I've always enjoyed the concept of Poptarts: a flat pastry filled with of jam or frosting. Simple enough. The best option for a healthy breakfast? Not so much. My favorite kind of poptart is plain strawberry, no frosting. The smores version was dessert back in college. What's your favorite kind of poptart? I bet it will be these if you try them out! Sorry Kelloggs, you can't compete with the real thing.
The pastry is buttery and basic. Can't go wrong with that! It's flaky but not too flaky! It's kinda like a smooth pie crust. Either way-- it sure beats the pants off the boxed version (they're so uniform and plain). Gross! I did not measure when I cut out my pastry rectangles and yet somehow it call came together beautifully.
As for the filling... warm. gooey. pumpkin spice. I was worried at first. It looked a little too thin to be filling. I wanted to get in as much as possible. A few bits even peeked out as I was crimping the edges. They wiped off easy enough but I found the imperfections really cute. You could tell- this was home made and freakin legit! After being baked all together- the angels began to sing. They were even better the next day, when the flavors had more time to get to know each other.
Topped with the maple glaze, it made getting up for work exciting. Yah. It's kinda bad when the first thing you think is what's waiting in the kitchen, hehe. All these fall flavors, I can't help but appreciate Autumn's coat even more.These are not difficult, but they do take a little love. Makes 9 tarts
Pumpkin Spice Poptarts
Joy the Baker
Crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 large egg (for brushing the dough)
Filling
3/4 cup pureed pumpkin
1 large egg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
Maple Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons milk
For the Crust... In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Add the cold butter and break it up in the flour mixture using your fingers, a pastry cutter or a food processor. Work it in until only pea sized lumps remain in your mixture, kinda like making pie crust. The mixture should hold together when squeezed into a ball.
In a small bowl, beat the egg with the milk. Add the mixture all at once to the dry ingredients and stir to make sure that moisture is introduced to all of the flour mixture. Lightly dust a clean counter with flour and knead the dough on the floured counter for a few turns until it really starts to come together. Divide the dough in two, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Again, like pie crust- it's not fun to work with melty butter dough.
While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling... In a small sauce pan, heat pumpkin puree and spices over low. Just heat through until the spices become fragrant. This helps to bring loads of flavor into the filling. Remove from heat and place spiced pumpkin in a medium sized bowl. Whisk in egg, salt and sugar and place in the fridge to rest while you roll out the dough.
On a well floured work surface, press dough into a 3×5-inch rectangle, roll the dough out to about 1/8-inch thickness. The dough should be slightly larger than 9×12-inches. If you wanna cheat, use a 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper for the first round, then roll up the scraps and make the rest. Trim dough with a pizza cutter, creating a rectangle that is 9-inches tall and 12-inches long. Using the pizza cutter, cut each side into thirds, creating 9 squares. Place dough squares in the fridge while you roll out the second piece of dough in the same way.
Brush one set of 9 squares with beaten egg. This will act as the glue for the top layer of dough. Spoon about one tablespoon of pie filling into the center of each brushed dough square. Top with a piece of dough and use a floured fork to crimp the sides closed. Use the tines of the fork to create vent holes in each tart.Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Let tarts rest in the fridge for 30 minutes while the oven preheats.
Remove tarts from the fridge and place in the oven to bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
While the tarts bake, whisk together ingredients for the glaze and set aside.
Let baked tarts rest on a cooling rack to cool completely before glazing. Best served within 2 days.
