Kitsnacks: Homemade Pop Tarts
Many years ago, presumably before Pop Tarts began to be a thing that occasionally showed up on Irish grocery store shelves, I got the idea into my head that one could, y’know, probably MAKE them. I looked for recipes, but never got around to making them.
A couple weekends ago I was making pot pie anyway and thought I should make up an extra batch of pie crust and try ’em.
oh my flippin’ stars.
I used my basic pie crust recipe and added about a quarter cup of sugar to it, which I had never in the history of pie-crust-making done before and which rendered a *very* nice sweet crust. I used homemade jam, blackberry in some and strawberry in others, and oh my flippin’ stars. The ones with the blackberry jam were IN. SANE. INSANE. (The strawberry jam ones were merely fantastic.)
Then, because the recipe I wasn’t really following suggested it, and because Pop Tarts Have Frosting, I made (well, Ted made) some icing that was, frankly, *completely* unnecessary. I mean, like, genuinely unnecessary. It made them too sweet, and I generally have a sweet tolerance like nobody’s business.
I believe that in the future if I want to make them with frosting I’ll probably forego the sugar in the crust, because honestly, I felt that something had to give, there.
Recipe follows!
Kit’s Homemade Pop Tarts
Pie crust
2 c flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 c sugar
1/2 to 2/3 c shortening
6 tbsp ice water
Filling
Jam of your choice, by the tablespoon
Frosting
1 c powdered sugar
2 tbps+ milk or cream
pinch of salt
splash of vanilla
Method:
Sift the flour, then measure. Add salt and sugar & stir in mixing bowl. Add shortening (use the smaller amount if using lard, use the larger amount if using vegetable shortening like Crisco). Cut with fork or fingers (fingers work better) into flour mixture until shortening has all reached the size of grains of rice to peas. Add water, tossing with fork. The dough should barely stick together without crumbling.
Make a ball of the dough and cut it into two pieces. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness on a well-floured board, as squarely as possible. Mark, but do not cut, pastries of desired size; apply roughly 1 tbsp jam to the centres of each marked space.
Roll out the second piece of pie crust. Before placing it over the top of the jam-filled crust, take a wet pastry brush and run it across the jam-filled crust along the outlines of where you’ll be cutting the pastries. Place the second crust over the first and press it into place gently, allowing the damp lower pastry to start to form a seal.
Cut squares using a knife or pizza cutter. Using a wet fork, press the edges of the pastries together to form a stronger seal. With a thin spatula, lift the pastries onto wax-paper-lined cookie sheets and freeze for at least one hour. I froze them overnight, which I think is probably ideal because that means you get the pastries in the morning with none of the early-hours effort.
Bake in the oven at 350F/170C for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool, then frost if desired.
To make the frosting, mix liquid with sugar & salt, adding more liquid until it’s reached the consistency you want. Drizzle attractively over the pastry, if you’re so inclined, or just pour it on. :)
Makes 12-16 pastries.
(x-posted from The Essential Kit)