Strawerry Pop-Tarts

-yes, i made these and yes they are just a good as they look-

ahhh pop-tarts. who can deny themselves of a fresh out of the wrapper treat like this? i dare so no-one. no matter how food snobby i become i will always have a soft spot in my heart for a Kellogg's unfrosted strawberry pop-tart - ugh its terrible, vending machines across the city taunt me so. but alas i am actually a grown-up and i don't allow myself the constant indulgence of these strangely made "pastries". so when i finally accomplished strawberry jam, well the logical next step is of-course to make some homemade pop-tarts. oh yeah, that's what i said: homemade pop-tarts.

these. are. awesome. you won't be fooling anyone into believing these little guys are kellogg's concoctions (but really, why the heck would you try and replicate that faux pastry-ness? gross - just take a walk to the vending machine or a really big one, like wal-mart) they are more like strudels - remember those frozen treats? the exact line from Pilsbury is, get this: "start your day with a convenient, bakery-fresh treat". ha! since when was the toaster / microwave a baker?and better yet is the "do it yourself icing", people let me be clear on this: squeezing a plastic bag of liquid sugar onto a reheated frozen treat is not do-it-yourself. but i admit many a high school breakfasts consisted of those oddly gooey sugar pops and not just one i would eat like 4, wow. mmm healthy way to start your day, no wonder i still don't know how to write very well.

so back to me. i used my standard pie crust, filled it with the wonderfully perfect strawberry jam from easter and whipped together a stiff royal icing. that was that - nothing difficult and actually a do-it-yourself treat. we munched down on these guys as an after dinner treat; which is what the they are America - dessert not breakfast.

STRAWBERRY POP-TARTS

1/2 recipe pie crust - find mine here

1-2 tbs strawberry jam (or whatever you please)

1 egg lightly beaten

*preheat oven to 400F, line baking sheet with parchment

*after refrigerating the pie dough roll out to a 1/8" thick rectangle, cut the odd edges off as needed

*evenly cut out 5" - 6" squares from the rolled out dough

*place 1 heaping tsp of jam on the centers of half of the squares

*brush the edges of the squares with the beaten egg, place a dough square on top and pinch with fork thongs to seal.

*place the filled pastries on the prepared sheet and brush with egg wash

*bake for 16-19 minutes until golden, not too browned though

*let cool completely before icing (recipe below)

ICING

*1/2c - 3/4c powdered sugar

*2-3 tsp milk (more if needed)

*few drops of vanilla

*whisk together the ingredients adding more sugar or milk as needed to get a thick icing.

*drizzle the icing over your cooled pastries and enjoy

Cornmeal Jam Muffins

-cormeal jam muffins that kinda resemble a rooster-

I've been promising josh, for about a year, that i would make some breakfast corn muffins. cornbread is much adored around this apartment so i'm not really sure why these haven't come into existence until yesterday morning. so thank god i woke myself up, against my will, at 6 am yesterday morning. i had an extra hour to kill before heading to work, where i would spend my day wondering why i was so tired, and remembering the fancy jellies i scored from the fancy breakfast platter someone (not me) had donated to the community office kitchen after their fancy meeting. don't worry i don't get invited to the fancy meetings, i just do the work for them and then scavenger the left overs after the fact. ahhh the joys.

so anyways i remembered all that and got to work with hep from my trusty culinary friend - ina garten. i only made a small change, substituting half of the sugar with brown sugar. i think it makes a difference - but try it yourself. the jam i used was actually a mix of raspberry, grape and apricot - hence the "sample" sizes i swiped. non-the less these are delish and as far as i'm concerned you can use whatever jam you have on hand, they all kinda taste the same after a while anyways - right?

CORNMEAL JAM MUFFINS

via Ina Garten

1 1/2c AP flour

1/4c granulated sugar

1/4c light brown sugar (lightly packed)

1/2c yellow cornmeal

1 tbs baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

3/4c whole milk

4 oz butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg

6 tbs jam (of your choosing)

*preheat oven to 350F, line muffin tin

*sift together flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar

*in a separate bowl combine the milk, butter and egg

*quickly stir in the milk mixture into the flour mixture - do not over mix

*pour into lined muffins tins (about 10-11)

*cook for 20 minutes, or until toothpick is clean

*once the muffins have cooled, fill a pastry bag with fitted with a round tip and squeeze in the jam into middle of the muffins.

Linzer Poker Cookies

a good friend of mine, alexis, loves linzer cookies. really, he is the only person i know who actually gets excited about these little guys. usually offered as a complementary mini desert at fancy lunch cafes, these cookies don't get enough face time - other than at christmas and with old ladies. but alexis has shown me the way, not consciously, but nonetheless his excitement put them back on my radar. i love it; a grown man who is very, very choosey about just about everything - but especially food - reenacts the same scene every time they are presented. "ooh! i love these!" then he would proceed to finger dive toward the cookies, bring back one between his pointer finger and thumb. bite by bite the cookie would evaporate and never left a distance greater than 6" from his face. mind you, alexis is much to classy to let the conversation go astray during this whole process, so my observations were always done under the radar. but i noticed it and was always taken back by it. i mean, wouldn't you rather a dark chocolate truffle or something?

but i get it now! i realize where my misunderstanding was: i was shortchanging this cookie by assuming it was just a pair of sugar cookies housing some sticky-sweet jam. yeah, no. linzer cookies are more a pastry dough than a cookie dough. it's divinely simple; no chemicals, no eggs and no added flavorings. just the basics and some technique - well, and some jam. cinnamon is the secret weapon here; it brings just enough complexity to keep you interested. the cookies themselves are slightly flakey and melt once in your mouth - similar to a tart shell - while the jam gives that quick punch of bright fruit flavor everyone loves.

it's coming back around for poker night tomorrow, so i decided to get festive this time around - hence the funny cut outs.

LINZER COOKIES

5oz butter, soft

1/3c sugar

1 1/4c flour

1/4c almond flour

pinch salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

*cream butter and sugar together

*in a separate bowl sift together the flours, salt and cinnamon

*gradually mix in the dry ingredients into the creamed butter

*separate the dough in two

*sandwich each piece between two sheets of wax paper and roll out to 1/8" thick

*lay flat and chill for at least an hour or until very firm

*preheat oven to 350 F

*cut 1 1/2" rounds with a biscuit cutter, cut out the centers of half

*bake for 10-15 minutes

*let cool completely before sprinkling the cut out cookies with powdered sugar then spreading your jam of choice - i used strawberry - onto one side of solid round.

* you know what to do next!