Crisp, buttery shortcrust pastry filled with raspberry jam and topped with icing and sprinkles - these air fryer pop tarts are surprisingly easy to make.
Put the flour, icing sugar and butter into a bowl. Rub together until you have a crumb with no butter lumps.
Add 1 tbsp cold water and mix lightly. add a few drops at a time up to a further tbsp, until it starts to clump.
Knead the pastry a couple of times so it comes together in a smooth ball. wrap and put in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes.
Shape, fill and bake the pop tarts.
Put a liner on top of the grill tray in your air fryer. If you don’t have one, cut a piece of greaseproof paper to about the same size as the base of your tray. Fold it in half 3-4 times to create a thin triangle. Make holes with a skewer, scissors or hole punch and unfold.
Place the pastry dough on a floured surface and roll out to roughly 20cm x 30cm (8 inches x 12 inches).
Test to see if you are able to lift the dough without tearing, stretching or crumbling. If it feels too soft, transfer to a floured tray and chill in the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes to firm up again.
With your sheet of dough back on your floured surface, neaten the edges with a sharp knife then cut into 8 equal rectangles.
Top four of the rectangles with 1 tablespoon of jam each.
Use a wet finger around the edge of the jam topped pieces, then lay the remaining 4 rectangles on top. Use a fork to gently crimp and seal the edges of the pastry.
Make a small hole or slit in the middle of each pie with the tip of a sharp knife. This is to allow steam to escape.
Preheat the air fryer according to the manufacturer's instructions. Mine defaults to 4 minutes at 205C.
Place your pop tarts into your air fryer basket. In my air fryer, I needed to bake two at a time as four wouldn’t fit.
Set the air fryer to 140C/285F and bake for 15 minutes until pale golden. Flip the pop tarts over and cook for a further 5 minutes so that the undersides cook through.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Decorate
Once the tarts are cool, put mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice, a few drops at a time until you have a thick, only slightly runny icing. Add a drop or two of food colouring to give a pink hue. Spoon the icing on top of the tarts.
Before the icing sets, decorate each pop tart with a pinch of sprinkles.