Homemade Pop Tarts

Nickolas - This one is for you!

A few weekends ago, we had a work weekend here at Willow Cottage.

Everyone had a job to do.

Kids put the dock into the water.

I planted the garden.

Hubby was trimming, weeding and putting mulch down.

 I was so excited that the kids are old enough to do the dock on their own this year.

I was also so excited about getting all this work done.

I always say that I feed my workers.

So before I went to put the garden in, I thought it would be good to whip up a little treat.

I made homemade pop tarts.
I hate pop tarts with a passion.
But homemade ones are really good eats.
Of course you can use store bought pie crust, but I made my own.

The board of ingredients:

• Extra flour for rolling out the pie dough
• Jelly 
• Powdered Sugar Glaze
• Pie Crust

- I am using the pie crust recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

The trick to a successful pie crust experience is using plenty of flour.

Once you get the crust rolled out, cut the dough.
You could certainly use a pizza cutter and make square or rectangular tarts.
I thought I would go really fancy and make round tarts.

Lay out the bottom layer of dough on the cookie sheets.
Don't over crowd the cookie sheet.

Spread a dollop of jelly around the middle of the tart.
I used a heaping teaspoon for a four inch circle.
If you add too much jelly it will just run out of the tart and onto the cookie sheet during baking.

This is how I added the top layer.

I know you can't see this, but I dipped my finger in water and rubbed the outer edge of pie dough.

Add another layer of dough.
Try not to capture a bunch of air in between the two layers.

Press the edges down with a fork.

Add a little slit to the top with a sharp knife.

Bake the pop tarts for roughly twenty minutes or until they begin to get golden brown around the edges.

Now it's time to spread a nice thick glaze over the top of the hot tarts.

I just added a little dab of glaze to the top and let it melt down the edges.
You could get fancier if you wanted to with a piping bag.
Some colored sugar would also add a bit of fun color.

Start piling them up because I promise everyone will love these guys.

Homemade Pop Tarts

Ingredients:

Jelly of choice
Pie Crust
Flour
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla
Super Tiny Pinch of Salt
Drizzle of Milk

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Dust cutting board or counter with flour.  Roll out the pie crust until very thin.  Cut dough into uniform shapes of your choice and lay on cookie sheet.
3.  Add one teaspoon jelly to center of crust.
4.  Run a wet finger around the outer edge of the dough.
5.  Lay the second shape over the bottom crust with jelly.
6.  Crimp edges together with a fork.
7.  Cut a tiny slit in the center of the top crust.
8.  Bake for fifteen to twenty minutes or until golden brown.
9. Meanwhile, add powdered sugar, salt and vanilla to a small bowl.  Add a few drops of milk and stir.  Keep adding a couple drops of milk until you get a very stiff glaze.  The glaze should be so stiff you can barely stir it.
10.  When the tarts come out of the oven, spread glaze on the top and let the glaze melt onto the tart.
11.  Enjoy!  Serving sizes vary according to size of the tarts you make.

I am linking to Foody Friday at Rattlebridge Farm and On The Menu Monday at Stone Gable.