PINEAPPLE POP TARTS

I wish this house was constructed of grilled meat, roast chicken, steamed red snappers, cemented with sambal belacan, furnished with rice and it's roof tiled with pop tarts. So that Starvers will be distracted while The Starvee photo shoots.

Pop tarts are what I made. And as a Malaysian, tarts only make sense when paired with pineapple jam. These........they were very good. The crust was crusty and buttery. And the jam.... it was obligingly sticky and subtly sweet. And the whole...it was out of this world. 

This just cannot be a breakfast food. I refuse to serve it for breakfast. I would probably refuse to share these next time too.

I checked out the recipe for the pop tart crust on Smitten Kitchen and then at Joy the Baker and realized that they were exactly the same. So the credits go to two of my favourite blogs.

Because I live in a green house it was very difficult to keep the dough cool and firm while rolling, filling and sealing it with jam. Constant refrigeration in between tasks was totally necessary. I made this in the evening when it was cooler. (Don't even think of working with this dough on a hot afternoon). I had also rolled out the dough between sheets of baking paper so that I could easily lift them on to a tray to chill in the refrigerator. It was worth it.

But I was not about to pause, evaporate, melt and take photos of the process. So do go here if you would like to see the step by steps. Photo-parantheses is for plants.

The recipe ~ Smitten Kitchen & Joy the Baker
  
Of course you could fill this with anything, ranging from Nutella, sugar and cinnamon, any jam, anything.

Crust

2 cups plain flour 

1 T sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter, cut into cubes

1 large egg

2 T cold milk

1 extra egg for brushing

Whisk flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Work in cold butter using a pastry knife or your fingers until pea sized lumps of butter are still visible and mixture just holds together when squeezed.

Whisk egg and milk and pour into flour mixture mixing until cohesive and the dough comes together in a ball. Divide into two and chill in the refrigerator until firm ..maybe 20 -30 minutes.

Lay a largish sheet of baking paper on the table and roll out one half of the dough until it becomes a rectangle of about 9 x 12 inches and the dough sheet is about 1/8 inch thick. Cut the rectangle into 9 equal sized smaller rectangles. 

Brush the sheet with beaten egg and plop some jam on each rectangle. Place the jammed dough rectangles  into the refrigerator while you roll out the other dough.

Roll out the other dough half (also on baking paper) to the same size as the first dough and cut them up in exactly the same way. Keep aside.

Take out the jammed dough rectangles and place them next to the blank rectangles. Lift each small blank rectangle and place it over a jammed rectangle and press down the edges with a fork to crimp. Finish off the rest in the same way.

Bake in a preheated  oven at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.