I am a huge Gilmore Girls fan.
I watched it while it was on tv. I own the DVD library of the whole show. And I’ve watched the entire 7 seasons and the “A Year in the Life” Netflix special a countless amount of times.
I’ve read Lauren Graham’s book. I’ve watched Alexis Bledel in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies. And I have laughed my way through every Melissa McCarthy movie. All because I fell in love with these actresses on the Gilmore Girls show.
When they announced the Netflix special was coming out, I even went with a friend to a coffee shop 30 miles away because they had Luke’s Diner branded coffee cups for the day. I’m pretty hardcore.
#TeamLogan
So what does this have to do with pop tarts?
If you watch the show, you know that the mom, Lorelai, doesn’t cook…so her idea of a home cooked meal is pop tarts warmed up. I decided to go with that thought and since I’m not Loreali, I wanted to make them from scratch.
Y’all. I can’t go back to the other packaged stuff. These are so good! Want to see how to make them for yourself? Check out the recipe below.
When are Cherries in Season?
Northwest cherries are in season from June to the end of August. These cherries are generally picked, packed, and on the retailers’ shelves within two days of harvest. You can’t get much more fresh than that!
What Type of Cherries are the Sweetest?
Since a cherry gets sweeter the longer it’s on the tree, the red, Northwest Cherries are known for their naturally high sugar content that results from extended hang time on the tree. With the exception of Rainier cherries, the darker the exterior usually means a sweeter flavor.
How do you Take the Seeds out of Cherries Quickly and Easily?
When I first started wanted to de-pit cherries, I watched a video on Youtube showing a cherry put on the mouth of a bottle and using a skewer, the person pushed the cherry pit out of the cherry into the bottle. I tried it. It worked. But in order to make a cherry pie or something that requires a lot of cherries, I was not about to use that process that many times.
I began a search online for a cherry pitter, but even that was just one cherry at a time (although still WAY easier than the bottle trick). So I de-pitted my cherries one at a time until I found this gem. This cherry pitter removes the pit out of 6 cherries at a time – and is so easy to use that I put my kids in charge of using it. I love it!
How do you Roast Cherries?
Roasting cherries is super simple! All you need is 3 ingredients: cherries, sugar, and salt. Use the recipe below to make yours! They can be put on top of ice cream, mixed into a salad, or just eaten right off the hot pan…I wouldn’t know about that or anything *wink wink*.
How to Roast Cherries
Ingredients
- 1 lb cherries pitted
- 2 tablespoons raw sugar
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Put cherries in a baking dish and sprinkle with sugar and a pinch of salt.
- Bake in a 400 degree F preheated oven for about 10-15 minutes until juices have released and start to become. Watch carefully that the juices don't burn.
- The cherries will be done when they're releasing juices and starting to burst.
Cherry Lime Pop Tarts
Ingredients
Pastry Dough
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for rolling dough
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tbsp whole milk
Cherry Lime Jam
- 1 lb. pitted cherries roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 tsp lime zest
Cherry Icing
- 3/4 cup fresh cherries pitted
- 1 Tbsp whole milk
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
Final Touches
- 1 large egg
Instructions
Cherry Lime Jam
- Add all ingredients to a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally while mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low.
- Let mixture simmer while occasionally stirring. If you want a jam that's less chunky, you can gently mash the mixture with a potato masher while it cooks. Let cook for about 20-25 minutes, until jam thickens and/or is at 220 degrees on a candy thermometer.
- Remove from heat and transfer jam to a mason jar, seal, and place in fridge to cool completely.
Pastry Dough
- Place flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. (note if you don't have a food processor, you can do this in a large bowl with a pastry blender or your fingers).
- In a small bowl, lightly beat one egg and mix in milk. Pour this into the food processor, Add in the butter and pulse until dough just comes together.
- Remove dough to lightly floured surface and knead a few times to bring together into a smooth disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill dough for about 30 minutes.
Cherry Icing
- Add cherries and milk to blender and process until fairly smooth (it's OK if there are still some pieces of cherry).
- Add half the confectioners' sugar to to the cherry mixture. Pulse to combine. Add the remaining confectioners' sugar and pulse until smooth.
Putting It Together
- Roll dough to about 1/8" thickness (you can divide dough into two portions to make rolling out easier) and cut out rectangles about 5" by 3 1/4" (I cut a large index card in half and used it as a stencil so they'd all be even). Re-roll dough scraps to utilize all of the dough. You should get about 20 rectangles. Place rectangles on parchment paper-covered baking sheet and chill for another 30 minutes.
- Pre-heat oven to 350°.
- Spoon about a Tbsp of cherry lime jam to the center half of the rectangles and cover each with a remaining rectangle. Using a fork, crimp the edges of each pop tart and cut a couple slits in the middles to let air escape when baking. Lightly beat remaining egg in a small bowl and then brush each pop tart with egg wash.
- Bake pop tarts for about 20 minutes, until they're just turning golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for a few minutes before moving to wire racks to cool completely.
- Once pop tarts are cooled, drizzle icing over the top and top with sprinkles, if desired.
Products Used:
More Fresh Cherry Recipes You’ll Love:
Chocolate Cherry Galette
Cherry & Basil Sorbet
