Yes. Poptarts. Though, now that I think about it idk if I'd pop these in a toaster at all. hahaha. So more of a hand pie or small pastry. So delicious.
I had an abundance of blueberries in my freezer between last years harvest from my bushes and the ones I bought and forgot about. So why not? I used a pretty basic pastry dough and the filling is E A S Y. You can make a variety of fillings with this. Good ol' cinnamon and brown sugar, cherry, strawberry (OoOoOo now I want) whatever you want. Imma just give you the damn recipe.
For the filling/jam:
2 cups frozen blueberries
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 package of pectin (this recipe was scaled down for this smaller project)
1 3/4 cups sugar
Add blueberries, lemon juice and pectin to a small pot. bring to a full rolling boil over med hiiiigh heat. Stir constantly. I know, super annoying.
Stir in the sugar, return to a boil for 1 minute still (still stirring). If there is any foam, skim that off after removing from the heat.
It was at this point that I hit it with the immersion blender because I didn't want it chunky for these little pies. but you can leave it chunky if you want because I don't really care what you do. I also went ahead and got one jar of it sealed and done. But either way you wanna let this sit overnight. Or longer but atleast overnight.
For the crust:
2 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt (I used a fraction of this)
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
3/4 cup shortening, chilled*
1/2 cup cold water
Mix the flour and salt together. Add cold butter and shortening. Using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the butter and shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal (pea-sized crumbles with a few larger bits of fat is OK). Measure 1/2 cup of water in a glass. Add ice. Stir it around. Slowly drizzle in the very cold water 1 Tablespoon at a time, stirring with a large spatula after every Tablespoon of water that you add. Do not add any more water than you need to. Stop adding water when the dough begins to clump.
Roll out the dough on a floured work surface. The dough should come together easily and should not feel overly sticky. Form the dough into a ball. Divide in half. Flatten each half into 1-inch thick discs using your hands. Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Remove 1 chilled dough disc from the refrigerator and allow it to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. This will help make the dough easier work with. After 15 minutes, place disc onto a lightly floured work surface, and roll it into a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick and 9×12 inches (hubba hubba hahaha). Trim the sides as needed to make it all pretty. Always be gentle with your pastry dough. You don’t want it to tear. Cut each piece of dough into thirds and each third into thirds again. You will end up with 9 rectangles, each about 3×4 inches.
Place each of the 9 rectangles onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Or just a lightly greased baking sheet like I did. The pop-tarts will not spread in the oven, so they can be pretty close to each other. Place the baking sheet in the fridge. Roll 2nd disc out into a rectangle and cut into 9 even rectangles like you did with the first half of the dough. These nine rectangles will be the tops of your homemade poptarts. Place that baking sheet into the refrigerator as well.
While those are in the fridge I whipped up a sweet cream cheese to add to my pastries. Last minute idea but mmmf. so good. I just used a half a block of cream cheese, some vanilla and sugar to taste. No egg needed like with cheesecake bc we do NOT want lift here. trust me.
Remove 1 baking sheet of rectangles from the refrigerator. Brush egg wash over the entire surface of each rectangle. These will be the bottoms of your poptarts and the egg wash will help glue the lid on. Place a heaping Tablespoon of the prepared filling(s) into the center of each rectangle, spread it around, leaving around 1/4 inch of space on the edges. Brush the second baking sheet of rectangles with egg wash, then place each rectangle on top of the filling-topped rectangles egg wash side down. Use a fork to press firmly around the pocket of filling, sealing the dough well on all sides. Poke with a fork to vent the tops of the pastries.
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Once unbaked pop-tarts have chilled for 20 minutes, remove from the refrigerator and brush the tops with the remaining egg wash. This egg wash will give your pastry that gawjus color. Bake for about 22-28 minutes or until they’re golden brown, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Let the baked poptarts cool on the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.
For the glaze just mix 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon milk, a dash of cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp vanilla well in a bowl. Allow pastries to cool and either use a knife to spread the glaze on each one or just dip them like I did.
enjoy!
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