Pop Tarts!

Hey lovely readers and new readers! Thanks to Heather for writing about my pop-tarts and sending lots of new traffic here! Uh oh, I may have to start writing more frequently! It's good motivation, and any friend of Heather's is a friend of mine :) Although I've never met Heather in person, I've been following her blog Heather Eats Almond Butter for quite some time, because....I'm obsessed with almond butter too. But really, she's also an amazing person. Her writing is always wonderful and her warmth always shines through, and she will soon be sharing that with a beautiful baby girl! I've followed her pregnancy and have often felt so moved by her candid accounts through each phase of her pregnancy, including the one where she craved a lot of pop-tarts. So I thought, "hey, I've made pop-tarts before!" It is in fact really easy and so much fun to do because it's way healthier and you get to choose your own flavors. I offered to send her some as a gift for her and the growing baby. 


So, even though I actually have a post on traveling to New York about 1/4 written that I need to finish up considering my trip there was mid September....I am putting up this brief interlude, since I saw that many people wanted home made pop- tarts, and I know my friends and family will also appreciate this, I will share my not so secret, and easily alterable recipe. 

The pastry can really be done with your favorite pie pastry recipe- whole wheat, spelt, gluten free, or even cornmeal for a different texture. I did:

Crust:

1 1/2 cups flour (I mixed about 1 cup ww pastry flour with 1/2 cup AP so it wouldn't be too stiff) 

5 tbsp earth balance (I have the soy free but anything works) 

1/4 cup dairy free milk (coconut milk :D ) 

2 tbsp sugar 

1/2 ts salt

- whip that all together, either by hand, or the lazy way with a hand mixer like me

- roll it out on a floured surface and cut into pop-tart sized rectangles

place rectangles on oiled baking pan, spoon approximately a heaping spoonful of filling in the middle and cover with another rectangle. 

- Use a fork to seal the edges really well, otherwise filling WILL spill out

- You can poke holes in the top but I think this might just be for aesthetic purposes :) 

Cinnamon Filling:

1/2 cup sugar (brown sugar is best, but all I had was evaporated cane juice, it's sort of brown?) 

1 tbsp cinnamon

2 tbsp flour

enough water to thin it out a little, but not too much! Just about nut butter consistency

If you want a fruit filling, any jam or jelly will do, but I've discovered you should add about a tbsp of cornstarch + 1 tbsp of water to keep the jelly from melting out all over the place in the oven. This has happened and I ended up with empty pop-tarts! 

Other good fillings are nut butters, coconut butters, nutella, straight up chocolate, mashed up banana, dried fruit, etc...experiment!

For icing you can also mix powdered sugar with non-dairy milk and play around with flavors too. I usually leave it plain then slather on almond or peanut butter right before eating it. 

[sorry Heather, I took the pictures right off your site! I didn't think to take any of my own, but yours turned out beautifully! ]

Enjoy! And let me know if you make your own pop-tarts! I'd love new filling ideas!

I'll be back soon with everything you need to know before visiting New York City!