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Homemade Pop-Tarts

Courtesy Jordan Champagne, chef and proprietor, Happy Girl Kitchen Co. in Pacific Grove
This is one of my favorite treats to make with kids. There is a lot of creativity involved, including making or choosing the jam, rolling out the dough, cutting unique shapes and making different types of frosting. They also learn how to make a really good crust.
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Ingredients
  

Pop Tarts

  • ½ cup whole wheat flour
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 sticks of butter (organic, for best flavor)
  • 1/3 to 2/3 cup ice water

Icing

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon liquid

Instructions
 

Pop Tarts

  • Combine together all of the dry goods. Grate the butter on the largest side of the cheese grater. As quickly as possible, work in the butter with your fingers so that you end up with tiny butter pieces covered in flour. It is important to work quickly to not overmix, for a flaky crust.
  • Next, add a little bit of ice water at a time until the dough just comes together. The colder the water, the better, again for the flaky crust. Pop the dough in the refrigerator for 10–20 minutes to chill it back down.
  • Preheat your oven to 375° F. Now comes the fun part! Roll out the dough to about 1/8-inch thick. You can use cookie cutters or a knife to create interesting shapes. We use jar lids to make circles. You will need one bottom piece and a matching top piece. Have fun with it, but keep it moving so that the dough does not get overworked or too warm.
  • Place a good amount of jam in the middle of the dough and lay the top layer on top. You do not want to overfill your jam so that it oozes out the, but the amount of jam needed will depend on the size of your pop-tart. Next, you pinch the sides together with a fork all the way around the perimeter. Pop tarts back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before baking.
  • Bake the pop-tarts in the oven for about 10–15 minutes or until golden brown. While you are doing this, you can make the icing.

Icing

  • Basically icing is a liquid sugar to add some style to your pop-tarts. Your pop-tarts would be very delicious without it, but it can be a fun part of the process.
  • There are many variations of icing. If you want to make green, you can use green juice. Magenta icing is easy; make a strong hibiscus tea with dried hibiscus flowers and add a few drops to the icing. You can make yellow icing by adding some powdered turmeric to the powdered sugar and adding some milk for liquid. You would make chocolate, cinnamon or cardamom icing the same way. You can see where this is heading as the sky is the limit. It is fun to make many small batches and experiment. It is very easy to add too much liquid, so add it slowly.
  • Once pop-tarts are cooled, you can drizzle the icing over the top with a spoon and ENJOY!