Toaster Tarts (or Portable Tarts), Gluten-Free
http://artofglutenfreebaking.com
Art of Gluten-Free Baking
These are naturally egg-free; can be made dairy-free and vegan
Makes 12-13 4"x3" tarts
Special Equipment Needed
-rolling pin
-ruler you don't mind using with food
-pastry brush if you have one
Ingredients
For Crust
2 1/3 C Jeanne's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Mix
1 TBL granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks (16 TBL/1 C) unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces (you can also use shortening or lard)
1 TBL vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
5-7 TBL cold water
extra tapioca flour for rolling out
For Filling:
your choice of any or all of the following:
-jam, jelly or preserves of your choice
-fruit butter
-chocolate chips
For Glaze:
2 TBL water
1 C sifted confectioner's sugar
To prepare the crust:
(you may want to take a look at my Pie Crust blog post for tips on how to handle this dough)
-in a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and sugar with a spoon
-add butter pieces and rub into flour using your fingers
-when the mixture looks like wet sand mixed with pebbles, add the vinegar and rub into mixture with hands
-add water, a TBL at a time, until you have a dough that holds together but isn't sloppy and wet
-shape dough into two roughly equal disks, wrap them in plastic wrap, and put in refrigerator for 20 minutes
After 20 minutes, take out both disks from the refrigerator
-prepare your work area by sprinkling the surface with tapioca flour
-unwrap your first disk, place it on the work surface and then sprinkle it and the rolling pin with tapioca flour
-carefully roll out your dough into as close to a square of rectagular shape as you can get it (don't worry too much, you will be re-rolling a few times to use up all of the dough)
-roll your dough until it's 1/16" thick
Take out your ruler. You are going to measure out as many 4"x3" rectangles as you can (I found this size makes nice tarts, but you can play with sizes if you like).
-to to this, you will want to cut off the irregular edges and set those scraps aside to be re-rolled
-using your ruler, measure out your rectangles. Do this carefully. If you take care and make sure all of the rectangles are the same size, you will encounter less trouble when trying to match them together to make the tarts
-as you cut out each rectangle, move the rectangle to another flat surface with a spatula (if you try to move the rectangles by hand, they might break--especially if you use shortening). I use a cookie sheet sprinkled with a bit of tapioca flour. This will be your rectangle "waiting area"
-re-roll all of your current dough, as well as the dough in the 2nd disk, until you've used it all. I find that I get about 26 4"x3" rectangles, which makes 13 tarts. Because you will be using them in pairs, you want to make sure you end up with an even number of rectangles.
Once all of your dough has been rolled out and cut into rectangles, move your rectangles a few at a time, back to your work surface. You will want to line them up in pairs
-you will now put 1 TBL of the filling of your choice in the middle of one rectangle of each pair (so if you're working with 4 pairs, you will put filling on 4 of the rectangles)
-dip your index finger into some water and brush on a line of water around the edge of each filled rectangle
-carefully place the unfilled rectangle of each pair onto the top of its mate
-gently but firmly press down along the edges of the perimeter of each tart with your fingers to make sure the pairs are aligned and fit together
-with the tines of a fork, press down along the edges of each tart. This will complete the seal and it looks decorative, too. Be sure you've sealed them well--any unsealed portion will allow filling to leak out during the baking process
-slash the middle top of each tart with a sharp knife. I like to do a cross or star pattern. These will be your vents to allow steam to escape during the baking process. They are also decorative.
Repeat this process until you've used all of your rectangles. At this point you have a choice. You can do one of the following:
1) freeze unbaked so you can bake them at a later date
2) glaze and bake for immediate consumption
3) glaze and bake so you can freeze and then toast later (these will be your true toaster tarts)
Option 1: carefully place the unbaked tarts into a stiff-sided freezable container (like Tupperware). You can stack the tarts, placing waxed paper between each layer. Seal container and place into your freezer until needed. When it's time to bake them, follow the instructions for option 2 (you might want to write the baking instructions on a piece of paper and tape it to the container so you have them available when you need them).
Options 2 and 3: preheat your oven to 450 degrees F
-make your glaze. With a whisk, beat the water and confectioner's sugar together until smooth
-with a pastry brush, lightly cover the top of each tart with the glaze (no need to be perfect about it--it will melt and be almost invisible after baking)
OR
-you can not glaze them. Either way is fine
-place the tarts onto an un-greased baking sheet with about 1 inch between them
Option 2: bake at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for another 10 minutes
-these tarts should look light brown in the middle and a slightly darker brown around the edges. If you glazed them, they will look shiny on the top
-cool and eat
Option 3: bake at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for another 5 minutes.-these tarts will look light brown--and a little darker brown along the edges
-once they've cooled, place them in a stiff-sided container (like Tupperware) in layers with waxed paper between each layer. When you're ready to eat them, take them out of the freezer and toast for 5 minutes. We have a toaster oven, so I haven't used an regular toaster on these--but they are fairly strong, so I think they should hold up fine.
Enjoy!