Homemade Pop Tarts Recipe

I told you guys I would be back with the recipe for these award-winning pop tarts! I used to LOVE pop tarts as a child - the s'mores were my very favorite - and it seemed like a pretty lofty goal to try and recreate this sugary breakfast, but why not give it a shot? I can’t actually take any of the credit for this recipe, only for taking bits and pieces of recipes I found online, but I present to you some strawberry, blueberry, and s’mores pop tarts.

Because I knew I would be in a time crunch yesterday, I made the dough one day prior and let it chill in my refrigerator overnight before following through with the rest of the recipe after returning home from an evening spin class.

And as I mentioned in my last post, these pop tarts were made special for Dylan who, with the completion of a physics final last night, is completely done with his junior year of college. And I have to make an addition to Wednesday's post, as I did him a disservice by not giving him a special thank you shout out. This guy has not only hung with my crazy schedule, my stress, and my probably too many complaints, but he has done it all by encouraging me, believing in me, and best of all, not letting me throw myself a pity party. I'm so very thankful for his CONSTANT support through student teaching and the job search process.

Ingredients:

Dough

• 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 4 tablespoons ice water
• 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled butter, cut into ½ inch cubes

Filling

• Strawberry preserves
• Blueberry preserves
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• Nutella
• 1 egg

Toppings

• Powdered sugar
• Chopped strawberries
• Blueberries
• Chocolate chips
• White chocolate chips
• Mini marshmallows

Directions:

For the dough -

1. Combine and whisk together flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl

2. Using your hands, work in the butter until the mixture holds together when you squeeze it

3. Add the ice water and form dough into a ball

4. Divide dough in half and place each half in its own Ziploc bag and refrigerate (for up to 2 days)

5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow it to soften (about 15 minutes)

6. Roll each ball of dough onto a floured surface and cut into 9 equal rectangles

7. Place rectangles of dough onto a sprayed or parchment-lined baking sheet

8. Beat egg and baste onto the entire surface of one half of the squares (this is to help "glue" the lid on)

9. Place approximately 1 tablespoon of filling onto the center of each rectangle, spreading and leaving a good 1/2 inch perimeter bare

FILLING OPTIONS

1. Strawberry preserves
2. Blueberry preserves
3. S'mores (melted marshmallows + Nutella)

10. Place a second rectangle of dough on top of the filling and seal around the edges first using your fingertips, then using the tines of a fork

11. Using a fork, gently poke a few holes on top

12. Repeat with the remaining dough and place (uncovered) in the refrigerator for 30 minutes

13. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

14. Remove pop tarts from the fridge and bake for 20-25 minutes, until they are a light golden brown

Toppings -

15. Gently sprinkle powdered sugar over pop tarts
16. Top with strawberries, blueberries, (white) chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows as desired
17. Enjoy!

What a fun way to recreate a childhood favorite, and an even better way to celebrate the successful completion of another year!

*Recipes adapted from: Smitten Kitchen, and Epicurious.