Remember when we were young, living in India, watching English TV shows, watching kids put fancy rectangle shaped sweet tarts frosted with icing & sprinkles and think where can I get this? I used to fantasize about Pop Tarts and Twizzlers (yeah fat kid problem), when I used to spot their ads in Archie’s Comics. After about a decade of drooling, I finally found them in Mumbai at an exorbitant price. Now that I look at Pop Tarts and see how easy it is to make them, I contemplate whether it is a good thing I started baking late or not (fat kid can turn obese anytime).
Hence better late than never, I present to you Christmas Pop Tarts. The idea of Christmas Pop Tarts came because I bought these Christmas Sprinkles and I had to use them before Christmas or else what was the point. Then once again I came across Pop Tarts ad, and told myself, it is a tart filled with jam or chocolate. I can totally do this! So I decided I had to make them. The best part about Pop Tarts is you can customize it any way you like. I stuck to my Christmas-y theme and created a festive version of it. To see how you can customize it check the notes section in the end.
Ingredients –
Tart –
- 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 75 grams cold butter, cut into cubes
- 1/3 cup cold water
Filling –
- 200 grams dark chocolate
- 100 grams cream
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup chopped roasted almonds
- 1/4 cup cranberries
Toppings –
- Christmas theme sprinkles
Directions –
- In a food processor, add flour, cocoa, cinnamon and pulse.
- Add the cold butter and pulse till the mixture reaches a sandy consistency.
- Remove in a separate bowl and add ice cold water one tablespoon at a time and knead to form a dough. Once the dough is formed, wrap it with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Heat the cream till its scalding – not boiling and add to the chocolate. Mix till all the chocolate is melted. If the chocolate is not melting after a few minutes. Melt it in with a microwave by giving it 10 seconds bursts.
- Once the ganache mixture is formed. Refrigerate till it sets.
- Preheat the oven to 200 C.
- Roll the tart dough and cut into 3 x 4 inches rectangles. This recipe is for 6 pop tarts. So you should have 12 rectangle sheets.
- Take a sheet, spread some ganache. You can microwave the ganache for 10 seconds if it is too stiff. Sprinkle almonds and cranberries and cover with another sheet.
- Take a fork, press down all four sides and punch in some holes on the top sheet with the fork.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Let them cool completely.
- Frost the top with the remainder of the ganache and sprinkle the Christmas themed sprinkles.
- Store in a refrigerator for up to 5 days. Heat it in the microwave before serving, so the ganache melts and it is soft in the center.
Notes –
- You can add whatever you want for the filling. Any type of jam, more chocolate, or even chocolate chips in the center.
- You can vary in the dry fruits department by adding walnuts, cashew, raisins, whichever you fruit you like.
- You can make ahead the tart dough and keep. I would suggest make a bigger batch store it in the freezer and enjoy the Pop Tarts whenever you want. You can also store the ganache in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. The dough can stay for 1 month.
toxicbaker 