Jean’s Cuisines - Winter Issue 2026

Baking is something I’ve always enjoyed. Some of my earliest memories are of my mom and me baking Spritz cookies for the holidays and events throughout the year. I have the same memories with my children. At an early age they joined us in the kitchen. As our 13-year-old daughter began baking in 4-H and more independently the past couple of years, she’s come up with her own specialties. I love to make sourdough and biscuits, and she has a special knack at making her famous cookie brownies with just the perfect consistency of soft and chewy with a crispy outside. We hope you’ll enjoy these recipes from our home to yours.

Sweet or Savory Sourdough

Ingredients:

8 ½ cups bread flour
3 ¾ cups tepid water
2 tsp salt
3 tbsp sourdough starter 

Optional ‘add-ins’: Berries, cheese, jalapenos, ground cinnamon, lemon or orange zests. For best results, research how to add it to the dough to see what’s the best amount for the end product. 

Directions:

Mix ingredients in a large bowl. If hand mixing, run hands under warm water to keep dough from sticking to them. Once the dough is mixed into a rounded form, cover it and let it sit for about 30 minutes or an hour. Come back to the dough, and fold it over itself a couple of times, and then cover it again and let it rise for at least another hour.  

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Prep two seasoned cast iron Dutch ovens for baking. Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough in half. Then fold in a minimal amount of the ‘optional add-ins’. Fold the dough over itself a couple times, add a sparse bit of the ‘add-ins’ and then fold over itself once more bringing the dough to a nice, rounded place, tucking in the sides to the base.  

Place in the Dutch ovens and cut a couple slits along the top. Cover and bake for about 30 minutes; remove the lid. Reduce the oven to 350 degrees and continue letting the bread bake until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on baking racks.   

Farmhouse Biscuits

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups self-rising flour
1 ¼ cups cream
¼ cup 7-up or Sprit 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease baking sheet.  Mix ingredients. The dough will be sticky, but when it forms a ball, pull it out and place it on a lightly floured counter. Use a little of the excess flour to pat the dough as it’s kneaded and folded over. Laminate the dough before rolling it out. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out dough and place on the baking sheet. Brush with butter or optional honey butter. Bake for 14 minutes. Remove and serve fresh from the oven. These can be frozen and thaw out great.  

Optional Cinnamon Honey-Butter: 

½ cup unsalted butter-1 stick of butter
¼ cup honey
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Mix ingredients and refrigerate prior to serving 

Katie’s Colossal Cookie Brownies 

 A combination of cookies and brownies in one dessert. Both are excellent on their own, but combine them for an extra burst of incredible flavors!  

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

½ cup butter
½ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla 
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
2 ½ cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips  

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, mix butter, shortening, eggs and vanilla. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Set aside until the brownies are mixed then follow the next steps.

Big Brownies

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
½ cup cocoa
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp vanilla
Splash of coffee
1 cup nuts-optional 

Directions:

In a bowl combine butter, eggs, vanilla and coffee, add the remaining ingredients. Mix well.  Pour the brownie mix into a greased pan (9 x 12) Dollop the chocolate chip dough across the top of the brownies. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool and serve with a heaping scoop of ice cream. 

Simple Spritz 

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp almond extract
2 ¼ cup flour, sifted
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
Optional: Food coloring 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Cream the shortening and sugar. Beat in the eggs, almond extract. (For colored cookies, add several drops of preferred color). Sift dry ingredients, then gradually blend those in and mix well. Fill a cookie press or form the cookies into a ball-push the center in with a finger and add sprinkles to the top. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove and cool on baker’s racks. Makes about 6-7 dozen.