Homemade Pop Tarts

I hate pop tarts. They're slightly mushy and fake and gross. I just don't like them. I especially don't like generic pop tarts. At one point in my life I remember liking toaster strudels, but I think that was mostly because of the sweet icing. In fact, I think I would eat the icing packets and eventually toss the strudels. 

Anyway, several months ago I saw a recipe on Smitten Kitchen for homemade pop tarts - and I thought to myself, "those might be good!" I starred the post in google reader and decided to come back to it later. Now you probably know that I've got blueberries coming out my ears ... and now I have blueberry spice jam coming out my ears. So what better to do with blueberry spice jam then make pop tarts?! Now let me preface that by saying that I had tons of things on my "to do list" for last night, such as: making more blueberry spice jam, making blackberry sauce, about 4 loads of laundry, and my kitchen floor is desperately in need of being cleaned. But instead, I decided to go with my feelings and throw together some pop tarts!

It is a pretty simple process if you aren't afraid of working with dough. Which you shouldn't be. Dough is nice. In fact, I sometimes eat dough. I know, thats weird. Anyway, you mix up your dough, divide it into two pieces, and roll them out into rectangles. Then you slice up each half into 9 equally sized pieces. 

The you brush on some egg which will make the pieces of dough stick together. A pastry bush is really helpful here, but you could use your fingers or a paper towel if you don't have one. 

The you put a dollop of jam on each piece (keeping it in the middle - you don't want that jam escaping!)

You put another piece of dough on top and seal it up! You'll want to poke holes in the top so steam can escape. I don't think my holes were deep or pronounced enough because I ended up with "billowy pillows instead of flat toaster pastries". 

Of course I had to get creative with some of the pastries. This one has a "W", and I made one with mountains!

And voila! Home made pop tarts! Matt sampled one straight out of the oven (which I wouldn't recommend because that hot oozing jam is just a recipe for disaster) and said that they tasted like pop tarts only better. I just finished eating two for breakfast. My verdict: absolutely tasty. 

You can find the complete recipe at Smitten Kitchen. 

P.S. - Did you notice the tablecloth I was using to roll out the dough? Well, my mom has quite a few red and white checkered tablecloths that my grandmother had used for years when rolling out dough. I had asked my mom for one several times, but I don't think she was ready to part with even a single one. Instead, she finally found one for me at a kitchen shop, and it works like a dream! So far I haven't had problems with pilling or lint. 
 
 
 

 
 
 

Comments

[kathryn]

Yesterday Lindsay and I went to get some granola bars from the vending machine for an on-the-go breakfast. unfortunately, they were out so we had to eat pop-tarts. i said "lindsay, if we were at ashley's house we could have homemade pop tarts." Needless to say, i've been looking forward to this post :)

[liz]

1. I like pop tarts... the cinnamon kind. In fact, I wish I could find some right now.
2. Of course you eat dough... we grew up getting cookie dough for Christmas. It's just part of being a Dawson
3. I thought I recognized that table cloth, although I knew it couldn't be because mom wouldn't ever part with it... even for an incredible strudel baker such as yourself ;)
5. Kathryn, we called those the wheel of death at App. Good stuff.
4. Miss you!!

[Mary]

amazing, simply amazing. i'm determined to make gluten free ones now!

[Alyson]

You are amazing. I can't wait to try this recipe out. Thanks for sharing.

[ashleyewagoner]

Kat - lets make some at the beach!

[ashleyewagoner]

That is true - I never thought about the connection between eating cookie dough as a child and eating bread or pastry dough now ... interesting!

[ashleyewagoner]

Oh - let me know how the gluten free ones work out!

[Carrie]

Oh cool! I saw the post on SK (one of my favorite food blogs, and her baby is adorable!) and I wondered how they would taste. Now that you made them, I'll have to try them as well!