Forget pancake cereal — homemade Pop-Tarts cereal is the new, super time-consuming quarantine kitchen trend, says "Girl Meets Farm" host Molly Yeh.
While the Pop-Tarts brand actually makes an official cereal version of their popular breakfast food, some creative home cooks are developing their own recipes.
Yeh shared an old photo of her own version of the cereal on Instagram after being inspired by a TODAY Food post which featured the ingenious work of user @lettuceturniptheeats (aka Nicole Cappetta).
"I was reminded of this outrageous but delicious journey," Yeh wrote, along with a short set of instructions on how to make the cereal at home. And then, in a conversation with TODAY, she shared the full recipe.
Start by preheating the oven, lining a baking sheet with parchment paper and mentally preparing for what you're about to make.
"Take a deep breath: You're about to go on a journey!" Yeh joked.
Take one box of pre-made, refrigerated pie dough and cut it into tiny squares. Yeh recommends making each square between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch.
"The bigger they are, the more sanity you'll maintain," she said. "You can use a tiny cookie cutter, a knife, or my personal favorite kitchen accessory, the accordion pastry cutter."
Once the pie dough has been appropriately cut, place half of the squares on the parchment-lined baking sheet, about an inch apart. Beat one egg with a splash of water to create an egg wash and apply that egg wash to each square with a pastry brush.
Next, fill a small piping bag with a "couple of plops" of your choice of jam. Pipe the jam onto the edge of each square, making sure that you're using "quite tiny" amounts, since they are "prone to oozing out" while baking, according to Yeh. Top each square with the squares that were set aside earlier, press lightly to seal and apply another thing layer of egg wash. Bake in the oven until lightly browned.
Yeh recommends bakers begin checking for doneness at around eight minutes to make sure that the tiny squares don't burn. Once done, let cool completely.
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While the squares are drying, start preparing your glaze. Place a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl and add more of the jam you used inside the squares to the sieve. Press the jam through with a rubber spatula or spoon to get rid of the seeds and be sure to scrape the bottom of the sieve to make sure no remnants are stuck there. If you don't have a sieve, try to use a seedless jelly, milk or cream to make the glaze.
Add the powdered sugar and a pinch of salt to the jam (or whatever alternative you use) and mix to combine.
"It should be pretty thick, but not so thick that it's not drizzly," Yeh instructed. "You want a thick, drizzly, glue-type consistency that will hold its shape on the tarts."
If your glaze is too thick, adjust by adding more jam or milk in small amounts. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar. Once it's ready, fill a piping bag with the glaze and pipe a blob of glaze onto each tiny square. Top with sprinkles, and you're all set!
"You made it! Mazel tov!" Yeh rejoiced. "Pour into a bowl, add milk and reflect on what you just did."