pumpkin pie pop tarts.

I've been basking in the fall weather; the return of crisp mornings and wool scarves puts me in the mood for afternoon walks, pumpkin beer, pumpkin anything, candy corn, butternut squash, and crafty projects. (I'm working on one now and have the sandpaper scrapes to prove it. You'll see it soon.) So when these Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts came up recently on Joy the Baker, they jumped straight to the top of my to-try list.


The weather also propels me into high stock-up-for-winter mode, which means I've been making my very own applesauce for the first time. I've been making it for years with my mom in the same creaky food mill; after I received one of my very own last year for Christmas, I decided to stock up on my own supply. I used about 9 pounds of apples from my favorite market stand: mostly Cortlands, with a few each of Granny Smith, Gala, Jonahgold, Empire, Mac, Golden Delicious, and Fuji. Quartered, they cook cook down with a bit of water in a big pot, then go through the food mill to remove skins, seeds, and stems, then get flavored with the juice of a lemon, about a tablespoon of sugar, and several generous shakes of cinnamon. And that's it! So delicious-smelling! So addictively satisfying! I've made two batches so far.


But I digress. I decided to break out the pop tarts for a pre-Mad Men-season finale dinner last weekend. J. made pasta all'amatriciana (spicy! yummy!), M. made roasted butternut squash, and Viola guarded the wine.


The pop tarts were quite good and, as a bonus, they travel very well. Joy the Baker's original recipe calls for a maple glaze, but I was afraid of sickening sweetness. (Also not a huge fan of maple-flavored things.) As it turns out, these tarts are quite rich enough on their own. I might serve them with a bit of whipped cream, flavored with almond extract, maybe, or vanilla ice cream for something decadent. I found it a bit fiddly to roll out the dough into rectangles of a certain size, in part because of my lack of patience/counter space; I might use a circular cookie cutter (I know, pop tart sacrilege!) next time to avoid the hassle. I did like the pretty crimped edges I got from using my pastry cutter. Overall, these were rich, autumny, and cute to look at. If I were grading them, they'd receive a distinguished pass in all four categories. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, congratulations. If you do, well, I'm sorry. Make these. They're a good procrastination tool.)



Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts
adapted from Joy the Baker

Crust:
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 egg
1 tbsp. milk
1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)

Filling:
3/4 c. pureed pumpkin
1 egg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. brown sugar (*The original calls for 1/3 c. white sugar.)

Make crust:
1. In food processor, pulse flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Add butter and pulse until mixture is coarsely blended, with no butter larger than a small pea.

2. In small bowl, whisk together egg and milk. Add mixture all at once to flour mixture and pulse until combined and mixture comes together into a ball. (You could also do these two steps with a bowl and your fingers or a pastry cutter.)

3. Lightly flour clean countertop; turn out dough and knead a few times until it comes together. Divide dough in two and wrap each flattened ball in plastic wrap; refrigerate for about 30 mins.

Make filling:
4. In small saucepan, heat pumpkin and spices just until spices are fragrant. (*Really, you could probably omit this step.) Remove from heat and place pumpkin mixture in med. bowl. Whisk in egg, sugar, and salt. Put in fridge while you roll out the dough.

Assemble tarts:
5. On well-floured work surface, pat one ball of dough into 3x5" rectangle, then roll it out to about 1/8" thickness. You should have a rectangle slightly larger than 9x12"; trim edges with a pizza or pastry wheel to 9x12" exactly. Then cut each side into 3 sections, creating 9 rectangles. Place these in the fridge while you roll out the other ball of dough in the same way.

6. Brush one set of 9 rectangles with beaten egg. (This forms a glue for the top layer.) Spoon about 1 tbsp. of filling onto the middle of each rectangle; spread slightly. Top with another dough rectangle and crimp edges closed with a floured fork. Use fork to create vent holes in top of tart.

7. Preheat oven to 350F; let tarts rest in fridge while oven heats. Bake for 25-30 mins., until golden brown on top. Remove tarts from pan and let cool on wire rack. [Glaze optional; recipe here.]