Pop-tarts are pretty easy to make for the young people, and there is no end to the variety of fillings or frostings you might choose to use. This recipe uses a brown sugar and butter and cinnamon filling and a simple vanilla cinnamon frosting on top. I suggest using enough butter in the filling to make it into a very thick paste, for that makes it easy to disperse the filling on a pop-tart bottom without it falling into the edge areas of the dough that will be used to pinch the top and bottom pieces together before baking.

Once you get started making these it is hard to stop. They are quite tasty! And remember to try fruit fillings, like blueberry pie filling.

Dough Ingredients:

2 cups plus 6 tbsp. of flour

2 tbsp. of sugar

1 tsp. of salt

1 1/2 sticks (12 tbsp.) of chilled butter

1/4 cup of chilled vegetable shortening

3 egg yolks

1/4 cup of milk

Filling Ingredients:

1/2 cup of brown sugar

4 tsp. of flour

1 tbsp. of butter, melted

1 tsp. of cinnamon

Egg Wash Ingredients:

1 egg

1 tsp. of water

Frosting Ingredients:

1 cup of powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. of cinnamon

1/4 tsp. of vanilla

5 to 6 tbsp. of heavy cream

Directions:

Line a 12" x 17" baking sheet with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, sugar and salt together into an electric mixer bowl.

Run the mixer on low speed for one minute to blend the dry ingredients.

Cut in the chilled butter in 1/2" cubes into the dry ingredients while mixing on medium speed.

Cut in the chilled vegetable shortening in teaspoon amounts into the dough mixture while mixing on medium speed for about three minutes.

Whisk the egg yolks together with the milk in a small bowl, then add it gradually to the dough mixture and continue mixing until the dough is formed.

Form the dough into a 2" thick rectangle, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for one hour.

While the dough is chilling make the filling.

Mix the 1 tbsp. of melted butter, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, and the flour and cinnamon together in a bowl with a fork to make the filling.

Roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured work surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut dough into 3" x 4" rectangles with a pizza cutter or a pastry knife.

Drop 1 tbsp. of the filling onto half of the rectangles, spreading it around but leaving a 1/2" wide dough border without any filling on it.

Cover the coated rectangles of dough with the remaining dough rectangles.

Press the outside edges of the pop tarts with a fork to seal the dough together for baking.

Take the dough scraps and reroll them to make the rest of the pop-tarts.

If you make pop-tarts with fruit filling remember to poke a few holes in the top of each pop-tart with a toothpick before baking.

Arrange the pop-tarts on the lined baking sheet.

Make the egg wash by whisking the egg and water together in a bowl.

Coat the tops of the pop-tarts with the egg wash using a pastry brush.

Bake them in the preheated oven until they are golden brown, about 25 minutes, rotating the baking sheet after the first 12 minutes of baking to assure evenly baked surfaces.

Cool the pop-tarts on a wire rack, at least 15 minutes.

Combine the frosting ingredients in a bowl and mix them with a soup spoon until you have an even consistency.

Coat the pop-tarts with the frosting using the soup spoon to put frosting on each one, and the back of a teaspoon to spread the frosting over the pop-tart tops.

Let the pop-tarts rest for five to ten minutes to let the frosting set.

Enjoy!