Homemade Pop Tarts

by Anne


While packing up my apartment in Chicago – for an impending move to the Twin Cities- I happened upon one of these guys:

My fiancé’s pop tart container. Now, I’m pretty sure I haven’t had a pop tart since I was in high school, but the second I saw this too cute and totally unnecessary pink piece of plastic, a domestic frenzy hit. I needed to make homemade pop tarts. And they needed to be pink. With uber-cheery rainbow sprinkles.

Luckily, one of my fiancé’s sisters and her pastry-loving boyfriend were coming over for dinner. They’re always up for a good culinary experiment, and I knew they would appreciate the silliness that is homemade pop tarts.

Initially, I had hopes of making a vodka pie crust, as I’ve read that the extra moisture from the alcohol makes the whole precarious mixing/chilling/assembling process much easier. And, of course, the vodka will bake off in the oven to reveal a delicious flaky crust. Alas, we’ve had a few parties lately and there was no vodka to be had. So, I turned to the next best thing (not really): vinegar. Apple cider vinegar to be exact. It has the same “extra moisture without a sloppy crust” properties as vodka, and it’s cheap to boot!

After whipping up the pie crust, I got to work on the strawberry filling. First, I grabbed some frozen strawberries and strawberry syrup- left over from a failed attempt at one of Emeril’s strawberry pies. (By the way, I’m still annoyed with you, Emeril). Then, I threw those in the food processor with a couple of tablespoons of strawberry jam.

After the dough had chilled, I rolled it out, and cut it into 3 x 5 rectangles- I used an index card to ensure (well, let’s say “attempt”) accuracy. I lined up all the pop tart tops and bottoms on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, and started the assembly. First, I beat an egg in a small bowl and brushed the edges of the pop tarts. Then, I scooped about a tablespoon of filling on to a “bottom” and- logically- covered the “bottom” with a “top.” I secured the sides by pressing down the edges with a fork. I also poked a few holes in the top of the pop tart, since I had (irrational?) fears of pop tarts exploding in my oven. After assembling all the tops and bottoms into lovely little pop tarts, the dough was quite soft, so I threw them in the freezer. After about 10 minutes, I grabbed the cookie sheets, compulsively trimmed the edges of the pop tarts with a knife, and tossed ‘em in the oven.

After the little guys had baked and chilled and I had (again, somewhat compulsively) poked them flat with a toothpick, I made some royal icing. I knew that I wanted the icing to be bright pink, so I used some neon pink food coloring (thanks Mom!). I made the icing a bit on the thick side, since pop tarts are notorious for having a well-defined icing edge. After gently spreading the icing on with a round-edge icing knife, I added some rainbow jimmies, and put the pop tarts in the refrigerator so the icing would set.


The verdict? Ridiculously silly but delicious. The pie crust was far fancier than Kellogg’s pop tart dough, and the icing had more flavor. It was affectionately compared to doughnut icing by the aforementioned pastry-loving dinner guest, and the whole ensemble was fondly likened to “tasty cartoon food” by my initially-suspicious-of-homemade-pop-tarts fiancé. I believe he ate three of them in one sitting.

For the sake of full disclosure, I’d have to admit that the filling was a bit blah. There wasn’t enough of it after the pie crust/pop tart had puffed up in the oven- though it was annoyingly spilling out of the sides during assembly. The flavor wasn’t spectacular either, so next time I’ll probably use more fresh fruit and skip the jam. And I’ll probably try to inject more filling after the pop tarts have baked, since I can’t seem to think of a different solution to that problem.


Pie Crust (from Bon Appetit):

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes*
• 8 tablespoons (or more) ice water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 egg, beaten**

Blend flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter and process until coarse meal forms. Add 8 tablespoons ice water and cider vinegar; blend until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough together. Turn dough out onto work surface; divide dough in half. Form each half into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap disks separately in plastic; refrigerate at least 1 hour. Bake at 350 degree for about 15-20 minutes.***

*I only had salted butter, so I just cut down the salt in the recipe

**You’ll need the egg for assembly.

***This time and temperature is for the pop tarts. If you plan to use this pie crust recipe for an actual pie, you may need to increase baking time.


Filling:

Hmmm. It’s tough to describe. Basically, I used the some leftover filling that never set from this pie. I wouldn’t recommend it. But if you’re really that set on trying it, make the filling (strawberries, sugar, vanilla, water, brandy) and skip the corn starch- just in case your filling actually sets. Add 2 tablespoons strawberry jam.


Icing (adapted from Joy of Baking):

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons meringue powder
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Food coloring

Combine sugar and meringue powder in a medium size bowl. Add water, vanilla, and food coloring and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form (at least 5 minutes). Continue to add sugar or water to reach desired consistency. The icing should be thick, but spreadable.