NOTE: It’s best to make the pie dough and jam the day before you plan to bake your pop tarts.
All-Butter Pie Dough:
- Start by preparing the pie dough. Mix vinegar and water together, then add a few ice cubes. Store in fridge until ready to use.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.
- Add cold, cubed butter, tossing around gently to coat. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until the pieces of butter are roughly pea sized. (You’ll want to have some that are a little bigger and some that are a little smaller to maximize the delicious flakiness!)
- Add ice cold water one tablespoon at a time, quickly mixing together with your hands. Continue adding water one tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together. The goal is for the dough to hold together when squeezed into a ball, but with a few dry bits still left in the bowl.
NOTE: Do NOT add all of the water at once. You don’t want the dough to get so wet that it becomes sticky. You should only be adding 4–6 tablespoons of water total.
- Divide dough in half. Wrap each half (about 200g) in cling film, then press into a patty shape. Place wrapped dough in fridge overnight. (You could refrigerate for only two hours if you’re in a hurry, but overnight is recommended.)
Strawberry Sumac Jam:
- Now let’s jam! Wash and gently dry strawberries. Hull ‘em and cut ‘em into quarters.
- Place cut strawberries into a large pot made of nonreactive material, such as a Dutch oven. Sprinkle sugar on top. Squeeze in juice from half a lemon. Cut lemon half in half and add to strawberry mixture.
- Stir well, then cover and allow strawberry mixture to sit at room temperature for 2 hours. Stir 2–3 times while berries macerate.
- When you’re ready to cook your jam, place a small plate in the freezer.
- Add sumac and salt to strawberry mixture, then place pot over medium-high heat. Stirring regularly, cook mixture until strawberries soften and juices thicken, 10–15 minutes.
- If you think your jam is ready, turn off the heat and grab plate from the freezer. Plop a spoonful of jam onto the plate and return it to the freezer. Retrieve after a few minutes. If jam wrinkles when you poke it, it’s ready. If not, put pot back on the heat to cook for a few minutes more. Repeat test until consistency is correct.
- When jam is cooked, remove lemon pieces. Pour into a jar and allow to cool to room temperature before storing in fridge overnight.
- Now go enjoy the rest of your day, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.
Assembly & Baking:
- Hi again! Let’s start rolling! Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Also, reserve one tablespoon of strawberry sumac jam for the glaze.
- Flour your work surface and rolling pin. Retrieve one dough patty from fridge, place on your well-floured surface, and sprinkle top with a little bit of flour.
- Begin gently rolling out the dough into roughly a 9" x 12" rectangle, making sure to pick up and rotate the dough every few rolls.
- Using a bench scraper, pizza cutter, or knife, cut dough into 3" x 3" squares. Reroll scraps as necessary so that you get 12 rectangles.
NOTE: Dough must be cold for cutting, otherwise you risk tearing it. Refrigerate after rolling and before cutting, if necessary.
- Evenly space squares on half of prepared baking sheet, then put in fridge. Retrieve second dough patty and repeat steps to make 12 more squares. Place additional 12 squares on other half of refrigerated baking sheet. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Retrieve baking sheet from fridge. Place 12 squares on clean work surface and, using a fork, poke holes in them. (These are your tops.)
- Rearrange other 12 chill dough squares so that they are evenly spaced on baking sheet. Brush these 12 with egg wash. Put 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons of jam in the centre of each, leaving about ½" around the edges.
- Brush egg wash on other squares, then place—egg wash side down—on top of filling-topped squares.
- Gently press edges together to seal, then crimp edges with a fork.
- Put baking sheet in fridge for at least 30 minutes. Heat oven to 375°F.
- After chilling and resting your dough, brush tops with remaining egg wash.
- Bake for 20–25 minutes, rotating your baking sheet halfway through. Pop tarts will be golden brown.
- Allow pop tarts to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.
Glazing & Decorating:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together egg white, jam, vanilla, cornstarch, and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Drizzle or spoon glaze over the cooled pop tarts. Sprinkle some sumac on top.
- Eat pop tarts right away (if you must!) or allow the glaze to harden for one hour.