Homemade Pop Tarts with Rhubarb Jam

You may have noticed that there’s been a bit of a pop tart craze around these interwebs recently. In proof that old media still can ignite new media, I think it all started with April’s issue of Bon Appetit, which featured a glorious (and beautiful) spread on the art of the homemade pop tart. Of course, like the slightly crazy person that I am, I wanted to make them immediately.

But as pop tarts started popping up all over the web and my schedule became busier and busier–day job, illness, family commitments, a trip to the happiest place on Earth–it became clear that project pop tart was going to be pushed. And at first, that made me very, very sad.

But now that I’ve made them, I think it was a good thing that I had to wait, even though patience is not one of my strongest suits. Why? Because I got a chance to see what worked for others and what ended up in the fail column. I got to see results with different fillings. And the results from different types of crusts. So when I was ready to embark on my own pop tart journey I knew exactly what I wanted.

And it also gave me the time to have my unconventional but brilliant, filling idea–rhubarb. Rhubarb works as a filling in a buttery crust, as anyone who has ever had a rhubarb pie can attest. It’s tart sharpness perfectly sets off the wonderful butter flavor of a flaky crust.

But the idea didn’t stike me until we were eating the test dairy free birthday cake which I served with a rhubarb sauce. As we were inhaling the cake, we somehow all decided would make the perfect filling for a pop tart. Call it the magic of collaboration, but the idea seemed brilliant in theory, and it turned out to be amazing in execution.

Rhubarb Filled Pop Tarts
Crust adapted from King Arthur Flour, Jam adapted from Sweet Mary

To call these marvelous creations “pop tarts” really doesn’t do them justice. Because they’re a million miles away from those cardboard like breakfasts you ate out of the foil wrapper on the bus ride to school. Rather, they’re more like, delicious hot jam wrapped in the flakiest crust this side of France. AMAZING! Good thing they freeze well so I can control myself by baking them up one or two at a time. Because otherwise, I would be off somewhere in a pop tart induced coma.

Ingredients:

For the jam:
1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
juice from one orange
2 tablespoons corn starch, mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water (this is important, or your cornstarch will clump!)

For the tart dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
additional flour for rolling, and a beat egg for assembly

Directions:

For the jam: I recommend making the jam first, and allowing it to cool fully, preferably in the fridge, before making the dough and filling the tarts. You will have way more jam than you need, but it’s also delicious on bread, pancakes, crackers, your fingers, and well everything, so you won’t have a problem using it. And it freezes well if you really have too much.

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Cook on high until the mixture boils, then reduce heat to medium-low, cooking for about 30 minutes. After about 30 minutes, add the dissolved cornstarch, stirring until it is mixed in. If you have any lumps, you can use an immersion blender to puree the jam. Cook another 15 minutes, until jam is good and thick. Cool, and store in a plastic container with a sealed lid if you’re using later.

For the tarts: Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, or a fork, work in butter until you have pea sized pieces of visible butter. Add the egg and milk, and mix in. It works best for me if I do some light mixing with a spoon, then get my hands in there to finish the combining. Divide the dough into two pieces, and shape each piece into a 3 by 5 rectangle. At this point, you can wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge until your ready to use it, or you can plow right ahead.

On a well floured surface, roll one piece of the dough to a rectangle approximately 9 by 13 inches. Trim the edges to make a straight, smooth sided rectangle. Carefully transfer the dough to a parchment lined baking sheet. Fold the dough in half, and cut into four or six rectangles (depending on whether you’re making full sized or mini tarts–I made mini ones). Unfold the dough, and cut along the fold line. Brush all of the rectangles with the egg, then place jam filling (about 1 tablespoon for mini tarts, 2 tablespoons for larger ones) on half of the pieces. Use the other half of the pieces to cover the filled halves. Press around the edges of each tart to seal, then crimp the edges with a fork. Poke holes all over the top of each tart to allow venting during baking. Place the tarts in the fridge for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350. Repeat with the other piece of dough. I also rerolled my scraps–I know it breaks all the rolls, but I can never waste dough!–to make a few additional tarts.

After 30 minutes, you can either bake all of the tarts in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes, or until they are golden and flaky. Or you can bake some and store the remainder in a zip top bag for later enjoyment. Either way, prepare yourself for a piece of pop tart heaven!

Variation: If you don’t like rhubarb (what’s wrong with you? just kidding…) you can use any thick jam to fill the tarts. Also, King Arthur has a lovely recipe for a cinnamon sugar filling. Noel is begging for me to try that one. With icing. But for now he’ll have to live with rhubarb!

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