I’ll be the first to admit it; I ate my fair share of Pop-Tarts as a child. Despite my love for breakfast today, it was nearly impossible to get me to eat more than dry cereal in the morning when I was younger. The only breakfast capable of rousing my latent, stubborn appetite were blueberry-frosted Pop-Tarts. Toaster Strudel simply wouldn’t do; I craved that cardboard crust, crunchy glaze and goopy, artificially-flavored glucose filling. Moreover, my Pop-Tarts were never toasted (I ate far too fast to worry about burning myself with molten filling and brittle, messy crust). How un-gourmet was that? Though my mother was a stickler for real, wholesome food (in my 22 years of life, I’ve never touched a Lunchable), she turned a blind eye to a few foods – namely Oreos, Pop-Tarts, Goldfish and Potato Chips – figuring we’d get tired of them ourselves if she had them around without much policing. For the most part, her method worked; my sister and I never had a weird relationship with snack foods as a result, but I still recall my Pop-Tart breakfasts fondly. That is, until I recently ate one again for the first time in a few years (Brown Sugar-Cinnamon flavored), and like most childhood foodloves, it fell from its pedestal of deliciousness and left me underwhelmed.

Obviously, I’m not alone in the revelation that Pop-Tarts, though whimsical and exciting, aren’t deliciousy revelatory at all if you’re over the age of 18. However, there’s a scrumptious, almost mythical quality to them; maybe that’s why Pop Tarts world just opened in Times Square this week. In addition, it seems that food bloggers everywhere have been working to recreate the childhood breakfast pastry throughout this past Spring and Summer, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading about it. In fact, I’ve got some peaches in the kitchen that are begging to be used before the summer fades; perhaps it’s long past time for me to create a grown-up version of my former favorite morning bite, when “breakfast,” to me, was a naughty word.

Check out these bloggers’ posts for some inspiration:

-Purple Foodie and Feisty Foodie make Nutella Pop-Tarts.

-Brown-Eyed Baker prefers strawberry.

-Big Red Kitchen makes a quick version with lavash bread.

-Pink Apron goes mini.

-Duo Dishes takes tarts to a whole new level with a strawberry-wine filling.

-Salad in a Jar somewhat healthifies the brown sugar-cinnamon classic with oats and white whole wheat flour.

-Panini Happy makes them on a panini press.

-And, finally, Lisa is Cooking recreated my personal favorite (sans icing), the blueberry-filled.

Maybe my Pop-Tart obsession is one of the reasons why I loved the Apricot-Almond Slab Pie so much at our tastings, months before August/September hit the newsstands. If you’re as fond of them as I am, I recommend that you make it.