Kristi's Cookbook

Biscuits

Serving Size: 15 biscuits


Ingredients

  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1 tbsp of baking powder
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 6 tbsp of cold butter
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1 tbsp of honey

Step by Step

  1. Cut the butter into 1" cubes and then place back into the fridge to keep cold.
  2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  3. Take the cubed butter and place into the flour mixture.
  4. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut the butter into the flour mixture. The mixture will be crumbly and have small clumps of butter that do not completely mix in.
  5. Make a well in the mixture by forming a hole in the middle of the dough.
  6. Pour the mlik and the honey into the well.
  7. Gently mix the wet ingredients into the mixture so that the dough forms.
  8. Roll out the dough using your hands or a rolling pin so that it is about ½" thick.
  9. Fold the dough in thirds (letter fold) by first folding ⅓ of the dough from one side to the center and then folding the other ⅓ on top.
  10. Turn the dough so that the folds are horizontal.
  11. Repeat steps 8-10 another two times so that you would have folded the dough for a total of 3 times.
  12. Roll out the dough so that it is ½" thick.
  13. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
  14. Cut the dough with a round cutter and place on a baking sheet.
  15. Slightly press the top of each biscuit so that there is a small dent. This will help the biscuits rise evenly.
  16. Optional: Brush the top of each biscuit with milk.
  17. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the biscuits rise.
  18. Let cool before serving.

Cherry Jam

Serving Size: ½ pint


Ingredients

  • 2 cups of cherries (16 oz)
  • 2 tbsp of lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp of sugar
  • 2 tbsp of pectin
  • Optional: glass jar

Step by Step

  1. Wash the cherries and remove the pits. Place into a pot
  2. Mash the cherries and then place on stove.
  3. Cook the cherries on low heat and then add in the lemon juice and sugar.
  4. Keep stiring and cook the jam until it boils.
  5. Once the jam boils, add in the pectin and stir.
  6. When it boils again, place into a jar and let it cool.

For Vacuum Sealing

  1. Fill a pot with cold water and place the glass jar flat on it side in the pot.
  2. Add more cold water until the jars are submerged.
  3. Cover the pot and cook on low heat. Make sure that it is low heat so that the glass does not shatter.
  4. Once the water boils, let it cook for 5 minutes.
  5. Using gloves and tongs, immediately remove and quickly dry off the water from the jar. Be careful as the jars will be extremely hot.
  6. Quickly fill the jar with the hot peach jam (should be about boiling temperature) and close immediately.
  7. Let it sit in room temperature for it to cool.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Serving Size: 12 muffins


Ingredients

  • 2 cups of all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp of baking powder
  • ½ tsp of salt
  • ⅓ cup of brown sugar
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup of vegetable oil
  • 1 cup of chocolate chips

Step by Step

  1. Take out 1 egg and let it sit so that it becomes room temperature.
  2. In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, add together the milk, egg, sugar, vanilla, and vegetable oil.
  4. In 3 parts, add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
  5. Mix, but do not overmix. The batter should be lumpy.
  6. Add in 1 cup of chocolate chips and stir in.
  7. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
  8. Either butter each tin, use cooking spray to spray each tin, or line each tin with a muffin liner.
  9. Pour in the batter, filling it about ¾ full.
  10. Place the muffins in the preheated oven and then turn oven down to 375°F.
  11. Bake for about 20 minutes. The top of the muffins should have some golden brown. Test by inserting a toothpick. If the toothpick is dry, it is ready.
  12. Let it cool and then enjoy!

French Toast

Serving Size: ## pieces


Ingredients

  • # pieces of brioche bread
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup of milk
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp of cinnamon

Step by Step

  1. Whisk together the egg, milk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon.
  2. Pour the egg mixture into a shallow dish for dipping.
  3. Take a slice of bread and dip both sides into the egg mixture.
  4. Place some butter in the pan and warm it on low heat.
  5. Once the pan is warm, place a piece of bread on medium heat.
  6. Cook each side until golden brown.
  7. Serve with maple syrup, whipped cream, and/or fruit.

Mini Cheese Danishes

Serving Size: 16 mini danishes


Ingredients

Rough Puff Pastry

  • 2½ cups of flour
  • 1¼ cup of cold butter
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 1 tsp of sugar
  • 3-5 tbsp of ice cold water
  • 1 egg for egg wash

Cheese Filling

  • 8 oz of softened cream cheese
  • ½ cup of sugar
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract

Step by Step

  1. Prepare the rough puff pastry.
  2. Dice the cold butter into cubes.
  3. In a bowl, pour in the flour and place the butter cubes inside.
  4. Coat the butter with flour. Make sure that the butter cubes are fully coated for flaky pastries.
  5. Using your thumb and index finger, squish each butter cube so that they are flattened and no longer cube shaped Don't oversqiush, the butter should still be in pieces, and not melted or falling apart.
  6. Add one tablespoon of ice cold water. Make sure that the water is ice cold. Mix and the dough should start to come together.
  7. Continue to add cold water 1 tbsp at a time until the dough forms. It should not be sticky and wet, but the flour should no longer be loose and powder-like.
  8. Add in the salt and sugar. Knead until incorporated.
  9. Roll out the dough and begin to create the layers by doing a letter fold.
  10. To fold, take ⅓ side of the dough and fold it over, and then take the other ⅓ side and fold it on top. The fold should resemble the way you fold a letter/envelope. Turn the dough 90° and then roll it out again. Repeat this process for a total of 6 times.
  11. Tightly cover the dough to prevent it from drying out and refrigerate overnight.
  12. Once the dough is ready to use, prepare the cheese filling.
  13. In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese and sugar on low speed until combined.
  14. Add in the vanilla extract and mix until blended.
  15. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  16. Start to assemble the cheese danishes. Divide the dough into 2 parts and put one part back into the fridge. The goal is to keep the dough as cold as possible, so I recommend working with the dough in two parts.
  17. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle or sqaure about ¼" thick.
  18. Cut the dough into small 5" x 5" squares.
  19. Drop about 1 tbsp of the cheese mixture into the center of a sqaure. Flatten the mixture so that it's an oval/circle in the middle of the square.
  20. Fold over one corner of the square and bring it towards the center. Repeat with the rest of the corners so that they are folded over, but there's a small space in the center and in between corners.
  21. Beat 1 egg to create an egg wash. Brush the top of the pastries with the egg wash.
  22. Bake for 18-22 minutes. The pastry parts that were brushed with egg wash should a golden brown and the cheese filling in the middle should brown a little (turn a golden white).
  23. Repeat for the other part of the dough.

Peach Preserves

Serving Size: 2 pints


Ingredients

  • 5 cups of sliced peaches (about 5-6 peaches)
  • 2 tbsp of lemon juice (about ¼ of a lemon)
  • ¼ cup of sugar
  • 1½ tbsp of pectin
  • Optional: Glass Jar

Step by Step

  1. Peel of the skin and remove the pit from the peaches.
  2. Slice the peaches and place into a pot.
  3. Mash the peaches and then place on stove.
  4. Cook the peaches on low heat and then add in the lemon juice and sugar.
  5. Keep stiring and cook the jam until it boils.
  6. Once the jam boils, add in the pectin and stir.
  7. When it boils again, place into a jar and let it cool.

For Vacuum Sealing

  1. Fill a pot with cold water and place the glass jar flat on it side in the pot.
  2. Add more cold water until the jars are submerged.
  3. Cover the pot and cook on low heat. Make sure that it is low heat so that the glass does not shatter.
  4. Once the water boils, let it cook for 5 minutes.
  5. Using gloves and tongs, immediately remove and quickly dry off the water from the jar. Be careful as the jars will be extremely hot.
  6. Quickly fill the jar with the hot peach jam (should be about boiling temperature) and close immediately.
  7. Let it sit in room temperature for it to cool.

Raspberry Jam

Serving Size: 1 pint


Ingredients

  • 3 cups of raspberries (12 oz)
  • ¼ cup of sugar
  • 1½ tbsp of pectin
  • Optional: Glass Jar

Step by Step

  1. Wash the raspberries and then place into a pot
  2. Mash the raspberries and then place on stove.
  3. Cook the raspberries on low heat and then add in the sugar.
  4. Keep stiring and cook the jam until it boils.
  5. Once the jam boils, add in the pectin and stir.
  6. When it boils again, place into a jar and let it cool.

For Vacuum Sealing

  1. Fill a pot with cold water and place the glass jar flat on it side in the pot.
  2. Add more cold water until the jars are submerged.
  3. Cover the pot and cook on low heat. Make sure that it is low heat so that the glass does not shatter.
  4. Once the water boils, let it cook for 5 minutes.
  5. Using gloves and tongs, immediately remove and quickly dry off the water from the jar. Be careful as the jars will be extremely hot.
  6. Quickly fill the jar with the hot peach jam (should be about boiling temperature) and close immediately.
  7. Let it sit in room temperature for it to cool.