COOKIES AND CREAM CHOCOLATE POP-TARTS

 You know those childhood cartoons where the characters have a goody-goody angel voice and the naughty, not-so-angelic, one fighting on their shoulders? 

 What, didn’t you ever watch Tom and Jerry growing up? Well, I’d love to tell you that my metaphorical inner angel voice won out this time guys, but………then there were these pop-tarts and um……………yeah. 

 In brainstorming over this idea I’d considered just making my pop-tarts inspired by milk’s favorite cookies, but I kind of didn’t want to just stop there. I also felt like there should be some actual sandwich cookies going into these at the same time. So basically, these are an oreo version of a pop-tart since you’ve got the dark chocolate cookie, or in this case pastry, and the white vanilla cream going on in a perfect ratio. Then, THEN, you add an unapologetic amount of actual cookie crumbs to the filling AND a sprinkle on the top just for good measure. 

 I was trying to rationalize how to explain why you’d want to make a pop-tart that is already pretty much an oreo on its own and then still add store-bought ones to it. All I can come up with though is, why wouldn’t you want this insane amount of cookie-ness??? My logic is undeniable right?

 In other recent news, you know because there is more to my life than pop-tarts (most of the time), this had been a pretty quiet week on my homefront but I did get the chance to share in a project for some friends of ours. They needed a new fence to keep their dogs in so we were able to go out and help them put one up. I honestly really enjoy getting my hands dirty when it’s for a good cause and it’s always more rewarding than I even expect it to be. 

 I’ve also been really trying to improve my Spanish because the truth is that I’m a major loserhead and I am way behind where I should be after living this long in a Spanish-speaking culture. What can I say, I’m spoiled because we now have a network of friends that all speak English so, in a way, I’ve been living in this growing English bubble in the middle of a Spanish pond. Plus, most people here speak a fair amount of English and are usually more than happy to practice on us. These may be poor excuses for my lack of  linguistic fluency but there they are. I clearly need a motivational kick in the butt. 

 All right, but back to the pop-tarts that you HAVE to make. Really, they were such a hit. My mom said that I somehow managed to make store-bought sandwich cookies taste better just by being with these pop-tarts and of course the boys didn’t say much of anything because they couldn’t speak around their mouths full of cookies and crea goodness. 

 Cookies and Cream Chocolate Pop-Tarts

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Yield: about 22 pop-tarts

IngredientsPastry Dough:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 6 tablespoons lard, coconut oil, or vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold butter, cubed
• 1/2 - 2/3 cup ice cold water

Filling:

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/3 cups broken/chopped sandwich cookies (i.e. jojos or oreos)

Icing:

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup more cookie pieces

InstructionsPastry Dough:

1. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, and salt in the bowl of food processor and pulse. Add butter and lard and pulse a few times more until crumbly. Add water and process until the dough comes together, adding a tiny bit more water if necessary until it pulls away from the sides of bowl..
2. Filling:
3. Stir butter and milk together in the bowl of stand mixer or a medium mixing bowl until smooth. Add salt, vanilla, and cornstarch and stir to combine. Mix in powdered sugar a cup at a time until combined then beat until fluffy. Add cookie pieced and beat just long enough to mix them into filling.

Assemble:

1. Roll pastry dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle roughly 1/8 inch thick. Cut into smaller rectangles, about 2 1/2 x 5 inch pieces.
2. Spoon about 1 heaping tablespoon of filling onto the centers of half of the rectangles you've cut and spread to within 1/2 inch from edges, then rub edges with water. Place the other half of the pieces on top of fillings and use a fork or your fingers to crimp the ends together to seal well. Place on a parchment lined baking tray about 1/4 inch apart and place tray in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C). When oven is ready, remove trays from fridge and bake for 10 - 12 minutes until the edges are starting to darken and crisp. Remove tray from oven and cool tarts completely before adding icing.

Icing:

1. Whisk the ingredients for the icing in a small bowl until smooth and use a spoon or knife to spread on cooled tarts. Sprinkle with cookie pieces and allow to dry (for at least 30 minutes) before serving.

Many more recipes and photos available at GRINGALICIOUS.COM

 

WHO AM I?

Hi, I’m Tori and this is my little speck of the internet where I share my recipes, photography skills-in-progress, random thoughts, and occasional posts about my life.

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

I grew up in a small town near Nashville Tennessee raised around a large number of extended family and church friends. When I was 15 my family sold most of our belongings and moved to northern Idaho where we started a small dairy farm and learned to live like eskimos in the crazy winter snow. Guess what, I can now add milks a mean dairy goat to any future resume! Then when I was 17 my family switched to mobile version, as in we sold everything minus what we could carry, and moved to southern Chile.

WHY DID YOU START THIS BLOG?

I was raised around cooking and great food so I’ve always had a passion for being in the kitchen, but moving to a place with such a different culture and style of eating bumped things from passion to necessity. Of course, as you can see from this blog, that doesn’t mean I don’t like to have fun with food too. When I started spending so much of my time cooking and baking anyway it only made sense to jump into blogging and mix my love of creativity with food. What started out as a way to share recipes with friends and family has turned into a place that inspires me and I hope will inspire you also.

WHAT’S WITH THE NAME GRINGALICIOUS AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY “CHANGE”?

We tend to stand out already because we’re from the US  but when I came up with the name for this blog we were living in a very very small town where we stood out extra because everyone knew everyone else and their cat’s names. Yes, we are considered gringos here but in Chile that is closer to a compliment than an insult. I like to compare the feeling to being somewhere between an alien and a movie star.As for the change, well, the last few years of my life have been defined by lots of changes and moves. In fact, I’ve lived in  5 different homes already since starting this blog a year ago. We do our best to follow what we feel God calls us to do and for now that means learning to roll our r’s.

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?

I believe in being honest,  loving unconditionally, laughing uncontrollably (sometimes for no reason at all), singing in the shower, eating chocolate daily, living everyday as if it’s the last, and following my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM THIS BLOG?

Here on the blog you’ll find a mix of things I’ve made to please the tastes of my family, things I’ve made for fun, copycats of favorite junk foods, and healthy things for the days I feel guilty for all the over the top sugar coma recipes. I try to stick to a regular posting schedule but that doesn’t always happen with things like volcanic eruptions and just life getting in the way. However, I do my best to keep sharing recipes and improving my photography skills as much as I can.

PLACES YOU MAY FIND ME……

Well, the kitchen obviously, or standing on various things to get a good overhead shot of  a bowl of soup. Oh, and you can also see my galleries on Foodgawker, Tasteologie, Tastespotting, Healthy Aperture, WholeYum, and Finding Vegan. I’m not a huge fan of social media but I’m on Facebook , Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and Pinterest too.

CAN I BORROW A PHOTO?

I try to be pretty open with sharing things but I have put a lot of my time and effort into this stuff so I’d appreciate it if you could credit my blog and please feel free to ask if you’d like use one of my pictures.