homemade strawberry pop tarts

It's been one of those weeks over here with teething, colds, and lack of sleep. I tend to prefer cooking over baking (probably because I love to use recipes as a guideline and adjust ingredients freely which tends to not work as well when baking), but I really wanted to attempt homemade pop tarts as a special treat for Valentine's Day. With the week we were having, this was a fun distraction for me during nap time one afternoon with the extra bonus that the house smelled amazing for hours afterwards!

Since these pop tarts have both egg and dairy, O isn't able to taste test these (we did allergy testing a few weeks ago and learned that he is currently allergic to dairy), but M and I have been sharing one every evening after he is in bed. This is also an attempt to reintroduce egg back into my diet to see if O is still sensitive to it through nursing. So far, M has given raving reviews every time he bites into one, and O hasn't broken out (huge praise!). I highly recommend making these, especially if you have littles who love to help in the kitchen or eat sweet treats.

homemade strawberry pop tarts

ingredients for the pastry:
2 cups gluten free all purpose flour from trader joes
1 tablespoon organic sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut roughly into 1" squares
1 large farm fresh egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 additional egg, whisked (for assembling pastries)

ingredients for the filling:
3/4 cup of my grandma's homemade strawberry jam

ingredients for the frosting:
1-2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1 cup organic powdered sugar
juice from half a lemon
{optional} 2-3 drops of food coloring
{optional} sprinkles

directions:

mix the flour, sugar, and salt. add butter square one by one and mix with an electric mixer until the butter is pea size and the dough holds together.

in a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons milk and 1 egg.

add the milk and egg mixture to the bowl with the dough and mix with your hands until it is combined.

on a floured surface, knead the dough carefully until it doesn't stick.

divide the dough in half and roll out each half to form a 9 inch x 12 inch rectangle. one of the few times my marble rolling pin has been used. i really need to bake more...

once rolled, divide each rectangle of dough into twelve squares, using a knife to make clean cuts.

top half of the squares with a spoonful of strawberry jam and lay the other half on top, sealing the edges by pressing a fork into each side.

using a pastry brush (or in my case a spoon since i don't have one! again, i really should diversify my baking more...i tend to stick to crisps and cobblers), brush the whisked egg over half of your pop tart squares. i would also poke a few holes in the top because otherwise the pastry cracks while baking.

bake on a baking sheet at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes (i cooked mine close to 25 minutes).

remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. cool completely before frosting.

mix all the frosting ingredients in a bowl until well combined and adjust to thin or thick accordingly. for kids, it would be a fun, festive touch to color the frosting and add sprinkles too.

frost pop tarts, and enjoy! and store any extras in the fridge. they are delicious cold!

>> recipe adapted (and for different filling ideas) from these versions here, here, and here.