Saturday's Sweets: Strawberry Jam Turnovers

I've never made pie crust before. Most people are surprised by this because I love baking so much. To be honest, I was afraid to try making pie crust. I was afraid of failing at such a staple of baking. Looking through all of my Great Grandma's Cook Books really inspired me, though. When I was afraid to make French Macarons I kept trying until I succeeded, and that is what this blog is all about. Growing as a person, and in this case a baker. Growing includes successes and failures, so I decided to give it a go.

I'll admit, they definitely were not perfect. I had to try twice to even get them to fold up correctly, but for my first attempt at pie crust, I'm pretty proud of myself.

Strawberry Jam Turnovers

Ingredients:

2 1/4 c. sifted all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

3/4 and 2 Tbsp. shortening

1/3 c. ice cold water

Strawberry jam

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, mix the flour and salt. Cut in 2/3 of the shortening and mix until it is crumbly. 

2. Add the rest of the shortening and mix until the crumbles resemble large peas.

3. Then, add the ice cold water in teaspoons one at a time, mixing after each addition. Only add enough water to make the flour particles stick together. You don't want the pie crust to be too wet.

4. Form the dough into a smooth ball. Then break into two parts and roll out one half at a time.

5. Set the dough between two floured sheets of wax paper. I taped the wax paper to the counter so it did not slide around when I was rolling. Press the ball into a circle and smooth the edges before you start rolling, like this.

6. Roll out until the dough is 1/8 of an inch thick.

7. Cut into 4 1/2 inch rounds. I just used a large cup to cut the dough. 

8. Place the rounds on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Moisten the edges of the round with water. Add a teaspoon of strawberry jam (or another filling) and fold the round in half. Press the edges together with a fork.

8. Coat with egg whites or water and sprinkle with sugar.

-Bake at 425 for 15 minutes or until golden brown-

Enjoy!