Fegan Baking

vegan homemade “pop-tarts” with fresh cherry filling

so i am completely obsessed with twin peaks. and if there’s one thing i love about twin peaks, it’s special agent dale cooper. i think i am in love with him. he is so dreamy. and if there’s one thing agent cooper loves, it’s cherry pie

thus, i’ve made it my mission to make a vegan-friendly dessert my boy coop would exclaim “damn fine” about! not quite cherry pie, but… CHERRY POP-TARTS!! i’ve made homemade “pop-tarts” a handful of times, and they’re always yummy and a big hit with my friends

VEGAN HOMEMADE “POP-TARTS”

4 c. flour
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 c. vegetable shortening
1/2 c. applesauce
4 tbsp. almond milk
bonus applesauce
whatever filling you want to add

mix the flour, sugar and salt. work the shortening in with your fingers until the mixture holds together well. whisk 1/4 c. applesauce and milk together and stir them into the dough, continuing to mix with your fingers just until everything is cohesive

divide the dough in half. roll it out and cut into rectangles about 3x5 inches. this recipe yielded about 22 rectangles total. lay half of these out and spread with a thin layer of applesauce. this is the inside of the pop-tart. spread filling out on these halves.

for these cherry pop-tarts, i used about a pound of fresh cherries! so yummy. my friends helped me pit them, and then i used a potato masher to mash them up with about 3/4 c. of brown sugar

place a second rectangle of dough on top of each of these first halves, firmly pressing down around the edges to seal the filling into the pastry. press edges with a fork to get a cute design around the edges. gently place the pop-tarts on a baking sheet line with parchment paper. refrigerate them for 30 minutes while the oven preheats to 350*.

PROTIP if you have formed as many pop-tarts as possible and you still have dough left over, it is super delish to sprinkle cinnamon sugar all over the remaining dough pieces and bake these for about 15 minutes. waste not want not, right?!

bake the tarts for about 20 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. and voila! agent cooper is going to fall in love with me at any moment now