Toaster Pastries

I am a firm believer that the hand-made version of something far outweighs the factory-made version any day.  I recently discovered this Toaster Pastry cutter at Williams-Sonoma and figured I would give it a try.  My only issue was trying to make this a non, time-consuming process and the only way I realized this would be accomplished would be to use pre-prepared pastry crust.  Not that making pie crust is time consuming, but I believe most people consider the time of assembling these just as important as making the dough from scratch.  The beauty of using prepared dough is that it is already rolled out for you, which gets you going on your first batch, then you can (gently) form the dough scraps into a ball and re-roll them out.  I suggest using two boxes of the dough which should yield you twelve pastries.  Remember, this is about the fun of making them and giving your family and loved ones a hand-made treat from you, not trying to make it for pennies.

You will need:
2 boxes of store-bought pie pastry
Jam flavors you prefer
Egg & Milk mixture to seal and glaze
Sanding sugar if desired

Unroll the pie crust and using your rolling pin, roll out the circle a little larger until you see you can fit four cuts with the cutter out of it.  Remove excess and place on silpat-lined baking sheet.  Repeat using other round - only this time you will want to use the tines of a fork to prick holes into these for steam ventilation.

Assemble by brushing the edges of cut pieces on silpat-lined pan, then place 2 tbsp COLD jam into middle of each, spreading around to slightly smooth out.  Finally - lay the fork-tined pieces on top and using the other piece of the mold to press over on top of it to seal.  Place into freezer (preferably) or refrigerator to chill for 25 minutes.  Remove from refrigerator and brush with egg glaze and top with sanding sugar if desire - then bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Use a spatula to transfer to a wire rack to cool until warm and then eat OR cool completely and then place into a toaster to warm up on low setting.

If you want to do a glaze, mix together 2 tbsp milk, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste and spread onto COOLED pastries (not warm).  Sprinkle with sanding sugars, sliced nuts or sprinkles if desired.