every sunday morning my husband and i get up and go to the farmer’s market here in brooklyn. this has become a fairly regular ritual for us over the last nearly two years since we moved to this neighborhood. around the corner from where our market is in carroll gardens is a little coffee/pastry shop that i first saw on yelp when we moved to the surrounding neighborhood (i’m sorry to admit how much i depend on yelp, especially in cities other than my own!). we have since made it part of our sunday morning routine to grab a nice hot coffee from them in these cold winter months. they serve counter culture which is a great roaster out of durham, nc, not too far from where my husband grew up. also at smith canteen one can find some super yummy treats such as ginger glazed rhubarb pop tarts in the summer months, and pumpkin pop tarts in the colder months. these delicious pastries seem to constantly be screaming my name, once in awhile frank will indulge and i will have a bite or two.
this brings me to the past few weeks where i've been anticipating the upcoming holidays and trying to develop a cookie dough resembling the cookies i grew up eating around this time. through that, i ended up coming out with not only a cookie dough, but with a few tweaks, an all-purpose pastry dough that is fitting for all sorts of baked goods. the experimentation process got a little heavy one afternoon and i ended up making everything from thumbprint cookies, to hand pies, to linzer tart cookies, to rugelach- type looking cookies. needless to say it was an exciting day! after the excitement was completed i got to thinking what i really wanted to make with this dough. then i thought of those delicious, flaky pop tarts at smith canteen that i always want more than a bite of. so keeping with the seasonal pop tart theme i decided to go with what my farmers’ market has, fresh cranberries! i mixed them up with some sweet citrus and sugar, cooked them down until they burst a bit, and filled these little pastries up! ‘tis the season, xo.
cranberry + orange zest pop tarts w/ ginger glaze | gluten free + dairy free
| makes 8 pop tarts |
cranberry filling adapted from Bon Appetit
ingredients
1 ½ cups almond flour
1 cup oat flour
½ cup arrowroot powder
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
¼ cup coconut oil, solid and cold
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons coconut palm sugar
2 organic free range eggs
6 ounces fresh (or frozen) cranberries (about ¾ cup)
⅓ cup coconut palm sugar
½ teaspoon orange zest
1 ½ tablespoons fresh orange juice
½ teaspoon arrowroot powder
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup powdered sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon almond milk
equipment
2 large pieces of parchment
mini food processor
rolling pin
make the dough
in a medium sized bowl, whisk almond flour, oat flour, arrowroot, baking powder and salt together until mixed, set aside. in a small bowl, combine the eggs with the coconut palm sugar until sugar is disolved. transfer egg mixture to a small food processor and add the cold coconut oil, pulse until combined - about 20 seconds. mix the wet ingredients into the dry, working the dough until incorporated. form dough into a ball and cut in half, wrap each piece in parchment, refrigerate for 20 minutes - the dough can be made ahead and left in the refrigerator for up to one day
make the cranberry filling
in a saucepan combine the cranberries with the sugar, orange zest, juice, arrowroot powder and vanilla extract, stir to combine. set the saucepan over medium-low heat, bring mixture to a simmer. let it cook, about 10 minutes, until many of the cranberries have burst, and the liquid has thickened. set aside and allow to cool completely
assemble the tarts
preheat oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
take one piece of the dough from the refrigerator and place between the 2 large pieces of parchment paper. with the rolling pin, roll out dough into an 8” x 10” rectangle, about 1/8" thick. use a pastry cutter and slice 8 (2” x 5”) rectangles (you can make these larger or smaller depending on what you prefer, these are loose guidelines). repeat with remaining dough. this dough liked to stay chilled, if it sits too long at room temperature you may have a bit of difficulty getting it to do what you want. i popped my dough back in the refrigerator if it sat out too long
spoon out filling onto 4 of the pieces, take the top piece and place over the filling. press the edges lightly with your fingers, then use the tip of a fork to seal the dough together. gently transfer tarts to parchment lined baking sheet (what i find super helpful is to slip your hand underneath the parchment and gently lift while still supporting from the bottom). repeat with other half of dough. bake for 15 - 18 minutes, rotating halfway through, until edges are lightly browned. let cool
in a small mixing bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, ginger and almond milk together until the sugar and ginger is dissolved. place in refrigerator until ready to use
once the pop tarts have cooled remove the glaze from refrigerator. with a pastry brush or spoon, distribute glaze evenly over the tops of the pastry. allow to set or inhale immediately!
