A special recipe celebrating a childhood favorite!

There are those foods from your childhood that really take you back to Saturday morning cartoons and a much simpler time. One of my favorites is those lovely toaster pastries! These pastries have been a weakness of mine since I could remember, and every once in a while I still enjoy a “tart” or two.

Recently I searched out to find a way to enjoy these lovely toaster pastries without all the extra preservatives. Surprisingly to make your own toaster pastries is pretty easy, and fun too! Basically, for this recipe, all you need is pie crust dough, your favorite filling, 1 egg, and some powdered sugar to make your “frosting”.

Preparing the Pastries

To get started you will need to roll out your pie crust dough to about 1/8″. For this recipe, I’m using a simple food processor pie crust dough recipe. You can use your favorite homemade pie crust dough or even purchase store-bought dough in a pinch. Make sure whichever method you choose, you use a recipe that will make two “pie crusts”. Most store-bought pie crust dough does come with two rolls of pie crust dough.

After you roll out your pie crust dough, you want to cut 8 rectangles. I’m using a 3″x5″ index card to measure, and to cut easily a pizza cutter works wonderfully!

Place your first 8 rectangles onto a cooking sheet with a silicone mat, or piece of parchment paper. This helps to keep your toaster pastries from sticking.

Using one large egg whisked with one tablespoon of water, brush your rectangles, covering the entire piece. This will help to seal your toaster pastry and keep your filling in place.

Fill Them Up!

The filling we absolutely love is Maple Brown Sugar! To make this filling combine 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon maple sugar, and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour. You can experiment with the filling, adjusting to your liking. You can even use jam as your filling as well.

Gently pile up your filling in the middle of your toaster pastry leaving about 1/4″-1/2″ border around your rectangle.

Now, using the rest of your pie crust dough, cut another batch of 8 rectangles to put on the top of your toaster pastries. Gently place your dough pieces on top of each of the prepared toaster pastry bottoms. Use a fork to crimp the edges of the toaster pastry. Be sure to use a fork and poke a few holes in the top of your pastries to allow steam to escape. Before baking your toaster pastries, pop them into the fridge for about 15 minutes to allow the dough to firm up a bit.

Time For Baking (and Frosting!)

After the 15 minute rest, it is time to bake your toaster pastries for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees F. If you would like your toaster pastries to have a glossy top, feel free to use some of your leftover egg wash to brush over the pastries.

After your pastries are baked, allow them to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Now is the time for frosting your pastries! The frosting we use includes 3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar, 1 tablespoon water (or milk), 1/2 teaspoon maple sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla. Using a spatula or spoon frost your pastries. This frosting does harden up pretty quickly, within 15-20 minutes. To re-warm your pastries use your microwave for a few seconds, or in your oven for 5-10 minutes at 200 degrees F. We did use homemade frosting on these, I wouldn’t try to warm these in your actual toaster!

Get yourself a big glass of milk, turn on your favorite cartoon, and grab your favorite homemade pastry! Enjoy your moment to yourself remembering the old times!

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