Pop Tarts
Submitted by poohart 2
Homemade pop tarts with a tender egg pastry crimped around any fruit jam you like, then baked and finished with a sugar crust or icing. A from-scratch take on the toaster pastry, fully customizable.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
25 minREADY
195 minForget the foil pouch. Homemade pop tarts are well within reach, and they let you fill them with whatever jam you love. The dough is a simple soft pastry of flour, sugar, shortening and eggs, with no exotic ingredients.
Chilling the dough for two hours is the step that makes rolling possible. Cold dough rolls out thin and stays put instead of springing back and tearing.
Roll two thin rectangles per tart, spread jam over one leaving a clear margin, top with the second, and crimp the edges firmly with a fork. That seal is what keeps the filling from bubbling out as it bakes.
Here is a detail worth following: prick the tops with a fork, then prick them again early in the baking. Letting steam escape is what keeps the tarts flat instead of puffing into pillows. Brush with egg wash and sugar, or ice them once cool.
Kitchen Tips
- Roll the dough thin and even, around a sixteenth of an inch, so the pastry-to-filling ratio stays right and the tarts bake through.
- Do not overfill. A heaping teaspoon with a clear margin is plenty; too much jam blows the seal.
- Re-prick the tops during the first ten minutes of baking, as directed, to keep them from puffing up.
Variations
- Fill with strawberry, raspberry or apricot jam, fruit butter, or even chocolate-hazelnut spread or cinnamon sugar.
- Skip the sugar wash and top the cooled tarts with a simple icing and sprinkles.
- Make them ahead and rewarm in the toaster or oven, just like the original.
Ingredients
Directions
Cream together sugar and crisco, beating until light.
Beat in eggs until creamy, then stir in flour and baking powder to amek soft dough.
Divide dough evenly into 16 parts.
Roll each part into a flattened ball and set aside on a plate.
Wrap plate in plastic wrap and refrigerate two hours.
Grease cookie sheet and set aside.
Roll 1 ball dough into a rectangle about 1/16 inch thick.
Spread 1 heaping teaspoon of filling and/or more evenly over dough leaving a generous margin.
Roll out another ball into similar shape and lay it neatly over the first.
Using sharp knife, trim the tart to approximately 3½ x 5 inch and crimp edge with fingertips or tines of fork.
Place tart on cookie sheet and prick top with fork.
Optional--lightly beat egg white with milk; brush tops of tarts and sprinkle with sugar, if desired.
Bake 350℉ (180℃) for 25 minutes until edges are browned.
Prick again during first 10 minutes of baking keep them flat.
Cool, wrap, and store at room temp or frig.
Tarts may also be iced.
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