Apple Cheddar Pop Tarts

I think a lot of us probably have the foods we ate as kids that were a rarity. For me, pop tarts fell into that category. I’m not sure if that’s due to their lack of nutritional value or not, but for some reason they weren’t a frequent purchase at the grocery store. My favorite flavors were the brown sugar and cinnamon and the classic strawberry. I haven’t had a pop tart in years, and now that I know how easy it is to make them at home, I may never go back! The exception for me is when I run long-distance races. When I’m running for 24+ hours, I eat anything and everything that sounds good in an effort to keep my calorie intake up. Since I generally only race a few times a year, any other time that I’m craving a pop tart I’m probably making one at home.

If you can buy puff pastry from the freezer section of the grocery store, you can make homemade pop tarts. You can fill them with jam, jelly, peanut butter, Nutella, or slices of apple and sharp cheddar cheese like I did here. When I’ve been pregnant, I usually feel hungry for an afternoon snack the second half of my pregnancy. I try to keep that snack fairly healthy with a protein punch by snacking on apple slices with peanut or almond butter and a few slices of cheddar cheese. We always buy a large block of Tillamook sharp cheddar cheese from Costco every time we go, so there is never a shortage of it in our house. My pregnancy snack combination inspired these pastries.

It’s amazing how quickly these are to make, bake, and enjoy. They are best enjoyed once out of the oven, but I don’t think that will be a problem!