Who you callin’ a Pop Tart?! Pt. 2

The last time I made pop tarts, I made them with a cherry filling.  They were awesome. I still have a few in the freezer and pull them out for the kids sometimes on school mornings.  But we wanted to make a new flavor… and the kids picked apple cinnamon!

These are also awesome.  My husband says he likes them better, (but don’t tell the cherries).

These, just like the others, are made with whole wheat flour, real fruit and far less sugar than most.  But that, by no means make them less than anything.  They’re better!  The pastry is firm, yet flaky and rich and flavorful… and the filling is like your favorite apple pie.

So now I have a freezer full of two different flavors of homemade breakfast goodies for my kids.  But something tells me they’ll have me making a new one pretty soon… And you’ll be the first to know about it when I do.

Enjoy!

APPLE CINNAMON TARTS

er… HOMEMADE APPLE POP TARTS

(whole wheat!)

Filling:

In a medium saucepan, combine…

• 2 lbs apples, cored and chopped (I prefer gala or fuji)
• 1 lemon- zested and juiced + the zest of 1 more
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ginger

Bring this to a simmer, reduce the heat and cover the pot.  Allow this to cook down, on medium-low heat, until the apples have softened.  Check on it every so often to make sure they aren’t burning.  This will take about 15-20 minutes.

Using an immersion blender (or transfer to a stand blender if you don’t have a hand-held), puree this until smooth.

In a separate bowl or ramekin, mix together the following until lump-free, to make a slurry for thickening…

• 2 TB cornstarch
• splash of water

Stir this into the apple mixture and bring to a bubble again.  Stir well.

Allow this to cool completely before you use it.

Dough:

(To make these gluten free pop tarts, use my G-Free Pastry Dough recipe!)

In a food processor, combine the following…

• 4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or 100% white whole wheat flour)
• 2 TB sugar
• 4 tsp kosher salt

Pulse until well mixed

Add the shredder attachment to the top, but leave the blade attachment in the bottom.  Return the lid to the food processor and place…

• 2 sticks frozen unsalted butter (whole)

into the ‘pouring spout’ portion of the lid.  Mine fits 2 sticks of butter perfectly.  If yours doesn’t, simply do it one stick at a time. The point is that you’re shredding the frozen butter down into the dry ingredients and mixing it in at the same time.

Once the butter has been fully shredded and mixed in, remove the shredder attachment and lid.

Add in…

• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup milk

Blend again (with the blade) until a stiff dough forms.

Split the dough into fourths, flatten into rectangles and wrap with plastic to be chilled for an hour before making your tarts.

Assembly:

When you’re ready to make and bake, roll out one piece of your dough into a larger, flatter rectangle- the size of a 9×13 inch baking pan.  This dough can be pretty hard to work with, so you’re most likely gonna be working in batches.  Refrigerate the other dough pieces while you’re working with the one.

Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough down the center vertically.  And then across in half, then across those halves again until you have 8 rectangles.

Trim along the edges to make them more pretty and straight if desired, and also know that you’re most likely gonna have a few triangular pop tarts from the edge pieces.

Place 4 dough pieces from one side of the dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Brush all over the surface with…

• 1 large egg, beaten well (this egg will be used for the whole batch)

Place a heaping tablespoon of your cooled, apple mixture on the center of each rectangle and spread a bit.  This filling is very thick and doesn’t spread as well as the cherry filling, so you want to make sure you’re gonna get some of it in every bite after baking.  Top with the matching rectangle.

Crimp along the edges with a fork.

Poke the center of each a few times with the fork to vent.

Continue these steps until all of your dough has been turned into pop tarts.  Note- you’ll have some filling leftover.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Place on a cooling rack until easy to handle.

Serve warm or room temperature.

Freeze these, wrapped tightly in plastic and then in a large freezer-safe zip bag, for several weeks.

If you’re one of those people who can’t eat a pop tart unless it has the frosting, here’s a recipe for that:

Beat 1 egg white (pasteurized only) until stiff peaks form, add 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla extract.  Spread frosting onto each pop tart and allow it to harden.  Top with sprinkles if desired.