Homemade Cherry Pop Tarts

Preparation

Combine frozen cherries, sugar, lemon juice and zest in a medium saucepan. Lower the heat to medium-high and cook the cherries for about 30-35 minutes. There should be juice, that’s what you want. Be careful not to overcook because the jam goes from amazing to burnt in hell very quickly! I timed my cherries at exactly 35 minutes.

Put the cherries in a blender or food processor and blend several times. You want the jam to be thick but not pureed. Pour the jam into a bowl and let cool for about 1-2 hours.

Place each pie crust ingredient in a food processor and process until the dough forms a ball. You can also do this with a cookie cutter. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Once the dough has cooled and the jam has cooled, turn the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Dust the work surface with a little flour and roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Try as best you can to roll into a square or rectangular shape. Take a ruler and a pizza cutter to cut out 2 x 3 rectangles. Discard the excess dough.

You should get between 16 and 20 rectangles. On a cookie sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper, place half of the rectangles 1 inch apart.

Prepare the egg wash by mixing the egg with water. Whisk well. Brush egg wash all the way around the pastry. Fill each center with 1 tablespoon of cherry jam. Spoon the jam around the dough ½ inch from the edge. Place the top half on each pastry, and pinch the sides with a fork. Do this for each pastry.

Bake for 12 minutes, turn, then another 12 minutes. Cool for 1 hour.

To make the frosting, mix the sifted powdered sugar with the corn syrup and milk. Pour over each pastry. If you want to make the heart, add red food coloring to your remaining frosting and pipe over the heart. Otherwise, you can just garnish with a few sprinkles! Enjoy!