Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Homemade Valentine’s Pop Tarts

Homemade Valentine's Pop Tarts

I will opt for homemade goodies over store-bought any day of the week. I don’t often allow myself to buy prepackaged breakfast pastries (way too tempting for our pantry). I thought the idea of making my own jelly-filled Pop Tarts sounded amazing! Though they’re a little labor-intensive to bake on a regular basis, I think they are some of the best pastries I’ve ever had!

Ingredients:
2 cups + 2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, cold and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
4-6 Tablespoons ice water
3/4 cup raspberry or strawberry preserves

For icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons (plus a little more) Half and Half
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pink and red sprinkles

Directions:
In a food processor, pulse together the flour, salt, and sugar.

Add the cut-up butter and continue pulsing until there are no more big chunks visible.

Homemade Pop Tarts

Add the 4 tablespoons of ice water and pulse the processor. If the dough doesn’t start to clump together, add one or two more tablespoons. (I ended up using 6).

Homemade Pop Tarts

On a clean surface, form the dough into a ball. Divide it in two, and form each part into a 5-inch disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and chill them in the refrigerator for one hour.

Homemade Pop Tarts

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Leaving one disc in the fridge, roll out the second onto a floured surface. When the dough is about 1/4 inch thick, begin cutting out 5-inch by 3-inch rectangles. (This part got really intensive for me—I ended up rolling and cutting quite a few times in order to get the right-sized rectangles!) I was able to get 7 rectangles out of the dough (which means I ended up with seven total tarts). Lay them out on the parchment paper, and spread preserves around the centers of the rectangles—not too close to the edges.



Homemade Pop Tarts

Roll out the second disc of dough. Repeat the process of cutting 5-inch by 3-inch rectangles, and place them on top of the preserves-covered rectangles. Use your finger or a fork to seal off the edges. Poke four little holes in each tart with a toothpick.

Homemade Pop Tarts

Bake them for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

Homemade Pop TartsHomemade Pop Tarts

Cool them for a couple of minutes on the tray, then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Homemade Pop Tarts

For the icing, whisk together the cup of powdered sugar, 2 T Half and Half, and teaspoon vanilla. Add Half and Half by the half-teaspoon until you have the right consistency. Spread over the tarts. Then add sprinkles!

Homemade Pop TartsHomemade Pop TartsHomemade Pop Tarts

They are the perfect bite of buttery, flaky crust combined with delicious raspberry filling. The icing joins in to give it some extra sweetness. Yum! Your Valentine will love the gesture :)

Adapted from this recipe.

3 comments:

  1. How delicious and sweet do these look?! I am definitely going to make them for our Valentine's breakfast! Thank goodness it's on a Saturday!

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  2. These look so delicious! How creative of you! Perhaps you can use pre-made puff pastry sheets or pre-made pie crust rounds as a "semi-homemade" version? Of course, you don't know all the ingredients in those products. Have a great day!

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  3. Your poptarts look delicious! You just can't beat homemade treats. Pinning this for later!

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Thank you so much for your comments! I enjoy reading each one!