We are back.. Woo hoo!! Did you miss me? cause I missed you guys.
The past two weeks we nutters. We traveled so hard, did and saw so much stuff. We had such a blast. I will tell you all about it with lots of pictures, but give me a few days cause I am still on crazy, sleep deprived, jet lagged brain and am still having a hard time comprehending normal world activity.. I think I am going to need the rest of the week to recover and get my head back into the real world. ( I don't mind living in a fog for a little while, it suits me) And if my writing is a little wonky or maybe doesn't make sense.. again, jet lag brain.
So anyways, lets talk about food. Right before we left we had a sleep over with the littles. I figured I would make them something kind of special for breakfast because I am awesome ans because we weren't going to see them for a while. Pop tarts. Who doesn't like a pop tart? These littles, they love them a pop tart. Not that long ago they went through a phase where all they wanted to eat were pop tarts (I did not support that habit). So that is what I made (a bit more healthy then the store bough ones) and yup, they were amazing (so I was told) and devoured with every sprinkle eaten and fingers licked clean. I mean, peanut butter anything is good, and banana with that is even better. Stick a little chocolate and sprinkles into with that...Everyone can get down with these
The stuff. For the crust we need some flour, a little brown sugar, salt, cold earth balance, some peanut butter, and some ice cold water. For the filling, just some more peanut butter and a couple of ripe bananas. And completely optional( kinda) chocolate spread and sprinkles to top with afterword.
Start with the crust. A big bowl with the flour, salt and brown sugar that all gets whisked together. Then cold peanut butter and earth balance go in.
Just like a normal pie crust, use a a pastry cutter or fork to cut in the fat until a crumbly mixture forms.
Then, a few tablespoons at a time, add in he ice water until the mixture starts to come together into a dough.
Dump it onto a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap and gather it together into a ball. Wrap it really tight and stick the dough in the fridge (for a least an hour, but a few hours or over night would be good)
When the dough has chilled and you are ready to proceed, grab the dough and roll it out onto a lightly floured surface. You want to try and keep it a kind of a rectangular shape and rolled about 1/2 an inch thick.
Trim the edges (bake off scraps for a little extra treat) and cut the dough in half length wise then in 6 equal sizes width wise.(you should wind up with 12 pieces)
Take one side of each pair and place on a a baking sheet. Smear each piece with a good glob of peanut butter but leaving a little boarder.
Then slice up the bananas and layer those on of of the peanut butter.
Place the tops onto the bottoms (gently) and with a fork, crimp the edges of the tarts closed. Then take the fork and poke a few holes into the tops.
Now into the oven they go.
After about 25 minutes or so, you end up with the most magical smelling, golden brown pop tart.
And because it's a pop tart, you must drizzle on a little some thing something (nutella or chocolate spread of any kind) and sprinkles. Do not forget the sprinkles.
Ready for eating.. Peanut Butter banana greatness. Best served a little warm and with some type of cold milk (plant, nut, or cow) and eaten in front of tv watching cartoons.
These will ruin store bough pop tarts for you. Sorry (not sorry)
Have a great day guys.. Really am happy to be back!
-C
Peanut Butter Banana Pop tarts
The Crust
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup earth balance
- 1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 7-8 tablespoons cold water
The filling
- 2 ripe bananas thinly sliced
- 6-8 tablespoon peanut butter
Optional toppings
- chocolate spread or Nutella
- sprinkles
Start by making the crust. Grab a big bowl, add in the flour, salt, and brown sugar ans whisk together. Then add in cold earth balance and if you think of it, cold peanut butter. Cut that into the flour with a pastry cutter or a fork and when the mixture is kinda crumbly start adding in tablespoons of ice water until the mixture starts to come together then dump the dough onto a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap, press together, wrap it all up, and stick it into the fridge. Let chill for at least ans hour or up to over night.
When you are ready for pop tarts, preheat oven to 375 and grab dough from fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface, into a large, 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Trim the sides of the rectangle and cut in half length wise. Then cut that into 6 even pieces width wise, giving you 12 pieces.
Place the 6 bottom pieces of the dough onto a baking sheet. Smear each piece with about a tablespoon of peanut butter and then top with a few pieces if thinly sliced banana. Place the top pieces on each bottom and using a fork, press the edges of the dough together. Then take fork and pop a few holes into the top to let the steam escape.
Place into the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the tarts are nice and golden brown. Remove from oven, drizzle with nutella or chocolate and cover with sprinkles.
Eat right away with a tall glass of some kind of milk
Any left over (if that happens) can be stored in the fridge for a day or two or frozen to be enjoyed whenever the craving hits you.