Okay, so here's a quick dessert I put together with the exact criteria of: easy, fast, and possible with just the things I already have in my fridge and pantry (no time to grocery shop!). I was inviting a friend over after work (more like a request for computer tech support...) and wanted to make sure I not only had dinner to offer in thanks (teriyaki chicken rice bowls) but also some kind of dessert. My guest already sampled the previously posted Pumpkin Nut Bread, so I needed something new. However, I only had a few minutes to prep something before work and was already dealing with:
1. Computer breaking (of course)
2. Fridge leaking (after already being fixed once!)
3. Spilling hot water from the rice bowl vegetables on the floor
4. Spilling hot water from the rice bowl vegetables on my feet
5. Laundry buzzing
6. Dishes overflowing
7. Trash overflowing
8. The fact I still had to shower and change clothes for work
(Being an adult is such fun, isn't it?)
Luckily it was my evening shift at work, so I had a whole morning at least to handle these chores. But getting off work in the evening also meant no time to plan and bake an elaborate dessert or go grocery shopping before my guest arrived. It was time to look in the pantry. Time to look in the fridge. Time to get those creative juices flowing.
I had one leftover refrigerated pie crust and one unopened jar of jam ("Unopened" is a key word here because all my jars of peanut butter, for instance, were "open," which meant "eaten out of," which meant I'd double dipped in them at least once.... Otherwise I might have whipped up this quick peanut butter cookie recipe for dessert instead).
So, remembering that I saw a recipe involving jam-filled pastries online just the other day, I turned to my phone's Internet and quickly searched my go-to Allrecipes.com. I couldn't find the exact pastry I'd spotted before (it may have been some kind of kolacky?), but I did land on a page for the "Toaster Pastry" (fake Pop-Tart) kind. Called Top Tarts by recipe author "kellweeeeezy," this dessert uses only six ingredients if you follow it to the letter, and is easily customizable if you don't. Here's my take on Toaster Pastries:
Ingredients:
1 refrigerated pie crust (I used Pillsbury since that was what I'd found at the store previously)
8 teaspoons strawberry jam (I look for jars with reduced sugar and NO high-fructose corn syrup)
1 cup sugar (I didn't have confectioner's sugar)
5 Tablespoons (an estimate--this doesn't have to be exact) fat-free evaporated milk (I don't keep regular milk in my fridge but do have evaporated milk for pumpkin pies...)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sprinkles (if you have them, it does make the pastries quite pretty. Unfortunately, the only ones I had were expired and somewhat anemic looking...).
Directions:
1.) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Let your pie crust sit out until it reaches room temperature, then roll the dough with a rolling pin until it forms close to a rectangle shape.
2.) With a pastry wheel (or a pizza wheel/knife/etc. will work), cut the dough into an even number of smaller rectangles of the same size (My pie crust allowed for 8 rectangles, which makes 4 pastries. The original recipe makes 8 pastries total). Place 2 teaspoons of strawberry jam in the center of half the rectangles and spread it with a spoon to reach about 1/4 an inch from the edge (It may be hard to get exactly 1/4 an inch, so just keep in mind that the closer the jam gets to the edge the more likely it will be to spill out during baking...).
3.) Top the jam-filled rectangles with the plain rectangles and crimp the pastries together with a fork. You can also prick them with the fork to form letters showing what kind of jam is inside or to claim which pastry will ultimately be yours! Then bake the pastries on a cookie sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray for about 7-9 minutes (I couldn't bake them on parchment paper since my parchment paper is only oven safe up to 420 degrees. And yes, I've had parchment paper burn in my oven before).
4.) In a bowl, combine the sugar, milk, and vanilla until a thin icing forms. After the pastries have been removed from the oven (mine started to get golden brown at about 9 minutes), let them cool at least 5 minutes before drizzling with icing. If you have non-expired sprinkles, you can sprinkle them on at this stage too.
5.) Refrigerate your pastries for later toasting or enjoy at any temperature. If you eat them while still warm (or if you reheat them) just keep in mind that the jam will get a lot hotter than the pastry. Tongue-burning hot. But oh so gooey good.
I taste-tested a pastry during my lunch at work and was pleased with the result as well as with the break in my day from crazy adulthood. Nothing like fake Pop-Tarts to take you back to a time before broken electronics, leaking fridges, vegetable cooking, laundry, dishes, trash, and work were your responsibility. Let's all take a moment to savor the sweetness of childhood and offer up thanks for quick and easy desserts.
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