From Scratch Pop Tarts

This recipe comes straight from Bon Appetit’s test kitchen, from recipe developer and cook book author Claire Saffitz. I made these initially to send her a video of how the results came out, a promotion that BA was doing, but ended up falling in love with the recipe and making it several times after. Yes, there are a lot of steps involved, but each step is I would say in between beginner and intermediate level, and they can all be done on different days, so no need to take up your whole day making them, although I would do it, they’re that good. Claire includes how to make your own sprinkles, so feel free to check out the link below for that, but it is time consuming and doesn’t affect the flavor, so I left it out of this recipe for ease of preparation.

These are super flakey and addictive because of the brightness and acidity you get from the strawberries and added lemon juice. You won’t be able to put them down!

Recipe Resource: Claire Saffitz

Adapted (written in my own words, and added gram measurements) by Tierney Larson

Ingredients:

For the dough:

2 1/2 cups (313g) All-Purpose Flour

4 tsp (18g) granulated sugar

1 tsp (3g) Kosher Salt

1 1/4 cup (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled

1/2 cup of ice water

For the filling:

2 10oz packages of frozen strawberries

1/3 cup (79g) granulated sugar

pinch of kosher salt

finely grated lemon zest (to taste)

freshly squeezed lemon juice (to taste)

For the topping & assembly:

1 large egg

All Purpose Flour (for dusting)

pinch of kosher salt

2 cups (227g) of powdered sugar

1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Sprinkles

Ok so…Start by making the dough. In a large bowl, measure the flour, salt and sugar and mix to combine. Then add the chilled sticks of butter and toss them quickly in the flour mixture. Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the cold butter into the flour mixture. Once the butter is all grated, toss the butter into the flour mixture. Break up any larger pieces of butter with your hands, until they’re about half the size of a lentil. Then slowly drizzle in about 1/3 a cup of the ice water while tossing the mixture with a fork, continue to add more ice water by the teaspoon until the dough holds together when you press it together. You don’t want the dough to be sticky or too wet, just enough that the flour is hydrated and it holds together.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured workspace and press it together into a square. Wrap it in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill. Chill for at least 2 hours and up to 36 hours.

For the filling: Preheat your oven to 250F. In a medium sized saucepan, place the strawberries, sugar, 3 tbl of water and a pinch of salt over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cover, stirring occasionally until the berries have softened, about 5-8 minutes.

Pour the berry mixture carefully into a bowl and use an immersion blender (or pour into a blender if you don’t have an emersion one) and blend the berries until smooth, leaving some texture if you want. Then pour back into the saucepan. Return back to a simmer and simmer uncovered until it has thickened slightly, about 10-15 minutes. You should be able to run a spatula through it and it will take a few seconds for the gap to close.

Scrape the mixture onto a rimmed sheet pan lined with a sil pat and spread out as evenly as possible. Place in the oven for 45-60 minutes, giving it a stir every 15 minutes. When it’s done it should hold its shape when moved and look like tomato paste.

Remove the strawberry mixture from the oven and let cool on the pan. When cooled, transfer to a small bowl and stir in the vanilla. Add in the lemon zest and juice to taste. Cover the mixture and refrigerate for up to 1 week ahead of time.

To assemble:

Preheat the oven to 300F. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and divide into two equal halves. Place one half onto a lightly floured surface and wrap the other half and chill while you’re working with the first one. Roll out the dough trying your best to keep it in a rectangular shape, until you have a rectangle around 14x10 inches. Lightly flour the top of the dough and fold it in half so you can easily transfer the dough to a parchment lined sheet pan. Unfold so it’s even over the parchment. Using a ruler and a knife, lightly score (without cutting through the pastry) where the 9 rectangles will be. They will measure around 4 1/2 inches long and 3 1/4 inches wide. Then use the knife to again lightly score another rectangle inside of each rectangle about 1/4 inch inside each rectangle (to mark where the filling will go). Place in the fridge to chill until it’s firm for 10-15 minutes.

Remove from the fridge and place about 1 tbl of filling within each of the rectangles. Using a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon, evenly spread the filling inside each of the scored rectangles (making sure you stay within your score leaving the 1/4 inch border around each rectangle.

Place the dough with the filling back into the fridge to chill and remove the other half of the dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to the same size as it’s other half (14x10 inches) and then prick the dough all over with a fork. Remove the other prepared half of the dough from the fridge.

Crack the egg letting the whites fall into a medium bowl, and place the yolk in a small bowl. (Set aside the whites for the icing later). Whisk the yolk until blended and then using a pastry brush, brush the whisked yolk all around the edges of the dough with the filling, making sure to get every side of each rectangle (so you can seal the dough). Then carefully drape the pricked dough over the top so that it’s matched up on all the sides. Gently press out any air bubbles, and then, avoiding the filling, press all around each rectangle to seal. Using a bench knife or pizza cutter, cut out each rectangle. Move them slightly apart from each other by about 1 inch and place in the freezer until the dough is firm, 10-15 minutes.

Then bake the pop tarts in the oven for 30-35 minutes until golden brown underneath, but still pale on top. They will puff up and look cooked but pale on top.

Remove from the oven and let cool completely on the baking sheet. Meanwhile make the icing. Whisk the leftover egg white with a pinch of salt until foamy. Then add in a little of the confectioners sugar at a time whisking constantly and vigorously until you have a smooth opaque icing that leaves a visible trail that doesn’t disappear right away when you hold it up and let it drip down. You can test it on a piece of parchment, when you drizzle a bit, it should stay where you drizzle it.

Put 2 tbl of the icing into a small ziplock or disposable pastry bag with a very small snip at the tip of the bag. When the pop tarts have cooled, pipe a rectangle on top of each one, leaving 1/4 inch border around each. Squeeze the remaining icing back into the bowl with the rest of the icing, and whisk in the vanilla and lemon juice to taste. If the icing is still thick, add a little bit of water to loosen it until it’s still opaque but slightly looser.

The icing will start to set quickly so work with one pop tart at a time. Drizzle 1 tsp on top of the pop tart and spread it within the icing border using the back of a spoon. Quickly top with sprinkles before repeating with the rest of the pop tarts.

I definitely recommend eating them the day of or the next day. I prefer them at room temperature, but if you want to reheat them, do it in a 300F oven for 5-8 minutes until warmed through. (the icing will burn in your toaster..I tried lol). Enjoy!!!! :)