Foodista: Homemade Pop Tarts

Image Source: jamieanne
Recipe by Leah Rodrigues

Foodista tends to over-define. Thus, by clicking “water” in the recipe below you can learn what water is. This is helpful if you don’t know how to blend pastry dough, so we take the good with the ridiculous. Put real fruit or pie filling in these!

We know Pop Tarts as the breakfast treat that comes from a cardboard box.  But, we can actually make these at home.  They are more delicious and healthier for you (no preservatives and artificial coloring).  This is the basic recipe; however, you can customize your pop tarts to your favorite flavor.  Add cinnamon apples for apple pie flavor or chocolate.  Whatever flavor you find in a box is possible at home (maybe with the exception of blue raspberry).

Pop Tarts

Ingredients:

4 cups Flour
1 3/4 cups Vegetable Shortening
2 tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vinegar
1/2 cup Cold Water
16 tablespoons Jam -- any flavor, divided

Directions:

In a large bowl, cut flour and shortening together with pastry blender or two butter knives, until completely blended (mixture will resemble crumbs). Add sugar, baking powder, salt, egg, vinegar and cold water. Mix with hands until mixture forms a ball.Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into fourths, refrigerating the portions you are not working with yet.

Take first 1/4 of dough and roll out onto a floured surface. Cut into rectangles using a sharp knife. It is helpful to make a template the size you wish your pop tarts to be, from cardboard or heavy plastic, so they will be a uniform size. Spread on tbsp. jam on one half of the rectangles, leaving a half inch or so on the edges without jam. Cover with the other half of the rectangles. Crimp edges with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 12 - 15 minutes or until the pie dough is evenly browned and cooked through. Cool completely and place into zip baggies for storage until you are ready to eat them. Repeat with remaining dough and jam until it is all completed.

Variation: Glaze pop tarts with a simple glaze made from powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract. Be sure to let glaze dry hard before placing pop tarts into storage baggies.

Pop-Tarts may be stored up to one week as you would store bread, or frozen for up to 3 months before use.

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