Pop tarts

Paleo, gluten-free, grain-free

Homemade pop tarts? Yes please!  These make for a great treat any time of year but with Easter coming up, these egg shaped treats are just too cute. Plus you can make these with the kiddos over the long weekend and they will absolutely love decorating their own Easter egg pop tarts! 

​I stumbled across this idea in my attempt to perfect a pie dough recipe, which I was originally working on for a chicken pot pie recipe (that will be available to you soon as well). Once I had finally nailed down the recipe I had some extra dough and didn't want it to go to waste, so obviously pop tarts were the first thing I thought of :) 

I had made chia seed jams many times before and decided to whip some up to use that as my filling. I also knew that I could make a simple icing with honey and butter. It's not all the time that a recipe comes together on the first attempt but I must say that these sweet treats were a hit right from the get go! I think after many attempts to get my pie crust just right, the recipe gods gave me a much deserved break. 

These can easily be cut into rectangles like the real deal, but with Easter just around the corner I thought an Easter egg pop tart would be a cute addition to your Easter treats. Plus, with all the chocolate and candies going around at this time of year it's nice to have a cleaner, healthier option, not to mention that homemade is always better in my opinion. 

Ingredients

Crust:

• 2 cups cassava flour
• 1 cup cold butter, cut into 1" pieces
• 2 tbsp arrowroot starch
• 3/4 cup cold water

Filling 

• 2 cups fruit of choice (frozen or fresh)
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tbsp honey

Icing

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla

Method
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Crust
- In a large mixing bowl add the cassava flour and arrowroot starch. Stir together.
- Add in butter and cut into the flour mixture. A pastry cutter works best for this step.
- Add water one tablespoon at a time and continue mixing until the dough forms.
- Cover with a tea towel and refrigerate while you make the filling. 

Filling
- In a medium saucepan heat the fruit and honey over medium high heat, Stirring occasionally until the fruit starts to break down. 
- Mash the fruit with a fork or potato masher until a smooth texture is established. 
- Remove from heat and stir in chia seeds.
- Let sit to thicken, minimum 5 minutes. 

Assembling pop tarts
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Remove dough from fridge and divide mixture in half.
- On a floured surface or between two sheets of parchment paper, roll out the first half of dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into rectangles or use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. 
- Transfer rectangles to a parchment lined baking sheet
- Spoon fruit mixture on top, leaving a 1/4 inch border.
- Roll out the second half of the dough to the same thickness and cut into the same size rectangles or using the same cookie cutter.
- Cover the bottom pieces and seal the edges with a fork. You my need to dip your fork in flour to prevent it sticking to the dough. 
- Bakes for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown on edges Allow to cool completely.

Icing
- Add honey, butter, and vanilla into a medium mixing bowl and beat together using a hand mixer. 
- Beat until fully combined and smooth. 
- Spread evenly over cooled pop tarts. 
- Keep refrigerated. 
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NOTE: I doubled the icing recipe and added 1 tbsp of pureed fruit (blueberries) to the mixture to create the coloured icing. 
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