Joanne Fluke Christmas Bundle: Sugar Cookie Murder, Candy Cane Murder, Plum Pudding Murder, & Gingerbread Cookie Murder (94 page)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position

1 cup regular semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup melted butter
(2 sticks,
½
pound)

¼ cup strong coffee

1 cup chopped pitted dates
(you can buy chopped dates, or sprinkle whole pitted dates with a bit of flour and then chop them in a food processor.)

1 ½ cups white
(granulated)
sugar

2 beaten eggs
(just whip them up with a fork)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
(measure after you chop them)

1 cup milk chocolate chips

3 ½ cups flour
(no need to sift)

Put the semi-sweet chocolate chips, butter and coffee in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave until they’re melted.
(Approximately 2 minutes on high.)
The chips may maintain their shapes, so stir until they’re smooth. Add the chopped dates, mix them in, and set the bowl aside.

Measure the sugar into a large mixing bowl, and stir in the beaten eggs. Add the vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Mix thoroughly.

Add the melted chocolate mixture to your bowl and then mix in the chopped nuts and the milk chocolate chips. Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition.

Let the dough sit for ten minutes or so, then drop dough by teaspoons onto a greased cookie sheet, twelve cookies to a standard sheet. Flatten the dough balls slightly on the sheet with the heel of your impeccably clean hand.
(If the dough is too sticky, chill it for a few minutes.)

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for a minute or two and then transfer to a wire rack to complete cooling.

Yield: Approximately 8 dozen cookies, depending on cookie size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position

This is Betty Jackson’s recipe. She says to tell you they’re the best bar cookie to eat if you’re on a diet, because they have only three-quarters of a cup of powdered sugar. (That’s true, but she’s forgetting about all the sugar in the can of pie filling.)

3 cups flour
(no need to sift)

1 ½ cups softened butter
(3 sticks,
¾
pound)

¾ cup powdered
(confectioner’s)
sugar
(don’t sift unless it’s got big lumps)

1 can
(21 ounces)
blueberry pie filling

FIRST STEP: Cream butter with powdered sugar and add flour. Mix well.

(You can also do this in a food processor using cold butter cut into chunks and the steel blade.)

Spread HALF of this mixture
(approx. 3
½
cups)
into a greased 9-inch by 13-inch pan.
(That’s a standard size rectangular cake pan.)

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven. DON’T TURN OFF THE OVEN!

Let the crust cool for 5 minutes.

SECOND STEP: Spread the pie filling over the top of the crust you just baked. Sprinkle it with the other half of the crust mixture you reserved and gently press it down with a metal spatula.

Bake the cookie bars for another 30 to 35 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden. Remove the pan to a wire rack.

Cool thoroughly and then cut into brownie-sized bars. If you like, sprinkle the bars with a little extra powdered sugar.

Preheat the oven to whatever it says on the package of brownie mix

I really have to apologize for this recipe. I don’t usually use packaged mixes, but the thought of putting hot peppers into my very best brownies made me queasy. At the time, I figured this was good enough to be on the front lines of the Brownie Wars. I wouldn’t have put this in the cookbook, but Mike and Bill, along with seven other deputies, begged me to do it.

1 package brownie mix
(any old kind will do)

4-ounce can diced jalapeno peppers

Prepare the pan and the brownie batter according to the package directions.

Drain the liquid from the can of jalapeno peppers.
(This could have a side benefit of clearing out your drain.)

Dump the peppers into the brownie batter and stir them around.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake according to the package directions.

Mike likes these with milk. Bill would rather cut a big square and top it off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Lonnie likes his with plain coffee (and that makes me think that he might be the right guy for Michelle.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position

A note from Hannah: This recipe, or a very close variant, was contributed by over a dozen Lake Eden women. They also contributed recipes for rhubarb pie, rhubarb bread, rhubarb cookies, rhubarb jam, rhubarb tarts, rhubarb cakes, and rhubarb sauce. We decided, in an emergency session of the cookbook committee, to include only one rhubarb recipe, since the cookbook will be distributed nationally and, believe it or not, there are some areas of the country where rhubarb doesn’t grow! Since so many Lake Eden ladies like this recipe, we chose it.

1 cup flour
(no need to sift)

½ cup white
(granulated)
sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup softened butter
(1 stick,
¼
pound)

1 beaten egg
(just whip it up in a glass with…)

1 Tablespoon milk

2 cups peeled finely diced rhubarb

1 small package
(3-ounce)
strawberry Jell-O
(regular, not sugar-free)

1 cup sugar

½ cup flour
(no need to sift)

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup softened butter
(
½
stick,
¹
/
₈
pound)

Mix the flour with the sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Cut in the softened butter
(mix in small amounts with a fork)
until the mixture is crumbly. Whip up the egg in a glass with the milk. Add the mix
ture to your work bowl and stir until it’s thoroughly incorporated.
(You can also do this in the food processor with chilled butter cut in pieces and the steel blade.)

Spray a 9-inch by 9-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.
(You can use an 8x8 pan, but it will be very full.)

Spread the mixture out in the bottom of the pan and press it down slightly with a spatula
(or your hands.)

Sprinkle the diced rhubarb over the top and sprinkle the Jell-O powder over that.

Put the cup of sugar, half-cup of flour, and cinnamon in your work bowl. Mix together and cut in the softened butter
(mix in small amounts with a fork)
until the resulting mixture is crumbly.
(You can also do this in the food processor with chilled butter cut in pieces and the steel blade.)

Scatter the crumb mixture over the top of the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 45 minutes, or until the rhubarb has cooked through and the topping is nice and brown.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack. When the cookie bars are thoroughly cool, cut them into brownie-sized pieces.

If you like them sweeter, dust them with powdered sugar.

These can be served warm, room temperature, or chilled.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position

Sally Laughlin’s mother, Francine, got this recipe from her friend Lois Melin.

2 pounds pecan halves

2 egg whites

dash of salt

1 cup white
(granulated)
sugar

½ cup melted butter
(1 stick,
¼
pound)

Spray two 9-inch by 13-inch cake pans with non-stick cooking spray. Divide pecans and put half in one pan, half in the other. Toast them at 325 degrees F., for 5 minutes.

Beat the two egg whites with the dash of salt until stiff but not dry. Fold in the sugar and then the toasted pecan halves.

Pour half of the melted butter in one pan and half in the other. Divide the nut mixture and put half in each pan. Fold the mixture into the melted butter with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Bake at 325 degrees F., uncovered, for 10 minutes. Stir.

Bake another 10 minutes. Stir.

Bake an additional 10 minutes. Stir.

Remove pans from the oven and spread the contents out on wax paper. Let cool slightly, and then separate. Cool completely.

Sally puts these in little tins and gives them as Christmas presents. They’re so good, you won’t be able to resist them.

This recipe is from Bonnie Surma, who says this is about as fancy (and easy) as she ever gets when it comes to desserts.

2 cups
(16-ounce package)
chocolate chips

Dried fruit
(apricots, peaches, dates, figs, and pears work best)

Melt the chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler and stir them until smooth.

Spread the fruit out on cookie sheets lined with wax paper.

Dip the fruit into the chocolate, coating half of the piece. Once dipped, place the fruit on the waxed paper.
(Pears look best if you dip the bottom half.)

Once all the fruit is dipped, refrigerate the cookie sheets for at least an hour. Take them out 30 minutes before you’re ready to serve.
(The chocolate is tastier if it’s not too cold.)
When it’s time to serve, arrange the fruit on a platter and serve with strong coffee for an elegant dessert.

Bonnie says to tell you that you can dip fresh strawberries in chocolate by this method. If you buy strawberries with the stems on, you can dip the whole berry. Otherwise, just pierce the top half of the berry with a toothpick and dip the bottom half.

Mother reports that Bonnie made a lovely platter for the Lake Eden Regency Romance Readers group last summer. It had strawberries dipped in milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, and white chocolate.

This recipe was contributed by Winthrop Harrington II. Even though Winthrop isn’t from Lake Eden, Mother is so it’s in.

1 dozen eggs

¼ cup white sugar

1 quart whole milk

1 pint Half & Half
(light cream)

1 pint whipping cream

2 cups brandy
(or rum, or whiskey of your choice)

Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Set aside.

Beat the whipping cream until it forms soft peaks. Fold it into the egg whites. Set the mixture aside.

Beat the egg yolks until light-colored and fluffy. Mix in the sugar, milk, Half & Half, and brandy. Fold into the cream/egg white mixture.

At this point, the eggnog can be refrigerated in a tightly covered pitcher for up to 12 hours.

To serve, stir the pitcher and then pour the eggnog into glass cups, if you have them. Dust the tops with freshly grated nutmeg, or cinnamon.

This is English Eggnog and it’s not as sweet as American Eggnog. Taste it after you’ve made it. If your family would like it sweeter add more sugar to taste.

To make the non-alcoholic version, add 2 additional cups of milk and 2 teaspoons of rum extract or vanilla extract.