Pumpkin Spice Whole Wheat Pop Tarts

I've made pop tarts at home before. I used store made crust and unsweetened jam. As long as I iced it with something, my kids were all over it, and I felt better about it being less processed with fewer questionable ingredients, not to mention the fact that my little guy with the allergies could have them. However, I'm trying to add more whole grain to the mix these days, and with my 5lb bag of whole wheat pastry flour, I decided to try my hand at whole grain pie crust. Right there on the bag of Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour is a recipe for whole wheat pie crust. Only I didn't follow the directions exactly (you know me). I incorporated the chilled butter and ice water into the flour using my food processor, and I chilled it a little longer before rolling it out on my granite counters. I've heard that temperature (i.e. COLD) is as much a secret to good pie crusts as any ingredient. Since I'm not an expert, I'll just take their word for it.

Here's the recipe.

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) organic unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
5-8 Tbsp ice water

Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. (It IS important that you sift the flour.) Cut butter into 12 pieces and rub into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles a course meal with some pea-size pieces. (This is where I used my food processor, and I also cut my butter cubes much smaller, like 1/4 inch cubes). Sprinkle water over the mixture, one tablespoon at a time and knead lightly just until a dough forms. Form dough into a ball. Cut in half and press each into a disc shape. Wrap each disc in waxed paper or plastic wrap (I used wax paper and formed the 'disc' into a square so when I rolled it out for my rectangular shaped pastries, there would be less waste) and refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling. (I chilled them for longer, about 45 minutes to an hour, I can never tell when I'm chasing kids.) Yield: 2-9" single pie crusts or 1-9" double pie crust (or 6 3x5 inch homemade pop tarts). Crust will bake alone with the filling for the pie or pre-bake at 375° F for 25-30 minutes. (We'll get to the oven temp and duration in a minute.)

Note: Now, I know this recipe calls for a lot of butter, but it's kind of a 'choose your poison' kind of thing for me. If you take both the fat AND the sugar out of a pop tart, you are left with cardboard. That's just all there is to it. Besides I agree with Michael Pollan that natural fats are not all bad. Our brains are made up of mostly fat, and our neurons are coated in the stuff. I have super active skinny kids. A little extra butter here and there, is not a problem in my book. Back to the recipe....

Now for the filling. I thought about using my breakfast roll filling which is essentially unsweetened apple butter, but I was feeling a little over all this Summer heat and thought something 'Fallish' would be good. So, I decided to use pumpkin for the filling.

1 15oz can pumpkin (not the pie filling, just the pumpkin)
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger

In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients until well incorporated.

Here's the fun part. Assembling the pop tarts. I took pictures, but it was dark and as awesome as the lighting in my kitchen is, I couldn't get a good shot. So, you're just going to have to use your imagination.

Before you roll out the dough, heat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Generously flour your work surface. I used my granite counter because the stone is nice and cold, but you could use a cutting board or kitchen table. You will need a fairly large area to work, and don't skimp on the dusting flour. You don't want your pastries to stick and fall apart before you can get them in the oven. Roll the 'discs' into large squares about 1/8 to 1/16 inch thick. I have this handy little toaster pastry press from Williams-Sonoma (LOVE that place) that my mother-in-law gave me a while back, and it's just awesome for this. However, I did just fine with a knife and my fingers before. So, you can decide if you want to cut your pastries out first and then press them closed or if you're good at uniformity and proportioning, dollop your filling on one sheet and lay the other one on top before you cut and press. I cut them out first. Scooped a heaping teaspoon of pumpkin filling onto the bottom layer, covered each pastry and then pressed the sides together.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or one of those cool reusable baking liners (I don't have one yet). Lay each pastry on the sheet with a little breathing room. Don't panic if they're a little tight, they shouldn't spread. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown on the edges. Lay out on a wire rack to cool (I don't have one of those either. I just lift them by the aluminum foil and lay them straight on my granite counter). They'll be fine if they cool in the pan on the range.

Now for the icing. I got this off the Bob's Red Mill package, too. It was just easier than pulling out my go-to cream cheese icing recipe and down sizing it for this project. This one seemed small enough to use for this, and I'm actually confused as to how the proportions of this recipe could possibly cover the carrot cake in the recipe right above it....moving on. I did not use Margarine like the recipe called for, yuck! And, I warmed the butter and cream cheese until nearly melted before I added the sugar.

3 Tbsp cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp Margarine, softened (I used organic butter)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 to 1/3 cup powdered sugar (I use Whole Foods brand organic powdered sugar because they don't use corn starch as their anti-caking agent)

Using a wooden spoon (or a whisk like I did), whip the cream cheese, margarine (yuck, I used butter) and vanilla until smooth. Sift in powdered sugar (it IS important that you sift the sugar, especially if you are using a brand that uses a different anti-caking agent, the lumps are hard and plenteous, and they make for a lumpy ugly frosting), 1 Tablespoon at a time, and stir until a creamy smooth frosting is achieved. (Again, I melted the butter and cream cheese to make it more like cookie icing.)

After the pastries have completely cooled, spread the icing over the top. Allow the icing to set. It won't completely harden like if you were using a high sugar icing, but it does firm up after it cools. And, enjoy! I'm telling you these things were so good, I almost didn't want to share them with my kids, and they were the whole reason I was attempting this recipe.

So, there you go. A much healthier, tastier option for that American breakfast staple.

Staring at the Barn Gate

I grew up with animals. Some of my fondest and most vivid childhood memories are of my horses, sheep, dogs, cats, chickens, geese, ducks and whatever poor struggling animal I felt the need to rescue, the uglier and more helpless the better. If it needed me (and even if its need was all in my head), I had to take care of it. I rescued baby birds from my cats and fed them to death. Who knew you aren't supposed to feed them every time they chirp? I rescued other things from my cats, too, things like lizards and frogs. I also thought it would be cool to see if I could get baby frogs by keeping them in a bucket with a little terrarium for them to lay their eggs. Who knew frogs are cannibalistic? I used to come back and wonder how in the world one or more of them got out of my enclosure without any sign of escape, and it took me a very long time to figure out that the fat happy frog that didn't seem to want to escape was eating the others. I learned a lot about animals and how the natural world works in my simple happy childhood. There were plenty of life lessons learned from observing God's amazing creation up close (like how you should leave frog mating up to the Big Guy) and from connecting the dots between scriptural comparisons of sheep and God's people. Sometimes, the comparison was encouraging, other times embarrassing, and I'm finding myself thinking about one of those traits I noticed so long ago.

I'm not exactly sure how sheep are supposed to survive in the wild. I don't know that there are really any 'wild' sheep anywhere. I might have to look that up. Generally though, when you think about sheep you assume there is a shepherd leading and protecting them. So, being good shepherds, during the cold months when nothing much was growing, we kept our sheep close to the barn or enclosure and fed them grain and hay. They would spend their days snuggled up together and enjoying the trough side service. Every Spring, when we would open the gate to let them out to roam and enjoy natures fresh salad bar, it would always take them a little while to get through that gate. They would often stand there and stare at it. I have no idea what or IF sheep think, but I used to imagine their minds wandering. "Can we go? Should we go? Is it safe to leave the trough? What if we can't get back? Is it a trick? Is she going to be waiting on the other side to catch us and shear us, or worse, de-worm us? Is it a mirage?" Now, sometimes all it took was me catching one and leading them out. Sometimes I wanted to just wait and see if they would trust me. Other times I didn't have any patience and I chased them out. (I know children can be cruel.) It happened the same every year. Stare at the gate until one brave sheep broke from the group and ventured through. Then it was all you can eat until Fall settled in again. The reverse would happen as well. Once all the green had faded to brown and the trees were bare, they would still wait by the gate like we were cruel to keep them shut in. It always took them a while to settle back into the changes each season brought.

I've looked forward to all three of my children being in school on two days every week this entire Summer. I have ALL kinds of plans and visions of a spotless house and finally finished projects. So what did I do with my first day of freedom? Besides having Starbucks with a friend and running a few errands, nothing much at all. I spent the rest of the day almost paralyzed with indecision. I just couldn't get anything done. It was like I was staring at that barn gate and the freedom beyond but not quite sure how to get through it. "Can I do this? Should I do this? Is it safe? Will my kids be ok? Is it a trick? Will I start too many things and be in a bigger mess than before? What if it's all an illusion?" Crazy, huh? I'm thinking I will eventually figure it out. Well, when my daughter's immune system gets up and fighting, that is. She's been sick the last two school days. I want so much to get all the tough stuff done on those days when I'm alone. It's crazy how much you can get done when you don't have a three year old under your feet ALL day. My vision is to have all the busy work done those days so that I can actually enjoy the days and evenings when they're home with me again. It's been so long since I've been able to sit back and marvel at the beautiful people they're becoming. My mind is so preoccupied with all I've NOT done or am NOT doing. I'm in constant survival and failure mode lately, and I'm hoping to use this new freedom to accomplish those things so my mind can rest and my hands are free to play. We'll see. Right now, I'm still staring at that barn gate. Maybe the next school day, I'll be ready to feast on all this new season has to offer. Then again, maybe I'll just sleep.