Sugar Plum Toaster Pastries
I’ve been SUPER busy lately. Like, running at full speed plus some and forgetting what day it is busy. From launching my first cookbook, visiting different restaurants and local businesses that I will be featuring soon, to coming up with new recipes for some collaborations that I’m working on, to finishing up certifications (more news on that soon!)…… I’ve barely had time to breathe!
Not a bad problem to have – in fact, although I’m exhausted, but I am loving every single minute. I feel so creatively inspired, and I am learning so much about so many different things – the student in me is doing her happy dance.
Cooking, for me, has always been a stress reliever. It’s a chance for me to share a part of myself, and to show my love for those I cook for. I’ve been cooking since I was a teenager, in fact – we didn’t have cable growing up, so I became addicted to PBS and it’s Saturday morning cooking shows.
I remember helping my mother with Christmas brunch, or Thanksgiving dinner, pouring through piles of recipes clipped from magazines and old cookbooks to find something to make for each special occasion. Although we live half a country away now, she still calls to ask my advice for what to make, and I remember hunting through that big pile together.
When we FINALLY got cable, it wasn’t a long time before I found the Food Network – and, before binge-watching was a thing, I BINGE-WATCHED that channel. I mean, when I was home from college and not working, it was ALWAYS on. And I never got tired of it.
Fast forward to my adult years when I finally learned of my serious issues with dairy and gluten, and I had to learn FAST what to eat, and how to cook it.
The dairy was no problem, having given up dairy long before in my 11 year stint as a vegan (which is most likely why I discovered my allergy so late in life), but gluten was another story.
Boy, those hours of binge watching cooking shows definitely paid off.
Today, I still watch cooking shows to relax (Great British Baking Show, anyone?), and when I get really really, really busy and my head starts spinning around faster than I can keep up, I cook and bake, and it calms me.
I had one of those days this past weekend – WOW my to do list seemed like it would never end! My husband and I made a Trader Joe’s run earlier that day, and I picked up some of their Sugar Plum Jam (because, although it’s too early to start decorating for Christmas, it’s never too early for winter-themed baking!), and he bought some Pumpkin Toaster Pastries.
And the moment the box hit the cart I was craving Pop Tarts, like the ones I used to have when I was a kid.
I can sadly no longer eat store-bought pastries, and mostly because I couldn’t stare at my computer screen any longer that afternoon, I decided to make my own.
Total impulse bake. I’m guilty.
I had another recipe planned for this week, but WOW were these delicious, so I had to share them with you all!
Sugar Plum Toaster Pastries
SERVES: 11
MACROS: 167 calories, 25.2c/5.6f/2.5p
Ingredients:
2c Caulipower Flour (I know, I use this stuff all the time, but its FANTASTIC)
3T maple syrup
4T Olive Oil
2 eggs
1-6T water
11T of jelly/jam of your choice (I used Sugar Plum)
Maple Butter, for frosting.
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350.
In a bowl, combine flour, maple syrup, olive oil, and eggs. Add water, 1T at a time, until mixture comes together as a dough (you may have to use your hands for this part). Form dough into ball and let sit for 10 minutes.
Cut dough into 11 pieces, and roll each piece into a ball.
Using either a tortilla press or a rolling pin, roll out dough until it is 1/8” thick. Cut into a rectangle, and then cut in half again.
Place 1T of jam onto one side, and cover with the other. Repeat until all dough has been used.
Crimp down edges with a fork that has been dipped in water. Spray tops with oil spray, and sprinkle coconut sugar on top (optional)
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, and then transfer pastries to a cooling rack.
When cool, drizzle with Maple Butter and serve.
