Church Cookbook Recipes

Photo courtesy of Me!

I've got dozens and dozens of cookbooks - ranging from a vintage Betty Crocker cookbook to a whole series from Food & Wine.

But the recipes that I favor are often those gleaned from a collection of favorite church cookbooks. I'll highlight a few of our favorites in this lens.

There are also a few recipes just for fun...Such as How To Prepare A Husband.

These are all Down Home recipes and they're tried and true. I hope you will want to try a few. (Hey, that rhymed!)

The pretty country church in this Introduction is located about ten miles from my home. It's so picturesque, don't you think?

The trouble with church cookbooks is that they're not available for very long...they're generally published as a fundraising tool and the church members buy them for themselves and for gifts and the next thing you know it's out of print!

The great thing is that you can easily find them at antique shops, second hand bookstores, flea markets, garage sales, etc.

The Church of St. Dominic Cookbook

Here's a picture of this cookbook which I think I got from my Mother-in-law. I almost always got a cookbook from her at Christmas. Lots of good recipes inside including this one for Granola.

Ingredients

2-1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup cooking oil

Method

Combine all ingredients except honey and oil. Combine the honey and oil and add to mixture. Spread in baking pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes.

Most church cookbooks include an "Inspiration" recipe or two...some are amusing and some are thoughtful. You could call them "Recipes for Life".

Here's one gem.

How to Prepare a Husband

Be careful in your selection. Do not choose too young.

Take only such varieties as have been reared in a good moral atmosphere. When once decided upon and selected, let that part remain forever settled, and give your entire thoughts to preparation for domestic use.

Some insist on keeping them in a pickle, while others are constantly getting them in hot water.

Even poor varieties may be made sweet, tender and good by garnishing them with patience, well sweetened with smiles and flavored with kisses to taste.

Wrap well in a mantle of charity, keep warm with a steady fire of domestic devotionand serve with peaches and cream. When thus prepared, they will keep for years.

The Worker's Helper Cookbook from the Church of St. Joseph the Worker

A simple but delicious recipe. This is a wonderful dish to serve to guests. It would be a perfect entrée for a brunch buffet, as well.

Photo courtesy of UCFFool

CHICKEN SAUTE AU PARMESAN

Ingredients

1 chicken (2-1/2 to 3 lbs.) cut into serving pieces

Salt

Pepper

4-1/2 Tablespoons butter

1-1/2 Tablespoons flour

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 Tablespoons bread crumbs

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and brown on all sides in 3 Tablespoons of the butter. Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour.

When blended, add the milk and cream, stirring rapidly with a whisk. When the mixture is boiling, thickened and smooth, remove from the heat and stir in the nutmeg and Swiss or Gruyere cheese.

Sprinkle a baking dish with half of the Parmesan cheese and arrange chicken pieces over it. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese and the bread crumbs. Bake until golden brown.

From Grace Baptist Church Cookbook - 1976

Who wouldn't like this yummy pie?

Photo courtesy of matt-pearson

PEACHES AND CREAM PIE

Ingredients

1 unbaked pie crust

7 or 8 freestone peach halves, fresh

2/3 cup sugar

4 Tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup cream

Method

Place peach halves in pie crust. Mix sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon and cream together and pour over the peaches.

Bake at 400 degrees F. for 35-40 minutes. May be served with ice cream or a little whipped cream.

The Emanuel Lutheran Church Cookbook - 90th Anniversary (1974)

A quick story about this recipe:

My husband's favorite Christmas cookie is Pepparkakor. It's a very thin, crisp cookie and absolutely delicious. They are truly melt-in-your mouth cookies.

Well, shortly after we were married I asked his mother if she would share the recipe with me and she wouldn't! So one year we decided to try finding the recipe ourselves. We prepared and tested several recipes before we found what we thought was THE recipe. In a church cookbook, of course! Years later we discovered that it wasn't her recipe, after all!

So here's my version...

PEPPARKAKOR

Ingredients

1 cup butter

1-1/2 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon dark corn syrup

2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

Method

Cream sugar and butter together. Add syrup, soda, salt and egg. Sift flour and spices together. Mix into sugar and butter mixtures. Chill dough, then roll out on a floured surface. Cut into any shapes desired. Bake 8 - 10 minutes. Don't overbake.

• Peaked or Cracked: Too much flour, oven too hot
• Pale in color: Too little sugar, wrong type of pan, underbaked
• Too dark brown: Too much sugar, too hot oven, overbaked
• Low Volume: Too much shortening, too much liquid, too hot oven, wrong size pan
• Sunken: Too little liquid, too much sugar, shortening or leavening or underbaked
• Crumbly when cut: Too much shortening, too much sugar, insufficient mixing
• Tunnels: Too many eggs, too little sugar, poor mixing

St. Mary's Russian Orthodox Church Cookbook

These cupcakes are almost as light as air. This is my mother-in-law's recipe. I like to bake them, then freeze them on cookie sheets (either frosted or not) and eat them icy cold. I make the frosting and keep it in the refrigerator to frost each cupcake right before devouring it! So, so, sooooo good!

You'll find the recipe at The Best Ever Banana Nut Cupcakes!

Here's a very useful YouTube video about creating a cookbook for your church or school as a fundraising tool. I'm sure there are many more publishers and you'll want to check out several.

I'm not familiar with this company and cannot recommend it personally. But this is a good example of how to begin.