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Homemade pop tarts never once occurred to me as someting you could make when I was younger. The only pop tarts I knew were foil-wrapped packets that came out of a box to be carelessly tossed in the toaster that almost always burns everything and devoured for breakfast before school. In fact, homemade pop tarts are the ONLY way to go now that I know how much more delicious they are. These apricot-almond pop tarts are ultra-flaky and spiked with a little booze in the form of Amaretto. Maybe not for kids (I’ll leave that up to the parents), but certainly for adults!
Almond and apricot are a flavor pairing made in heaven. They play so well together — apricot kernels are even used as a flavoring similar to almond extract! They can be infused into booze for a hauntingly almond-like flavor, with a hint of vanilla and, of course, apricot. Please note: I’m not telling you to eat apricot kernels! Look up the health considerations before doing so.
Broma Bakery is my food photography inspiration/queen, and when she makes homemade pop tarts, I sit up and listen. I made a few adjustments from her recipe, including increasing the quantity of tart dough for easier rolling and assembly and adding Amaretto.
With this pandemic, I’ve had several freak-out moments when seeing empty shelves in the grocery stores — but where will I get tortillas! Where will I get bread! Well, duh, Amanda … you cook and bake for a living, so I’m pretty sure you could just MAKE THEM YOURSELF. (Nevermind the flour shortage. I’ve been a food hoarder for most of my life). Are you seeing empty shelves of Pop-Tarts in the stores? Are you seeing full shelves of Pop-Tarts in the stores? It doesn’t matter … just skip them and make homemade ones! (While also praying you can get your hands on flour.)
Pie dough used to really scare me — now it only scares me a little. I’m working on a foolproof recipe based on some revolutionary techniques I’ve tried out from other recipe writers and cookbook authors … more to come on this later. Needless to say, much of what we thought we knew about pie dough is just not true!
This dough ends up super-flaky due to the extreme amount of butter, and it’s extra easy because it comes together in the food processor. I think the hardest part is rolling out the dough (always my Achilles heel). One of my favorite tools in the history of rarely-used-but-worth-it tools that I’ve bought is this expandable pastry cutter. WIth five cutters, you can get perfectly-sized, even cuts on your baked goods. If you like to bake, or you just like your desserts to be perfectly cut and look semi-profesh, I highly recommend this.
Lastly, use the best preserves you can find! I love Bonne Maman, not only because it’s a French brand (and I love all things French) and the jars are adorable, but because the product is consistently good and reasonably priced. I used the Bonne Maman Intense apricot preserves, which have less sugar and really let the flavor of the fruit shine through. I also used Amaretto in the filling and the glaze for even more almond flavor. And because I like booze. Keep the glaze pretty thick so it just barely drizzles over a little of the edges of your tarts. It looks prettier this way and is a little less messy when eating.
Homemade pop tarts are a thing, guys. Let’s all commit to making them at home and skip the store-bought.
[tasty-recipe id=”38784″]
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