Toaster Tarts

For the pastry:

1. Cream together the shortening and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, until light and fluffy.
2. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, until blended.
3. Stir in the vanilla extract. Set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
5. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, stirring well to combine, and then add 1/3 of the milk. Repeat these steps 2 more times until all of the dry ingredients and milk are incorporated. The pastry dough will be the consistency of sugar cookie or shortbread dough.
6. Turn the dough out onto a large sheet of waxed paper. Roll the dough into a large log, about 4-5 inches in diameter, and about 10 inches long.
7. Divide the log in half widthwise. Roll each half into a 10-inch log, and flatten to 1 inch thickness. You will have a 10-inch x 3-inch x 1-inch oblong of dough. Repeat with the other half of the dough, and wrap each individually in waxed paper. Chill the wrapped dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

To assemble the pies:

8. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper; set aside.
9. Whip one egg white with the water until frothy. (This will be the glue to hold the pastry together.) Set aside.
10. After the dough has chilled, unwrap one oblong and place it on a clean, floured surface. (I like a pastry mat for this application.)
11. Roll the oblong into roughly a 12-inch by 16-inch rectangle. If the dough frequently cracks, allow it to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes and try again. Small cracks can be pinched back together without issue.
12. Cut the dough in half lengthwise, and then cut each in fourths widthwise so that you have eight 6”x4” rectangles. I use a ruler to guide a pizza cutter when cutting the dough. Each pie will need two rectangles: one for the bottom and one for the top. In a perfect kitchen, the rectangles would all be exactly the same size. My kitchen is far from perfect, so I match the rectangles in the best pairs possible.
13. Use a thin spatula to transfer 4 of the rectangles to one of the prepared baking sheets, placing them 2 inches apart.
14. Thinly spread 1 tablespoon of the jam on each of the four rectangles, leaving a ¼-inch clean margin around the edges.
15. Brush the egg wash around the margins of the dough, and place another rectangle of dough on top, pressing the edges together to seal. Crimp around the edges of the dough with a fork to ensure the seal.
16. Gently “dock” the top of the pastry with a fork so that steam can escape while the pie is baking. (Poke a fork several times through only the first layer of dough for each of the complete pies.)
17. Brush the tops of the pies with milk.
18. Repeat the entire process with the remaining half of dough.
19. Bake pies at 350 F for about 25 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to brown.
20. Cool pies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to continue cooling.
21. Pies may be eaten warm, or cool them completely before icing them.

For the icing:

22. Stir together sifted powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract with a fork until smooth.
23. If desired, stir in a drop or two of liquid food coloring to tint the icing.
24. Brush or spread icing onto cooled pies.
25. Immediately shake a few colored sprinkles over the icing, and gently press with your fingers to “set” them in the icing (if desired.) Allow icing to dry.
26. Enjoy the iced pies at room temperature, or re-warm for a minute or two in the toaster.
27. Leftover toaster pies can be stored in a zippered bag on the counter for 2 to 3 days.

NOTES: Pies can be made smaller by cutting the rectangles in half, which would yield 16 smaller pies. Pies can also be frozen for a month or so if individually wrapped in waxed paper, and then placed in a zippered freezer bag.