Monthly Archive for May, 2010

Or this post could also be titled “Pop Tarts:  So Easy To Make A 5 Year Old Could Do It”.

We were watching a cartoon on some channel, not one that we normally watch, and there were commercials, and one came on for Pop Tarts.  I remember eating Pop Tarts.  We’d occasionally have them in the house growing up, but it wasn’t a normal breakfast for us.  It was a treat.   I know in some cultures or houses, cake or pastry for breakfast is the norm, but not at our house.  That being said, there is nothing more wonderful than the occasional delicious treat.

However, I never thought Pop Tarts were delicious.  I thought they tasted like sugar coated card board.  And, have you read the label?  Totally too many ingredients that I can’t pronounce, or have to look up to figure out what it is.  So here I have to follow some of Michael Pollan’s Food Rules like:

#39 Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.

Amen to that.  Have you made your own junk food?  WAY better than the commercial stuff. And I think you burn all the calories while making it and cleaning up afterwords.

#11 Avoid foods you see advertised on television.

This I learned from my mother, ANYTHING advertised on TV is off limits.  (except the stuff I do for my job, it’s on TV, and well, I’d buy it).

So, literally, I’ve been thinking about it this week.  Totally, sort of obsessing over it, thinking about these big convenience food makers and their role in our lives.  (Ok, that’s for another post, later).  Anyway, catching up on my food blogs, I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen, and well the rest is history.  We made them right away.

We rolled the dough into rectangles.  Don’t you love my perfect rectangle?  Isn’t it AWESOME.  Tip #1, I used my large rectangle cutting board as a template.  I felt so clever.

We made smaller treats (portion control is important, you don’t need big ones to enjoy them and they are treats), and cut the rectangles down to 12 pieces.  I think next time I would cut them into 16 pieces, even the 12 pieces were too big at around 3×4″.

We brushed our squares with egg, then poured our cinnamon filling on top.  There are more ideas at Smitten Kitchen, but I really liked the nutella suggestion.  For Izzy, since she’s not so into sweets, I need to come up with some savory ideas.

We cut up the 2nd rectangle and put them ontop of the first rectangle and pressed down the edges to make little pillows.

Using forks, we sealed the edges.

Izzy added her designs to each one.

I cooked 4 of them, and put the rest in the freezer.

Sorry, when they came out of the oven, they were gone right away, no photo of the finished product.  Next time.

This was so easy peasy.  Seriously an awesome project.  SO EASY A 5 YO COULD MAKE THEM!!  We now have a bunch in the freezer for treats and I think if I can find a savory filling, these would be an even bigger success at our house.

Recipe at Smitten Kitchen, Enjoy!