pop-tarts!

I have been seeing recipes for homemade pop-tarts for a while now. I decided to finally give one a try since we just got a couple new preserves here. I decided to go with strawberry but what I really want to try is apple cinnamon. Apple preserves are probably the one thing we don't have though so that will be for another time.




The ingredients are really simple and I already had everything in which is another main reason why I decided to do this today. Start by combining flour and salt in a mixing bowl, then cream in room temperature butter.




It comes together a lot easier if you just ditch the spoon and the rings and mash it all together with clean hands. It should look all crumbly at this point.





Add water a tablespoon at a time to dough until it all sticks together and makes a smooth ball. I used about two tablespoons all together.




Next, roll the dough out flat on a floured surface. You'll want it to be about 1/8 of an inch thick so the crust isn't too thick in the end. I then cut it into pop-tart sized rectangles just eyeballing the size and got eight in the end. (Four tops and four bottoms.)

Now here is where my listening skills fail..
The recipe I read warns to put a teaspoon of jam/preserves in the middle of the bottom crust. *No more!* But I decided that I could add just a litttttle more and it would be even better. About 10 minutes later I hear a sizzling sound as I'm taking them out of the oven. Sure enough there was a strawberry stream between my pop-tarts, bubbling away. They turned out totally fine, but take it from me.. that warning is there for a reason.


So after you contemplate adding too much filling, put the top crust in place and crimp down the edges with a fork to seal everything in place.

After baking, let them cool completely and then spread on the icing. Add sprinkles or any other topping you may want and let the icing set.




When it has formed a nice little shell, dig in!



Homemade Pop-tarts
adapted from Crepes of Wrath

Crust..
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plus more to flour surface)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening, cubed
1/4 cup butter, cubed, room temperature
**I used 1/2 cup of butter and skipped the shortening.. it tasted just fine but feel free to use the shortening if you have it on hand**
2-3 tablespoons cold water

Filling..
Any jam or preserves that you like!

Topping..
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons of milk
any sort of sprinkles
**I added a few drops of vanilla extract because everything is better that way ;)**


Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Combine flour and salt in mixing bowl. Add butter (and shortening if you're using it) and mix with spoon/hands until a crumbly dough forms. Add water a tablespoon at a time until dough forms into smooth ball.
Roll dough out on a floured surface until it's about an 1/8 of an inch thick.
Cut out an even number of rectangles for the tops and bottoms, collecting scraps and re-rolling dough until you have enough. I got eight 4-5 in x 3 in rectangles. This yields about four regular sized pop-tarts.
Layout the bottoms on a greased baking sheet and put *a teaspoon* of jam/preserves in the center. Place the tops on and then crimp the edges with a fork.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Allow to cool on the baking sheet. Don't try to take them off until they're fully cooled.
In a small bowl, stir milk into powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time until icing has a syrupy consistency. Optional: add a few drops of vanilla extract for a little more flavor.
Spoon icing onto cool pop-tarts and spread with back of spoon or a knife.
Add sprinkles.
Enjoy!