Home-made Pop-Tarts

I was never a huge fan of pop-tarts growing up… but I happened upon this recipe for home made pop tarts from King Arthur Flour about a year ago and I decided to give it a go.  I figured that they would at least be fun to make for guests, or just give me something interesting to tell people…hey, I can make my own pop-tarts!

It turns out that they are actually pretty delicious.  They're the kind of goodness that Sunday morning breakfast is made of.  Or Sunday brunch if that's your thing, but gosh I can't ever wait that long, I'm too hungry in the mornings.

But besides all that, there is something calming about making them.  Maybe it is being able to get use my hands to really get in there and mix it all up, it just feels really organic and simple and wholesome.

Pastry
2 cups (8 ½ ounces) All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 quarter-pound sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pats
1 large egg
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) milk

Cinnamon Filling
1/2 cup (3 ¾ ounces) brown sugar
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, to taste
4 teaspoons King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 large egg, to brush on pastry before filling

Alternate Filling
Tablespoonful of Chocolate chips, and I am sure that a type jam filling would be pretty tasty!

Making the dough: Mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Work in the butter with a pastry blender, or better yet your fingers, until the mixture holds together when you squeeze it, with small lumps of butter still visible. Next, mix in the egg and milk until everything is combined.

Divide the dough in half and shape into a rough 3" x 5" rectangle, in a block shape. Roll out immediately.  I rolled out and worked with one half while I stuck the other in the fridge so that it wouldn't get too warm, sticky, and hard to work with.  You can refrigerate the unrolled dough for up to 2 days.

Making the filling: Whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, and flour.

Assembling the pop-tarts: If the dough has been refrigerated, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to soften just enough to be workable, about 15 to 30 minutes.

I rolled out one piece into a large rectangle, about 1/8" thick.  You can trim the dough to 9" x 13" and work with it as one big piece but I chose to cut rectangles out of the rolled out dough, sugar cookie style.  I lightly greased the baking pan and laid out all the pieces. For reference I came out with 9 pieces from the first half of the dough.

Then, I brought out the second piece of dough and rolled and cut the same as before.  I set these pieces aside.

Next, I beat an egg and brushed it over the pastry pieces that were already on the baking sheet.  Then I put the filling on top, a few cinnamon filled and a few chocolate filled.  I got the pieces that I had set aside and placed them over the top, making sure to press all the edges together.  I pricked the top of each tart a few times with a fork to make sure steam could escape and thus not cause the tarts to billow up.

I stuck the tarts in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, while the oven preheated to 350°F.

Once the oven was hot, I took the tarts form the fridge, and let them bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until they were a light golden brown.

Also, the flaky-ness deserves to be mentioned.  The flakiest!

I have decided that I probably shouldn't make them often as they are far too good to leave sitting on the counter!


Have you ever made these?  Have a recipe that you'd recommend?  I'm always looking to try more :)