Avid readers of our blog (all 5 of you) might have noticed the abscence of Saturday Morning Breakfast (SMB) since our return from the U.S. This was a conscious decision on our part, in order to save money for other things. As a result, we have relegated SMB to one Saturday a month. This Saturday happens to be our SMB Saturday.
And it's a good one.
What did you eat for breakfast as a kid?
Will, like most kids we would suspect, ate milk and cereal. In fact, up until 2 months ago when he switched over to oatmeal (more filling = lasts longer = cheaper to buy), Will ate milk and cereal for breakfast almost every.single.morning of his life. Wow.
Jackie, on the other hand, had a slightly unconventional breakfast routine. As a kid, she went through phases with breakfast food. One year it was Quaker Oats Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal (and only that flavor). Another year it was Peter Pan Peanut Butter on 2 pieces of toast (smooth, never crunchy). Of course, like many kids of our generation, at some point there was the Reign of the Pop Tart. From roughly 1995-2000, Jackie ate nothing but Kellog's Pop Tarts for breakfast (interestingly enough, this period roughly coincided with Jackie's period of Academic Dominance). Initially, she ate only Iced Maple Syrup & Brown Sugar Pop Tarts, untoasted. Then, she ate only toasted Frosted Strawberry Pop Tarts with Rainbow Sprinkles.
For Will, Pop Tarts were an occasional special treat. It was not until late high school when running cross country that he really developed a taste, no, a passion for the Pop Tart. His flavor of choice? The almighty milk chocolate and marshmallow fluff stuffed Frosted S'Mores Pop Tart.
Neither of us would even consider eating the things now. Well, one of us definitely wouldn't. The other one might. Of course, just because we won't eat the artificial-chemically altered Pop Tarts from the box, doesn't mean we can't make our own!
Homemade Pop Tarts
Adapted from Chez Pim
Preheat oven to 400F/200C
Start with your favorite pie dough, homemade or purchased.
On work surface, roll out dough into a rectangle shape.
Use knife or pastry scraper to divide dough into smaller rectangles (roughly 4x6) and tidy edges (collect scraps and reuse to make more Pop Tarts).
Place filling of your choice onto bottom half of rectangle on the long side, leaving a 1/4 inch of space between filling and the edge.
Using a pastry brush or your fingertips, lightly wet the dough edge around the filling.
Fold over top half of rectangle, making sure to match the other edge perfectly.
Press down slightly at the edges to seal the dough pocket.
Take a fork and use the tines to press the dough together, creating a pattern around all edges except for the folding seam.
Trim off excess, uneven dough edges.
Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle sugar on top.
Make a few vents in the top of the Pop Tart with a fork.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until crust is golden and filling oozes out.
Pop Tart Filling
Really, it can be whatever you want it to be. For fruity Pop Tarts, use a couple of tablespoons of your favorite jam. For sugar Pop Tarts, fill with brown sugar and cinnamon. For S'mores Pop Tarts, use milk chocolate, marshmallows, and crumbled crackers (or make graham dough). Whatever you use, it will melt into a delicious mess inside your Pop Tart.
*Notes
1. Don't use dark chocolate. It will completely overwhelm whatever else is in your filling, i.e. marshmallows and crumbled graham cracker.
2. The pie dough recipe I used (from this amazing cookbook) was a bit too good for Pop Tart making. As a result, our Pop Tarts reminded us more of pain du chocolat (in Will's case) or hand pies (mine). Not that this was a problem - the result was still delicious- but if you want that stale, tasteless Pop Tart base flavor, use a less buttery, flaky dough recipe.
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