I don’t know about you, but being a child of the 80’s and 90’s, Pop-Tarts were a staple of my diet. I remember the joyful feeling I had every time the toaster would finally CHING CHING!!! And up would jump the sweet flaky pies! My fingers would itch to reach out and grab the tasty treasures even though they were too hot to touch right away. I didn’t care. What was a mild sting on my skin compared to the warm, fruity insides of those flaky, golden pastries? Not.A.Thing.
These days, there are sooooo many ingredients in the brand name Pop-Tarts, the third of which is high fructose corn syrup. So when Justin found this recipe and said it reminded him of homemade ones, I immediately reminded him of the raspberry jam we’d purchased at a farmer’s market the weekend before (Heidi’s Organic Raspberry Farm, so delicious!). We couldn’t find whole wheat graham flour at our local Sprouts grocery store, so we used chickpea flour instead. If there was a real difference, we didn’t notice at all. These pastries were so delicious and they brought me back to a simpler time when the biggest decision I had to make was which flavor to have.
Raspberry Jam Pastry Squares
Yield 1 dozen
Recipe from Martha Stewart Living, August 2014 issue
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 1/4 cups whole-wheat graham flour, such as Bob's Red Mill {Can't find this? Try chickpea flour.}
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
- 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 4 ounce cold cream cheese, cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water
- 1 cup raspberry jam
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons whole milk
Instructions
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Pulse the flours and the salt in a food processor to combine them. Add the butter and cream cheese and pulse them together until only small pieces remain. Add ice water and pulse the mixture until the dough just starts to clump together.
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Turn the dough out (it will be crumbly) onto a clean work surface and divide it in half. Wrap each half in a piece of plastic wrap and press down on each one to form a flat rectangle. Refrigerate the dough until it’s firm {at least 20 minutes and up to 1 day}.
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Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Roll out each rectangle on a lightly floured piece of parchment to a 10-by-14 1/2-inch rectangle. Transfer one rectangle {with parchment} to a baking sheet. Spread jam on top of it, leaving a 1-inch border all around.
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Roll up the remaining rectangle on a rolling pin, then unroll it on top of the first rectangle. Press the edges together, then use a crimped pastry wheel to trim all around. Brush the beaten egg over the top, then use a paring knife to cut a few vents in the top of the crust. Refrigerate it all for 30 minutes.
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Bake the pastry until it’s golden and the jam is bubbling up through its vents, about 35 minutes. Let the pastry cool completely on a baking sheet on a wire rack. {The pastry can be stored, covered in plastic, up to 1 day before glazing and cutting it.}
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Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk in a small bowl; if the mixture is too thick to pour, add more milk, a drop at a time. Drizzle the icing over the top of the pastry, then let it set for at least 10 minutes before cutting it into 12 squares, 3 across on the short side, 4 down on the long side.