Pocket Pastries, or Hand Tarts, are one of my favorite breakfast items. They are simple to make and you can please almost everyone using 1 simple recipe.
This recipe will focus on the sweet variety (with jellies and jams) instead of the savory (eggs and meats). This recipe is made with our Never Fail Pie Crust (find the recipe HERE) and your favorite variety of jellies and/or preserves.
I had some pie crust left over from the Strawberry Tarts I made for Mother’s Day that I had frozen and some jellies and preserves my husband and I had gotten over the holidays as one of those sample packs, so I decided to do something fun. When I was gathering the ingredients, I also stumbled upon a jar of homemade apple butter and decided to use that as well (the pint jar). So lets get started…
The first thing you will need to do is gather your ingredients. If you don’t have any ready-made pie crust on hand, go ahead and make a fresh batch of Never Fail Pie Crust.
For this recipe you will need 1/4 of the recipe for the dough: I just make the entire batch and freeze what I don’t use for later. In addition to the pie crust dough, you will also need your favorite jellies, jams or preserves to use as fillings. That’s it! So far as tools and utensils, I used a standard baking sheet, pizza cutter, large table spoon (soup spoon), rolling pin and 1 sharp edged large spatula.
After you have all of your ingredients and tools together, you will need to get some flour to put down before rolling out the pie crust dough. Trust me, you don’t want to forget this part. If you do, you’ll never get the sealed pastries onto the baking sheet in one piece. Getting the flour is my husband’s favorite part because we have a sifting flour bin in our Sellers Hoosier Cupboard.
Rolling out the pie crust dough:
Once you have your tools and ingredients together, it’s time to roll out. Start by flouring your rolling area generously. Take your pie crust dough and form a ball, then flatten it in the middle of the flour you put down.
Once you press the dough flat, flip it over so the top side is floured and the bottom side is sitting on a floured surface. Rub some flour on your rolling pin to help prevent sticking and start rolling. You want to roll the dough no thicker than 1/4 inch.
Once your dough is rolled out to the desired thickness, get the rest of your ingredients and tools together.
Use the pizza cutter to cut the dough into evenly sized pieces and trim the edges. Keep the edges you trimmed to be rolled out again. Make sure you have an even number of pieces cut.
Take the large table spoon (soup spoon) and spread about 1-1 1/2 tablespoons of your favorite preserves on half of the cut pieces. I used different fillings for each one because I couldn’t choose just one…and I didn’t have to choose either 🙂
Next, roll the other half of the cut dough onto its self; as if you were rolling it to put it in a pie pan, and place them on top of their matching filled side.
Once the tops and filled bottoms have been lined up, take a table fork and use it to crimp the outside edges as pictured below. I also marked the tops so I would know what was inside after they baked.
Now comes the tricky part. If you have floured your dough and surfaces correctly, you should be alright here, but take your time and don’t be in a hurry or this part can go very wrong. Trust me, I’ve done it, haha.
Flour the front edge of your sharp edged spatula before easing it under the outside pocket pastry. You might need to rock it side to side a little, but don’t try to just shove it under or it could squish and/or roll up on you (not good). Take your time…
Once you have the pastry on the spatula, place it on the lightly greased baking sheet (I just used cooking spray).
Once you have all your pastries on the baking sheet, place them in a 425 degree F oven for 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the dough and fillings. They will be golden brown and bubbly when they come out of the oven.
Let your freshly baked Pocket Pastries cool for at least 10 minutes before attempting to eat them. Remember, they have molten preserves in them, so give them enough time to cool so you don’t hurt yourself; especially for little ones.
Serve with coffee or your favorite breakfast beverage.
These Pocket Pastries can be stored any way you like. They will keep at room temp for 3-ish days, or you can put them in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. They also freeze well for up to 6 months, after that they get a funny taste for me.
So that’s it!
Super simple and ease recipe for Pocket Pastries. You can make them as healthy or guilty as you’d like since you’re making them. I hope you enjoy and have fun playing around with your own combinations and takes on your soon-to-be new favorite breakfast 🙂
Pocket Pastries (Hand Tarts):
1/4 recipe Never Fail Pie Crust; 1 jar of your favorite preserves; Flour (for rolling the pie crust dough on)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Roll prepared pie crust dough to no more than 1/4 inch thick. Cut into even sized pieces and trim edges. Place 1-1 1/2 tablespoon of desired filling into center of half of cut dough pieces. Place top pieces on bottoms and seal with fork. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake 5-10 minutes depending on thickness of dough and filling, or until golden brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
Storage:
Pocket Pastries can be stored at room temp for 2-3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. You can also place them in freezer baggies and freeze for up to 6 months; after that they get a funny taste.
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