Back To School Stone Fruit Jam Pockets, a tender, buttery, melt in your mouth pastry filled with a delightful stone fruit pectin-free jam, and to add a bit of color and fun, a quick frosting with colored sprinkles on top.
Song of the day: "Back To Life" by Soul II Soul.
[This post is #sponsored by The Italian Centre Shop, we’ve been compensated but all opinions are our own]
It is that time again, back to school, parents rushing to get lunches ready, kids dressed and off to school they go. We have a great delicious idea that I am sure any of your kids will love in their lunches.
How about a tender, buttery, melt in your mouth pastry with a delicious full body stone fruit pectin-free jam, and to add a bit of color and fun, a quick frosting with colored sprinkles on top? I don't know about you, but I am sold on the jam pockets.
We partnered with The Italian Centre Shop to create these beauties. You can find all the ingredients there to make the Vanilla Bean Stone Fruit Jam first and these wonderful jam pockets after. It will be a nice weekend activity to do with your kids. I know Loreto and I we had a lot of fun making them.
N: I started making the pastry dough the day before, my favorite and trusted pie dough recipe which is a cinch to make in the food processor and it always comes out light, buttery, and flaky. I even used raw cane sugar, as you can see from some golden spots in the dough, and it was just perfect. You leave it in the refrigerator overnight, then you take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature, that way it is easier to roll, which is a plus, since you have to stretch it quite a bit to make a big rectangle which you then have to cut into 8 little rectangles, your soon to be pockets filled with jam.
L: This is where I come in. Nicoletta decided to let me have some fun with her baking. I pleaded like a kid "Please! Please!" As you can see I was allowed to play!
Jam Pockets: let the fun begin!
L: This is right up my alley, measuring, cutting, getting the most out of the material I use. Usually my material of choice is wood, however, today it is this beautiful buttery pastry dough. I love those specks of golden hue. I can only imagine when those melt in the flakiness of this dough. Hits of pure bliss! This cutter really brings back many memories, because I used to love cutting pasta sheets to make lasagna or ravioli, and especially a Christmas sweet. My Mother used to make these light crispy 'cruspelli' or 'frappe'. Light thin dough cut with that corrugated cutter then shaped into bows then fried and sprinkled with sugar. I have to say these were like chips, except sweet, and they disappeared just as fast! Today, however, it is Jam Pockets!
L: I am going to give props where props are due. Nicoletta has made an unbelievable stone fruit jam. Look at that color, surely a scoop of sunshine in each pocket. Well done Amore!
L: I get to have some more fun crimping the edges of the jam pockets with a fork so they don't come apart allowing all that sunny goodness to fall out. This will be a great family project. The kids can do so much and when they see these come out of the oven, they will have a huge smile on their faces consequently knowing that they helped to make them.
L: Don't these look amazing? I am a kid again with that smile as I poke holes into the pockets to allow the steam to escape.
L: I don't think there is a child out there that does not like sprinkles. I am all grown up and still love them because it says nothing but playfulness! I have to bite in, Amore! OMG, so flaky and crispy. Love the butteriness and flakiness of the pastry as it melts in your mouth and that filling starts to awaken my smile and tastebuds. The sprinkles make me laugh, crunch and colorful as memories of my childhood and the endless hours spent playing, imagining, adventuring flash through. I wish I had these in my lunch when I was young. It would have been a great food trading commodity, lol.
N: This weekend, have some fun in the kitchen with your loved ones and make Back To School Stone Fruit Jam Pockets. Get ready to see their faces as these jam pockets come out of the oven with an aroma that will have them asking are they ready yet? The great part is they can be put into the freezer and warmed up in your toaster oven, so make lots!
Song of the day: "Back To Life" by Soul II Soul.
PrintBack To School Stone Fruit Jam Pockets
Back To School Stone Fruit Jam Pockets, a tender, buttery, melt in your mouth pastry filled with an incredible full body stone fruit pectin-free jam, and to add a bit of color and fun, a quick frosting with colored sprinkles on top.
- Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 8 pop tarts (and some scraps of dough) 1x
Ingredients
For the pastry:
- 2 cups (320 g) unbleached all-purpose flour (or flour 00)
- 1 cup (213 g) unsalted butter, cubed, cold
- 1 Tbsp organic cane sugar (or granulated sugar)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup (121 g) ice cold water
For the filling
- stone fruit jam (or any jam of your liking, not too sweet, not too runny)
For the topping:
- ½ cup icing (powdered) sugar
- 1 Tbsp half and half cream
- ¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp sprinkles
Instructions
For the pastry:
- Place the flour, salt, sugar in a food processor and blend.
- Add the cubed butter and pulse several times until you see crumbles and the mixture seems a bit dry. Do not overmix.
- Add the ice-cold water a little at a time (you might need more or less) and pulse until the dough just comes together.
- Drop dough onto a lightly floured surface, and shape it into one ball.
- Portion the dough into 2 flat disks, about the same size, then wrap each in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 2 days.
- Line two large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper (or a reusable baking sheet).
- After the resting time in the fridge, take out one disk of dough and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes, or until you feel it’s workable. Keep the other disk in the fridge.
- Lightly flour your work surface and place the pie dough, sprinkling some more flour on top. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough from the centre outward, using more flour if needed to prevent it from sticking. Roll the dough in a rectangle about 13×11 inches, then trim to a 12×10-inch rectangle.
- Using a ruler and a ravioli cutter (or a pointed knife), cut into eight 5×3-inch rectangles. I ended up with 8 rectangles and some scraps of dough.
- Arrange the rectangles, spaced evenly apart, on the prepared baking sheet and set back in the fridge while you work with the other disk of dough.
- Repeat what you did with the first disk and you will end up with 8 more rectangles and more scraps of dough. (I combined all the scraps, re-shaped them into a ball and set it in the freezer for later use).
- Arrange the rectangles on the second baking sheet and set in the fridge while you take out the first baking sheet from the fridge.
- Preheat your oven to 375° F.
- Brush the edge of 4 rectangles (they will be your base) with half & half cream (this will help the dough to stick together), and spoon a rounded tablespoon of jam onto the center. Spread it slightly, but not too close to the edges.
- Place the other 4 rectangles over the filling of the pop tarts. With a fork, press edges together to seal (some of the jam may leak out, which is fine).
- Poke few holes on the top center of each pop tart with a toothpick.
- Take the other baking sheet out of the fridge and repeat process with remaining rectangles.
- I baked 4 pop tarts at a time on a baking sheet for about 25 minutes, or until nice and golden, you can bake them together positioning one oven rack near the top third of the oven and a second oven rack near the bottom third of the oven.
- Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the topping:
- In a mixing bowl whisk together the icing sugar, and the vanilla, adding the half & half a little at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.
- Spread over tops of cooled pop tarts, leaving a small rim uncoated around all sides.
- Add sprinkles on top and allow glaze to set at room temperature.
Notes
They freeze well. Just pop them in the toaster oven or even in the toaster for a couple minutes.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Sweets
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: International
Keywords: jam, jam pockets, pastry dough, butter, back to school, breakfast, snack, sprinkles, icing
[This post is #sponsored by The Italian Centre Shop, we’ve been compensated but all opinions are our own]
I love baking and kneading dough because it takes me to a happy place in my soul.
annie@ciaochowbambina says
Mmmmm - what I wouldn't do for one of these with my espresso this morning! I love a good hand pie!
★★★★★
Us too, Annie! Wish we still had some 🙂 . They are great with coffee. Thank you so much!
Aleta says
This is an amazing recipe! I definitely need to give these a try, my oldest is now in school and would love these for breakfast on the go! The pastry looks delicious and of course the idea to put sprinkles on top totally sold me (it's always easier to get her to eat her breakfast when sprinkles are involved). Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Thank you! Hope you try them, they are a bit of work, but so fun to make and they are so delicious! Flaky, tender, juicy from the filling and with a lovely, fun topping that kids and adults love 🙂 .
Karly says
What at cute idea! I bet my kids will love these! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! I am pretty sure they'd love it! Us grown-ups were in heaven 😉 .
Jessica says
These look like a delicious perfect little snack! The stone fruit jam must be amazing!
Thank you! They are the perfect little snacks, for kids and grown-ups 🙂 .