Pop tarts are a nostalgic breakfast item from childhood that everybody loves. Whether you are team brown sugar or strawberry, one thing is for sure, pop tarts will bring you right back to when you were a kid. I created these strawberry almond pop tart bars to pay homage to a childhood favorite, with an adult palate in mind. These strawberry almond pop tart bars so good and are perfect for breakfast or as a dessert.

These almond strawberry pop tarts bars have two layers of almond shortbread with a middle layer of strawberry jam. This jam can be homemade with fresh strawberries or simply your favorite jam from the store. Once the bars have cooked in the oven, the hardest part is letting them cool slightly before adding the strawberry glaze on top. I let the bars cool completely before slicing to ensure the bars don’t crumble.

Tips:

Refrigerate the top layer of shortbread in the refrigerator before trying to place it on top of the jam layer before baking. This will make it SO much easier to flip off of the parchment paper.
Poke holes with a fork on the top layer of the shortbread before baking so that the bars don’t puff up.
Make these bars at the beginning of the week and refrigerate for up to 10 days (if they last that long.)

How to Make Strawberry Almond Pop Tart Bars:

Make shortbread and divide into two halves.
Outline an 8 x 8 baking pan on parchment so that you can make a top layer of the shortbread to the exact size of pan.
Press one half of the shortbread dough into the bottom of a 8 x 8 baking dish lined with parchment paper and then press the other half on the lined parchment into the same shape. Refrigerate that top layer until ready to add on top.
Spread the jam into an even layer over the bottom half of the shortbread.
Take the top layer of shortbread from the refrigerator and gently remove from parchment and add on top of the filling.
Take a fork and poke holes into shortbread and bake.
Make the icing and spread after the bars have cooled slightly.
Let the bars sit at room temp for a few hours to set completely or refrigerate for 30 minutes

Feel free to add sprinkles on top of you bars if you prefer and enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Room Temperature Butter
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Almond Extract
3/4 Cup Strawberry Jam

For the Icing-

2 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 Tbsp. Room Temperature Butter
2 Tbsp. Milk
2 Tbsp. Strawberry Jam

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Add softened butter to a mixing bowl and mix until butter is smooth.
Add in flour and sugar to the whipped butter and along with almond extract and mix until dough comes together in a ball.
Divide the ball into two equal halves.
Line a 8 x 8 baking dish with parchment paper and press half of the dough into the bottom of the dish in an even layer.
Take another piece of parchment paper and place underneath the baking dish and outline the corners so you can see the size.
Flip the parchment and add the other half of the dough spreading out into the size of the pan markings and place into the fridge once in a single layer.
Add the jam to the bottom layer of the shortbread and spread into an even layer.
Take the top layer out of the fridge and gently remove it from the parchment and place on top of the jam layer.
Poke holes in the shortbread with a fork and bake for 45-55 minutes until the shortbread has browned slightly.
Let the bars cool for 30 minutes.
While they are cooling, make the icing by whisking together softened butter, powdered sugar, milk, and strawberry jam until smooth.
Once the bars have cooled slightly, add the icing to the top of the bars in an even layer.
Refrigerate the bars for 30 minutes or more before slicing or let sit at room temperature for a few hours to cool completely.

Aren’t these strawberry almond pop tarts the prettiest? They are equally as delicious and I know you are going to love them.