Homemade Blueberry Basil Poptarts

I'm finally in the mood for blogging about my baked goods again! It turns out, having a baby kinda slows you down a little bit. :) My little man is 2 months old now. And, although having him hasn't slowed my baking down, it just made me lose some steam in the blogging department.

A few weeks ago my husband and I loaded up our 2 boys and a couple of bags into the car and headed to Niagara Falls for a little weekend getaway. It was absolutely gorgeous in the winter! All the falls were mostly frozen and heaps of ice lay beneath them. It was truly magical.

But, anyway... road trips mean junk food in my family. So, we grabbed a bunch of horrible, processed snacks for the trip, including a box of poptarts. I hadn't had poptarts in years! And, having a poptart for the first time in forever was really nostalgic. Since that trip I have been craving them. So, I figured I'd better come up with a delicious homemade version to make the guilty pleasure a little less guilty and a little more pleasurable.

So, here you go: A poptart recipe that is not only WAY more delicious than the store bought, but also easy to make and you can vary it in a number of ways.

They are buttery, flaky and very tender with a delicious filling and topped with icing and sprinkles. Enjoy!

Homemade Poptart Recipe:   Yield: 9 poptarts

Pastry:
2 cups flour
1 T. sugar
1 t. salt
1 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into large chunks
2 eggs
2 T. milk

Filling:
1/2 cup jam or preserves of your choice- I used a homemade blueberry basil jam

Frosting:
1 T. butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 drops of food coloring

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter chunks. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until very crumbly and pea-sized butter chunks remain. In separate bowl, whisk together 1 egg and the milk. Pour into the dry mixture and mix together. Use your hands to gently knead the dough together until all the flour is incorporated.

Split the dough in two. With each half, roll out onto a lightly floured surface. Lift dough off counter after every few rolls to make sure the dough doesn't stick to the counter. Roll each into a 9 in. x 12 in. rectangle shape (or as close as you can get). Cut each rectangle into thirds horizontally and vertically (9 pieces per rectangle, 18 pieces total).

Whisk an egg in a small bowl and use a pastry brush to brush egg onto half of all the pieces. On the other pieces, spoon about a spoonful of jam on the center of the piece. Place the egg washed piece on top (egg wash facing down) and use a fork to seal the edges all the way around.

Place the poptarts on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350º F for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on pans for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

For frosting, comine all ingredients. Add a few drops of food coloring and stir until completely colored. Spread a spoonful of icing on top of each poptart.



*adapted from Lark + Linen recipe