These apple pop tarts are delicious breakfast or snack turnovers filled with apple and cinnamon with an cinnamon glaze on top! They're buttery delicious and flakey with an aromatic cinnamon pastry!
While pop tarts can be a bit underwhelming when you first try the commercial kind, home made ones are amazing. When I showed them to a friend she remarked that they looked like a home made version of a McDonald's Apple Pie and I had to laugh because they do a bit.
1 - A lot of pastry work depends on the ambient temperature and the temperature of the pastry. Pastry generally tends to work best when it is out of the fridge for 10 minutes so that it's not too stiff but also not floppy. If your pastry is misbehaving and floppy send it to the fridge for 10-15 minutes to firm up!
2 - You always hear don't overfill the pastry but you can add 1 1/4 or 1.5 tablespoons of filling in these. Actual pop tarts are flatter and have less filling but the filling is one of the best parts.
3 - Make sure to poke holes in the top of the pastry to allow steam to escape. Use a thin ended chopstick or skewer to make the holes.
4 - Make sure that the filling is cold when you add it to the pastry. Warm fillings melt the butter in the pastry and start to cook it which means that your pastry won't have a light and flakey texture.
5 - Seal the pastry well or you will get leaks and your filling will spill out. I brush the edges with egg wash, add the filling then add the top. Then using my hands I firmly but gently press down on the sides to seal them and then double seal it with a fork.
6 - Place the pop tarts in the fridge for 20 minutes before you bake them. Cold pastry in a hot oven gives you the best result always.
7 - Trim the edges of the pop tarts if you want them to look pretty. I usually do it before I put them in the fridge for the final 20 minutes.
8 - Add the glaze once the tarts are baked and allow the glaze time to set completely. I prefer using icing sugar rather than icing sugar mixture (icing sugar with cornflour added) as it dries stiff quicker. Glaze is optional and I just like to add a little to the pop tart because I find it already sweet.
Make these pop tarts ahead of time: I made the pastry a few weeks ahead and put it in the freezer and then allowed it to come to temperature when I needed to use it. Likewise, I made the apple filling three days ahead and kept it in the fridge. You can also keep these in the fridge overnight and then bake them fresh on the day!
Shortcut: If you don't want to make your own pastry from scratch you can absolutely use pre-made puff or shortcrust pastry!
Other pop tart fillings: I used apples because I had lots of apples from my vege box. Other delicious fillings include Nutella and hazelnut, strawberry and vanilla, peach, any jam works well inside these or S'mores (marshmallow, cookie crumbs and chocolate). Basically anything that you can put into a pie works well!
Serve warm: These pop tarts or turnovers are best served warm. To heat up bake at 160C/320F for 5-8 minutes.
Can you freeze home made pop tarts? Yes! These pop tarts freeze well too. You can store unbaked and uniced pop tarts in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready, bake them at 200C/400F for 25-28 minutes.
I thought I'd give you this recipe in case you wanted to make these over the holidays. Pop tarts are a breakfast food but they're great any time of the day or for dessert. We've had a wonderful time so far although our wings were slightly clipped by the unseasonably cold weather.
On one of the few sunny days we took Teddy for a visit to Silver Beach in Kurnell which is a dog friendly beach. There were dogs of all shapes and breeds there and it was a doggy paradise. They all looked so happy swimming in the ocean and prancing around. Teddy ran straight to the water to cool off and then proceeded to roll around in the sand. It's his favourite move and he had sand everywhere, even on his eyelashes.
Mr NQN had an idea to teach Teddy swimming. Teddy already knows how to swim but Mr NQN wanted to take him into the water and get a video of him swimming on the Go Pro camera.
He carried Teddy out to knee deep water and then gently lowered Teddy into the water. Teddy quickly swam back to shore and immediately got out of the water and was very, very unimpressed at being deposited into the water. Teddy barked at him scolding him for a good 30 seconds. It was like he was saying, "Don't do that again! I did not enjoy that at all," and after that he wouldn't go near poor Mr NQN.
Mr NQN was bewildered by Teddy's reaction. We joke that Teddy takes after both of us. He gets his sociability and confidence from me but gets his love of water and adventure from Mr NQN. "All I can say is that I would have hated being dropped in the water! It has to be on my terms!" I explained.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you like pop tarts? Have you tried the commercial ones? How about home made ones? What is your favourite filling?
P.S. Teddy forgave Mr NQN within a couple of days and he was back to being a daddy's boy.
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Makes 6 pop tarts or turnovers
For filling:
1 teaspoon cornflour mixed with 1 teaspoon water
1 beaten egg for egg wash
Step 1 - Process the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt together in a food processor until combined. Add in butter cubes and process until you get a fine, sandy texture.
Step 2 - Empty this mixture out onto a clean surface and add just enough water to bind it together (you may not need to use it all). Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Step 3 - Make the filling. Peel and core the apples and dice finely. Place in a saucepan with the brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and salt and simmer until softened. The apple juice should release.
Step 4 - Add the cornflour slurry and heat through on low heat to thicken the juice. Cool completely. This step can be done 1-2 days ahead of time.
Step 5 - Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and cut into 12 rectangles. Mine were 12x8cms/4.7x3inch in size. Place six halves on a parchment lined baking tray. Brush the edges with egg wash. Spoon a 1 1/4 tablespoons of apple filling in the centre.
Step 6 - Poke holes in the remaining six rectangles with the fine point of a chopstick or skewer and carefully place them on top of the apple base and press down. Using a fork to seal. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Step 7 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F and bake for 20 minutes.
Step 8 - Sift icing sugar and add 1-2 tablespoons of water with a pinch of cinnamon. Place in a piping bag and drizzle over the pop tarts. Serve warm.
Published on 2021-01-04 by Lorraine Elliott.
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