These S’mores Pop Tarts are flaky pastries filled with chocolate ganache and topped with a marshmallow-like meringue.
The pastry dough is a buttery pie crust. To make this extra flaky, work with cold butter and leave chunks of butter in the dough. When you roll out the dough, you will stretch the butter and the dough will have that layered effect.
On a side note, I was originally planning on submitting this for the Ghiradelli annual s’mores contest, but I’m too late (I think the contest ended Labor Day). I guess I’ll be brainstorming creative ideas for next summer’s contest — at this point I feel like every dessert has been s’mores-ified, so if anyone has ideas I’m all ears! In the meantime, you can check out the finalists and cast your vote!
S’mores Pop-Tarts
2019-09-08 12:12:16
Dough
- 2 cups flour
- 14 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup ice cold water
Filling
- 1/3 cup chocolate
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp butter, diced, room temperature
Egg Wash
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tbsp milk
Marshmallow Fluff
- 2 egg whites
- 2/3 cup sugar
Instructions
- 1. For the crust: In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the flour, butter, sugar and salt on low speed (alternatively, you can mix in a bowl using a pastry cutter). Mix until the biggest butter chunks are pea-sized. Add the cold water and vinegar, one spoonful at a time. If the dough is not coming together, add a little bit more water. Don’t over-mix. Chunks of butter will create a flakey crust, which is exactly what you want. Once dough comes together, shape into a ball and wrap in saran-wrap.* Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- 2. For the filling: Melt the heavy cream and chocolate together in a small heat-proof bowl. You can either use a double boiler, or simply melt in the microwave. If you choose to microwave, check on the bowl every 10 seconds, mixing with a spoon. Stop microwaving once you have a smooth mixture. Once the mixture is smooth, add the butter. Let sit for a minute or so, then mix with a spoon until smooth again.
- 3. For the egg wash: Combine the two yolks and 2 tablespoons of milk together in a small dish. Save the egg whites for your marshmallow fluff!
- 4. Assemble: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the dough until it’s roughly the thickness of two quarters stacked on top of each other (3-4mm thick). Cut out rectangles that are 3 inches by 4 inches (using a ruler is optional — just make sure your rectangles are roughly even). You should have about 18-20 rectangles to make 9-10 pastries.
- 5. Using a pastry brush (or maybe just a spoon if you don’t have a brush), line the edges of half of your rectangles of dough with the egg wash. You are working with the bottom halves of the pop tarts. Next, scoop a heaping spoonful of the filling onto these bottom halves of dough.
- 6. With a fork, poke holes into the top halves of the pop tarts — these are your remaining 10 rectangles of dough that you haven’t put filling on. Place these rectangles of dough on top of the chocolate-filled pieces of dough, and seal shut on the edges. To seal, crimp with a fork. Press the fork into the dough to seal in the chocolate. Don’t press so hard that the dough breaks.
- 7. Finally, brush more egg wash on top of each pop tart. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- 8. For the marshmallow fluff: Mix the egg whites and sugar together in a small, heat-proof bowl. Place the bowl over top a small pot of boiling water, on the stove (or use a double boiler). Heat to 160ºF, or until the sugar has melted and there are no more sugar granules.
- 9. Remove the bowl from heat and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Using a mixer, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Spread a large dollop of this fluff on top of each pop tart.
- 10. Toasting: There are two options for toasting the meringue. You can heat the oven to 475ºF and place all the pop tarts on the top oven rack for an even toasting. Alternatively, you can use a kitchen torch and toast each individually. This will take a little longer, but gives you more control and allows you to add more texture to each treat.
- 11. Pop tarts will keep for 2-3 days stored at room temperature.
Notes
- *If you are low on counter space, wrap into two balls of dough so that you can work in batches.
Jackie's Delectable Delights https://jackiesdelights.net/
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