubarb jam may be the best thing to ever exist; I also use it in these hand pies. […]