Smores Pop Tarts for the Summer
Is there anything more symbolic of summer than a campfire s’more? Growing up, my family would take camping trips every summer.
As children, my sister and I loved the idea of sleeping in a tent in the woods, swimming in the lake all day, and roasting marshmallows over the fire.
While I still love nature, I’m more inclined to stay in a cabin rather than a tent these days. I think it’s because I’m less oblivious to the fact that there are bears in the woods, or hungry mosquitos everywhere you go.
On the plus side, cabins tend to have full-service kitchens, complete with ovens. This neat little advantage allows me to make a more sophisticated campfire dessert, like these smores pop tarts.
Back in the day, choices in pop tart flavors were pretty limited. Nowadays, I can’t even count all the various pop tart flavors on one hand.
Regardless, I’ve always had a love for this childhood treat. It seems only natural that I’d make a homemade version now that I’m older and bake a lot of my own desserts.
Plus, I just adore turning any dessert into a s’mores rendition, as evidenced by the smores petit fours I made last year. But even if you’re not a regular baker, you can make these smores pop tarts with ease, especially if you use a pre-made pie crust.
Inside these smores pop tarts are the “good” stuff: chocolate and marshmallows. If you’ve ever baked something with marshmallows, you’ll know they melt to the point where they’re pretty much invisible, but not without adding their special something-something to the dessert.
Alternatively, you can use marshmallow cream instead of the actual marshmallows; either will work. Once the tarts cool, you’ll smear some melted chocolate on them, then sprinkle them with graham cracker crumbs.
Not only do these look pretty, but they taste incredible. They’re seriously as irresistible as the original s’mores dessert, but just a little more elegant looking!
Smores Pop Tarts
Melted chocolate and sweet marshmallows enveloped inside golden, flaky pastry.
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust recipe, see below
- 8 squares of Hershey's milk chocolate
- 24 cup mini marshmallows, or about 1/4 marshmallow cream
- 2 oz chocolate chips, melted
- graham cracker crumbs to sprinkle on top
for the pie crust
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, cold and cut into cubes
- ice cold water
Instructions
- If you're using pre-made pie crust, skip this step. Otherwise, combine the all-purpose flour and salt together in the bowl of a stand mixer or food processor. Add in the cubed butter, and mix until you get clumps no bigger than the size of peas. Stream in cold water, one teaspoon at a time, until you get a compact dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Wrap the dough in a sheet of plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Unroll the pie dough onto a well-floured work space, and roll out into a large square shape, about 1/8" thick. Cut the dough into 4 rectangles or strips.
- Place 2 chocolate squares onto the bottom half of each strip, centering them so that there's space between the chocolate and the edges of the pie crust. Border the top and bottom of the chocolate with mini marshmallows, placing 3 marshmallows along the top of the chocolate and 3 marshmallows along the bottom. If using marshmallow cream, simply smear some cream along the top and bottom of the chocolate. *see note
- Fold the top half of the pie crust over the bottom half to create a square pocket. Press down along the edges to seal shut. Optional: use a fork to crimp the edges.
- Bake the tarts on a baking sheet fitted with a sheet of parchment paper or a silicone mat. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden along the edges. Move the tarts to a wire rack or plate to cool for 30 minutes.
- Melt the 2 oz. of chocolate for approximately 30 seconds in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Use a butter knife or offset spatula to smooth the melted chocolate onto the tops of the tarts. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on the chocolate, then serve.
Notes
You don't want to place the mini marshmallows on top of the chocolate inside the tart because when you fold the flap of pie crust over, the crust will tent upward too much. It's better to create less height inside the tart by spreading out the filling ingredients.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 4 ServingsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 486
Ugh These look sooooo delicious. As someone gluten-free, I can only look with jealousy. Do you have any recommendations for gluten-free pastry dough? If so, I would love to make these!!!
Hi Emily! Thanks so much for visiting the blog! I personally don’t have a lot of experience with gluten-free baking but many readers who do have often commented that they’ve tried my recipes using a store-bought GF blend that’s sold as an equivalent to AP flour or Pastry flour by brands such as Bob’s Red Mill, for example. Hope that helps! 🙂
Beeta, your flaky pastry crust had me reaching in to grab a yummy smores pop tart and BOOM my hand smashed into my computer screen!! Booooooooo to not having a big ol’ plate of these in front of me right now. Girl, you know I love camping in the pimpin’ camper and we have another trip planned to Vermont next month. Can’t wait to make these for the trip. I bet they are great for breakfast too! 🙂
YAASSS!!!! I LOVE s’mores! I’ve been trying to think of different ways to make s’mores and you hit the nail on the head – totally brilliant! And homemade is so much better too! Just look at how light and flaky that crust looks and how creamy that chocolate is! Totally making me drool! You’re more than welcome to come on any camping trip with us, if you bring these beauties 😉
Thanks so much, Kathleen! I can definitely attest that homemade is so much better! Like you said, that flakiness…you just can’t get that with the store-bought kind. I hope you enjoy these if you get a chance to try! 🙂
I used to love camping when I was little too, but now I’m definitely more of a glamping girl. hahaha. And I will always hold a special place in my heart for pop tarts!! BUT, I’d much rather have one of these delicious homemade ones than the store bought variety ANY DAY! These look absolutely perfect, Beeta! And dangerously delicious, because NO way could I eat just one of these! Cheers, girlie! xoxo
I feel you, girl! Glamping all the way 😉 Thanks so much for your kind words, my dear <3
J’ai toujours adoré le marshmallows et la façon des américains de le faire cuire au feu du bois. Ta version est encore meilleure et plus gourmand et j’aurais aimé tant le goûter! xo
Aww merci beaucoup, Eva! <3
This is just too delicious. I cannot take it. Girl I am drooling here. Seriously, this looks amazing. I used to eat a lot of pop tarts as well. Though it has been a while since the last time I had one. I need to give this a try sometime soon.
<3
Thanks so much, Aysegul! Glad to know I’m not the only one with the pop tart fondness 😉