Posted by Katie Lane
What did you do on your spring break?
Perfect your Florida tan? Sleep until noon every day? Play Settlers of Catan with your little brothers?
Sure, those are all valid ways to spend your spring break.
But me, I made homemade Pop Tarts instead.
I never even really liked Pop Tarts that much. Especially the ones with the strawberry filling. Something about that taste of artificial fruit just did not jive well with me. Which is funny because I loved Toaster Strudels, which probably do not have any more real fruit in them than pop tarts. But I digress.
See, I like these Pop Tarts. Want to know why? I will tell you the secret.
They are not really Pop Tarts. They are flaky, gooey, sweet, buttery, pockets of yummy.
When I say buttery, I mean eating one of these things is equivalent to stuffing several tablespoons of butter in your mouth with some sugar and sprinkles and swallowing it whole.
But to make that experience a little more pleasant, those ingredients are magically made into layers of delicate pastry that contain just the right amount of sweet strawberry jam.
The sprinkles … well sprinkles just make everything awesome.
I would not advise eating these every day unless you want to go up a pants' size by the end of the month. These are a spring break, time-to-relax-and-stuff-your-face special kind of treat.
Forget the Pop Tarts of your childhood —those hard, artificial, chalky slabs of chemicals. Yeah, I went there.
Move over Kellogg's.
Homemade Pop Tarts
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Pastry
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pats
1 large egg
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) milk
Stir together flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl.
Rub in the butter with your fingers or a pastry cutter until the butter is in pea-sized chunks or smaller.
Gently whisk together the egg and milk in a small bowl and add to butter/flour mixture, stirring until the dough comes together. You may need to use your hands and knead the wet ingredients into the dry to get a uniform dough.
Split the dough in half and make two rectangular blocks. Chill for 30 minutes or so.
Take one piece of dough and roll out on a floured counter until 1/8 inch thick. Cut pop tarts to desired size (roughly 3×5 for large pop tarts or 1.5×3 for minis). Repeat with second block of dough.
Filling
1 large egg (to brush on pastry)
3/4 cup strawberry jam
1 tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water
Mix together the jam and cornstarch mixture. Brush half of your rectangles with the beaten egg (used to seal the edges) and spoon a heaping table spoon of filling into the center of each.
Place another rectangle of dough on top and carefully seal the edges with your finger.
Use a fork to press ridges along the outside of each pop tart, and poke holes in the top layer of dough with a fork, making sure the holes go all the way through the top layer of dough.
Chill pop tarts (can be uncovered) in the fridge while preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly golden at edges. Cool on pan.
Topping
confectioner's sugar
milk
sprinkles
Pour some sugar into a bowl (1 to 2 cups) and add milk a little at a time, stirring with a whisk, until the glaze is fluid but not very liquidy. Whisk until all lumps are dissolved.
Pour generously onto each pop tart and add sprinkles.
Let glaze dry before storing.