Hey Steemians!! How about a little Pop Tart action?!
Wow, last night was definitely interesting. So, if you've had enough of all that political noise and would like to think on things more pleasant, then let's talk fun food projects, like these Pop Tarts.
ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D5300 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. Most every time, I cross post on my personal blog which you can find in my INTRO POST.
The holiday season is nearly here in full swing! Are you super excited???? Me too!!! I’ve got a feeling that this year ‘there’ll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and carolling out in the snow!’ oh, and maybe even ‘Scary ghost stories, and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago!’ Fine, scratch the snow part for me, it’s approaching summer here in Chile, but that’s not going to stop me from finding a way to capture the mood despite the stupidity of mixed up seasons. You can put me down for everything else on the list, it’s gonna be great!
So today’s recipe isn’t really specific to the holidays, you could make it any time of year, but it is a great bridge recipe into all the ones that are specific (Hello gingerbread and eggnog!!!).
I was talking about my blog and being a food blogger with someone I met recently and they asked me if I ever have recipes that don’t work out the first time. My reaction to the question was basically just laughing in their face because, wow have I had some epic fails. Haha, not only that, but I continue to have more and more of them pretty much every single day. Hey, not every culinary endeavour can be a success, just sayin’. I mean, look at how many of the greatest feats of all time have been accomplished using the good old motto ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.’ The very technology you’re using to read this post right now is only one of the countless examples of inventions that required testing to reach perfection.
Can you tell I’m building up to admitting to one of my own fails and that I’m trying to do it in a way that makes it sound glamorous? Or at the very least, less humiliating? Yeah, so the originals of these pop-tarts were a total and complete fail, big time. Well, to be honest they weren’t even approaching the neighborhood of my most legendary flops. Plus, they were still devoured because, firstly ->chocolate, and secondly, it’s pretty hard to completely ruin a pop-tart, you know?
However, the prototypes were definitely not blog-worthy. I make it a point to never share anything with you guys if I’m not confident about the fact that you’ll love it. I could have scrapped the whole thing but I’m also really stubborn and persistent so I wanted to make this recipe work.
Okay, so then take #2 was much closer to what I was trying to achieve but still not right. I dipped them into the churro coating prior to baking them which was good, but it candied and stuck to the pans too much to be user-friendly and then it also kind of made the outside of the pop-tarts too hard in some spots. Basically, it still wasn’t quite there.
But now, for the happy ending to this post that’s become a pop-tart story (drumroll please!)………..I finally found it, the version of this recipe that I was going for! They’re perfectly flaky on the pastry part, the filling is creamy and cheesecakey (not to mention studded with tons of choco chips, YES!), then they’re covered with all the cinnamon/sugar goodness of a churro and drizzled in a little icing for cosmetic appeal and good measure.
Yep, so as you can see you’ve clearly got to give these a chance after all that, right? They’d be great for any event during the holidays and after that for the whole new year. Come on, you know you need these in your life!
RECIPE
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Yield: about 12 pop-tarts
Ingredients
Pastry:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lard, coconut oil, or vegetable shortening
1/2 cup ice cold butter, cubed
1/4 cup ice cold water
Filling:
1(8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks
Coating:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 cup granular sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Pastry:
Combine flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of food processor and pulse. Add butter and lard and pulse a few times more until crumbly. Add water and process until the dough comes together, adding more water if necessary.
Roll pastry dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle roughly 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 24 small rectangles, about 3 by 5 inch pieces.
Filling:
Whisk the softened cream cheese with the sugar in a small bowl until completely smooth. Add the sour cream, vanilla, and salt for the filling and stir until smooth. Spoon a few teaspoons of filling onto centers of half the rectangles you've cut. Spread filling to within 1/2 inch from edges and rub edges with water. Place the other half of the pieces on top of fillings and use a fork or your fingers to crimp the ends. Place on a parchment lined baking tray about 1/4 inch apart, use a sharp knife to make small slits on the tops for venting, and place tray in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C). When oven is ready, remove trays from fridge and bake for 10 - 15 minutes until edges are golden. Remove and cool completely for about 10 minutes before moving.
Coating:
Gently loosen them from pan with a thin spatula. Melt the butter for your coating in a shallow bowl or dish and mix the cinnamon, sugar, and dash of salt in another. Brush the top of each pop-tart with the butter then place them face-down one by one in the cinnamon/sugar to coat or sprinkle the mixture over the pop-tarts (whichever method you find easier. Place them back on tray as you dip until all 12 have been done. Now brush the backs gently with butter and dip in the cinnamon/sugar as well, then place back on the tray.
Icing:
Mix all ingredients for icing in a small bowl until smooth. Spoon it into a small tipped pastry bag and drizzle over the pop-tarts. Allow to dry before serving.
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