We are all guilty of consuming the cardboard treasures (Pop-tarts) at some point in our lives. Hey, it is better than no breakfast at all, just not much on the taste side. My favorite would probably be the brown sugar cinnamon, and it has to be toasted. Pop-Tarts are not often consumed at my house, thus, I don’t regularly buy them. We do the frozen toaster strudels sometimes, but just usually when I don’t feel like making breakfast and the kids decide to be independent. These treats however didn’t even last an hour at our house.

I saw this recipe at Peabody’s site a long time ago. Then again at Honey & Jam… and a couple of other places. Since I had a break this morning I whipped some up. Now yes, I did Honey and Jam’s version using a refrigerated pie crust. Now that I know how well they turn out, I will try the pastry recipe next time. I used Strawberry preserves from Harry & David. This is a great, easy recipe – don’t waste your money on the store bought version and bake up some of your own.

Homemade Strawberry Pop Tarts

Ingredients:

• Pie crust, refrigerated or homemade (see below)
• Jam or Preserves
• Glaze or Egg Wash
• Sparkling Sugar 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. (I went by the temp setting on the box, the original recipe calls for 450.)

Unroll one of the pie crusts and square the edges. Cut into rectangles. Place 1 tsp of jam in the center of a rectangle and top with another piece of crust. Crimp all four edges. Repeat until all of the pie crust is used. I also took the rounded edges that I cut off and rolled them together to form more pop-tarts. They weren’t as “pretty” as the others, but I hate to waste food.

Bake the pop-tarts for about 7 – 8 minutes or until slightly brown. Once cool, pour glaze over and decorate with sugar. If you don’t want to add extra sugar with the glaze, you can use an egg wash on the tops  with some white sugar.

Take one pie crust rectangle, fill with a tsp of jam. Cover with another piece of pie crust. Crimp all four edges. Repeat until you run out of pie crust. Bake at 450F for abou7-8 minutes or until slightly brown. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, pour glaze on to Pop-tart and decorate with sparkling sugar.

To Make the Glaze:

• 1 cup powder sugar
• milk to thin

Place powdered sugar in bowl. Pour milk slowly until it has a consistency of really thick syrup.

 

Peabody’s Pie Crust Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups sifted flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons cold water

Directions:

Combine flour and salt in bowl. Add shortening or butter and blend with fork, pastry cutter or your fingers until mixture is fairly coarse. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, gently mixing dough after each addition until dough forms a ball. (Dough can also be prepared in food processor. Use the pulse button just until it starts to pull away from the sides. Be very careful not to overwork the dough.) Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a square/rectangle. Cut out long strips about 2 inches wide, and 3 inches long. Repeat till you run out of dough.