Buttery & Tender Homemade Maple Pop Tarts

Servings: 8
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Prep Time: 1 hour
Ready In: 1 hour & 45 minutes
Make Sure You Have: Stand mixer amd pizza cutter

Ingredients:
Pop Tart Dough:
2 cups all purpose flour
8 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
½ cup heavy cream (which you will mixed with the egg yolk)
1 egg (for egg wash)

Filling:
4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Maple Glaze:
1/2 cup of sifted powdered sugar
2 ounces real maple syrup

Directions:
Dough:
1. Using a standing electric mixer combine the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, and cold unsalted butter on medium speed. (** Make sure the butter is cut into small pieces to make the dough sturdier and prevent it from falling apart when it is stuffed with filling.) Mix till it’s a sandy texture. Whisk your egg yolk and cream by hand, then add to the flour mixture on a slow speed setting. Take the dough out, roll it up in plastic wrap, flatten it into a disc and refrigerate for an hour.

Filling:
While your dough is chilling you can make your filling.
1. Combine unsalted butter, sugar, toasted pecan, and flour in the bowl of standing mixer until it is the texture of cookie batter. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge to chill.

Dough -continued-
2. Once the dough has been chilled for an hour, take the dough out and lay on a floured table. Press the dough down to coat lightly in the flour, pick it up flip it over, and dust second side with flour to ensure it does not stick, and then roll it with a rolling pin. Flip it over once more, dusting with more flour as you continue to roll it out.

3. Check the thickness, it should be about 1/4 inch thick, brush off the excess flour. Make a template for your pop tart size, any size you want, in this video Chef Eric uses a 3 inch by 4 inch rectangular template. Place the template on the dough and cut it out with a pizza cutter.

4. Pick up the cut dough with a spatula, making sure not to stretch the dough, and place the dough rectangles on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cut out the rest of the dough and place on the lined baking sheet. Place sheet in the refrigerator to chill the butter inside of the dough for a few minutes.

5. Once chilled, and working one dough rectangle at a time, brush some egg wash on top to coat lightly. Take a heaping tablespoon of the chilled filling and form with your fingers into a rectangle, and place on one side of the dough. Then fold the other side over to form a closed square pop tart with the filling in the center. Press down so dough adheres. Flip over and press dough and filling down to flatten slightly and uniformly.

6. Using a fork, press down on the edges of your pop tart to seal and make imprints. Scoop pop tarts up gently and place them back on the lined baking sheet. Place in a 365°F oven for 15 minutes until golden brown. Leave them aside to cool at room temperature for another 15 minutes.

Maple Glaze:
1. Place 1 cup of sifted powder sugar in a mixing bowl and add in 2 oz. maple syrup. Whisk together well. Add more syrup if needed until a thick enough consistency is reached that glaze will stick to the pop tarts without running down the sides. Using a pastry brush, brush a generous amount of the maple glaze all over the top of the cooled pop tarts.

Enjoy!