I had the biggest sweet tooth as a kid. I’d sneak as many lollies and sweets as I could and was a huge chocoholic. I still have a penchant for all things sugar, especially at breakfast time.
They weren’t the healthiest of breakfast items, but as a child, my absolute favourite thing to eat were strawberry Pop Tarts. I just LOVED those magical doughy rectangles filled with a fake sugary red goo that always burned my tongue because I was too impatient to wait for it to cool down before devouring. The best part for me was the icing on top, a thick layer of sugar covered in even more sugar in the form of colourful sprinkles.
I had a hankering for a Pop Tart the other week, but they aren’t readily available in the supermarket in Melbourne anymore, so I thought I’d make my own. Recipes for pop tarts online are readily available and after trialling a few, I think I’ve perfected it! The dough can be a little fiddly, but it’s so worth the extra effort.
PS. These pop tarts are naked because I forgot to take pictures of them with the glaze and only realised after they were all eaten, haha :)
Jam Pop Tarts
2 ¼ cups plain (all-purpose) flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
225g unsalted butter, very cold and cubed
iced water
1 large egg plus 1 tablespoon of milk, for egg wash
¾ cup jam (I used raspberry and blueberry)
1 ½ tablespoons cornflour, mixed with 1 tablespoon water
caster or granulated sugar, to sprinkle
1. Whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Work in the butter with your fingers, pastry blender or food processor, adding iced water a tablespoon at a time until you see pea-sized lumps of butter and the mixture clumps together. It should hold together if you squish some dough together with your fingers. Tip out the dough onto a floured surface. Divide into two, kneading each half briefly and shaping it into a disc. Wrap in cling-film and allow to chill in the fridge for 60 minutes.
2. Mix together the jam and cornflour mixture. Set aside.
3. Remove both the dough from the fridge and allow to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes so it makes rolling it out a bit easier. Roll out dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface in the shape of a rectangle with so it is 0.5cm thick. Using a knife, cut the dough into a 22cm x 30cm (9? x 12?) rectangle. Repeat with the second disk of dough and cut each piece into thirds so you end up with nine 7.5cm x 10cm (3? x 4?) rectangles.
4. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Line a baking tray with non stick paper.
5. Place nine of the dough rectangles on the prepared tray. In the centre of the nine dough rectangles, spoon a big tablespoon of jam filling. Using a pastry brush (or just your fingers), dip it in water and run it along the edges of the dough rectangle and place another dough rectangle on top, pressing firmly ensuring they stick. Then, using a fork dipped in flour (to prevent it sticking), crimp the edges all around.
6. Brush each pop tart with egg wash and sprinkle liberally with sugar. Prick each with a fork three or four times and bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
7. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Icing
If you want to have these iced, don’t bother sprinkling the pop tarts with sugar before baking. To make a simple glaze, mix together 1 cup of icing sugar and a dash of milk. Top the pop tarts with the icing when still warm.
Makes 9.
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