Kids Cook Agape Recipes

Last week, five of our St. Mark’s children cooked up a feast for our weekly Agape! We made raspberry brownies, quiche cups, and pesto turkey puffs. Here are the recipes we used!

You may notice these recipes don’t include measurements – we make them for a large group, so if you’re cooking these at home, our quantities will be much too much! Since we are cooking, not baking, it is OK to guess-timate and use a general sense of how much you’ll need for the people you’re serving. Adjust for your preferences!

Raspberry Brownies

Ingredients & Materials:
-1 box of dark chocolate brownie mix
-Whatever the boxed mix calls for (usually eggs & vegetable oil)
-1 small package of frozen raspberries
-Brownie pan
-Large bowl
-Mixing spoon
-Paper towel

Instructions:
-Preheat the oven according to the boxed mix instructions
-In the large bowl, mix the boxed mix according to the instructions
-Remove the frozen raspberries from the freezer. Smash the bag on the counter a few times to break up the raspberries.
-Open the bag of frozen raspberries. Pour them into the bowl of brownie mix and stir to combine.
-Using the vegetable oil and a paper towel, rub the brownie pan with a bit of the oil to “grease” it
-Bake according to boxed mix instructions

Special Notes:
-Some people don’t like the feeling of raspberry seeds in their teeth. You can heat the frozen raspberries in a pan on the stove, then strain them through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds. You can also use pre-bought raspberry jam without seeds.
-Adding the raspberries to the boxed mix will create more “gooey” brownies. If you don’t want this to happen, you can try reducing the liquid in the recipe, or baking them for longer. Or, embrace the gooey-ness and eat them with a spoon or use them as a topping for vanilla ice cream!

Quiche Cups

Ingredients & Materials:
-Eggs
-Miniature tortillas
-Heavy cream, milk, or sour cream
-Shredded cheddar cheese
-Onions
-Bell peppers (or any other quiche-y vegetables you like, such as broccoli, spinach, zucchini, etc!)
-Spices (we used paprika, salt, pepper, chili powder, and cumin)
-Cutting boards
-Sharp knives
-Muffin tins
-Muffin cups
-Large bowl
-Mixing spoon & fork
-Ladle

Instructions:
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees
-Place muffin cups in the muffin tins
-Fold mini tortillas into cone shapes and set one in each muffin cup.
-Crack eggs into a large bowl. (If little hands are helping, have them crack eggs into a separate bowl individually, then pour them into the large bowl once any eggshell is removed.)
-Using a fork, mix all the eggs up
-Add a small amount of sour cream or milk and stir in
-Wash and dice your bell peppers, onions, and other vegetables
-Add your diced vegetables and spices to the bowl of eggs
-Ladle the egg and veggie mixture into the tortilla cups
-Sprinkle cheddar cheese over top of each cup
-Bake for 10-15 minutes, until a fork poked in comes out without raw egg on it

Special Notes:
-To make these dairy free, you can omit the milk/sour cream and cheddar cheese.
-To make a gluten free version, bake without the tortillas for a “frittata” style version. You could also try using corn tortillas, but they tear much more easily and may not fold well into the muffin cups.
-For a special twist on this recipe, try dicing your veggies ahead of time, tossing them with a bit of oil and salt, and roasting them on a tray in the oven before adding them to your quiches. This takes extra time but improves the flavor and texture!
-Add more protein by including diced sausage, crumbled bacon, or shredded chicken.
-Recipe inspiration was taken from here.

Pesto Puffs

Ingredients & Materials:
-Tubes of pre-made biscuit dough
-Jarred pesto sauce
-Shredded mozzarella cheese
-Chopped sun dried tomatoes
-Rotisserie or deli chicken or turkey
-Spices (we used salt, pepper, italian spices, oregano, and rosemary)
-Baking tray
-Parchment paper or aluminum foil
-Large mixing bowl
-Mixing spoon
-Cutting board
-Sharp knife
-Fork

Instructions:
-Preheat the oven according to the biscuit dough instructions
-Line baking tray with parchment paper or aluminum foil
-Open the biscuit dough tubes. Remove each biscuit and peel it in half.
-Using your fingers, gently press and stretch each biscuit half to make it thinner and larger. (Tip: this is much easier once the dough has been out of the fridge for a bit!)
-Take your meat and shred or dice it. If you have a rotisserie chicken, use forks to remove and shred the meat. If you have deli meat, use a knife to chop it up.
-Shred the mozzarella cheese and dice up the sun dried tomatoes. (You can skip this step if you bought these ingredients pre-shredded and chopped.)
-In a large bowl, combine: pesto sauce, shredded cheese, sundried tomatoes, spices, and meat. (If you’re also making a vegetarian version, leave some mixture without meat added in.)
-Add a small scoop of your filling mixture to one of your biscuit dough circles.
-Fold the biscuit dough over, then use a fork to “crimp” the edges closed. (Tip: this works much better if the fork has a bit of oil on it, so dip it in the pesto mixture first!)
-Bake according to biscuit dough instructions.

Special Notes:
-Most pre-made pesto sauce includes some variety of tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, or pine nuts are most common). Be sure to let folks know about potential allergens or choose one without these ingredients.
-These are nearly impossible to make gluten-free or dairy-free, given that most pre-made pesto sauce includes parmesan cheese and the pre-made biscuit dough will have gluten and may have dairy.