Baking and Murder: Nothing Better

Joanne Fluke is the author of "fluffy" murder mysteries. I discovered her series when I borrowed Zach's mom's library card to get some books on Cd for my many drives to and from Ohio. I got a book on Cd called CreamPuff Murders by Joanne Fluke. It had the picture of a cartoon drawing creampuff on the front and I thought "what the heck".

The best part, in my opinion, is that within each book are 10 recipes. The heroine owns a bake shop, that is about all I will divulge, and she is constantly baking something, when she's not stumbling upon dead bodies. They all sound so good, the recipes that is. There are 13 books in this series and approx 130 recipes.

You can contact Joanne through her website Murder She Baked. Love the title of the website since I used to watch Murder She Wrote all the time with my mom. I did contact Joanne actually, to ask her if there were any plans for a cookbook in the future. A place to put all of her recipes from her books. I did this out of pure laziness, I don't want to hunt down all 13 books and write the recipes down. LOL

I would get them online but she only puts up one full recipe a month on her website and the rest are in the books. Suprisingly she answered my email within 24 hours and told me that she actually has part 1 of the cookbook coming out in October of 2011. Of course there are too many recipes for only 1 cookbook. I can't wait. I'm sure though that I will have most of the recipes by then, b/c even though I am lazy I am determined. :)

She also told me that her husband is her main guinea pig for her recipes and graciously tries them all. I would gladly volunteer as taste tester, but you probably would have to roll me away like Veruca Salt at the end of the year. :)

I love to bake. I am not one for regular cooking, I hate making breakfast and pretty much suck at dinner; but baking is a hobby of mine. I would love to open a bakery based on these recipes, I think that would be fun.

I wanted to share my favorite recipes from her books: Happy reading and Happy Baking


Boggles

4 sticks butter, melted
2 c brown sugar
2 c white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
4 c flour
3 c sweetened dried cranberries
3 c rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350.

Add sugars to the melted butter, stir together and let cool.

Add eggs, baking powder, baking soda, salt and vanilla.

Add flour and mix well. Add cranberries and oats and mix together.

Dough will be very stiff. Drop by teaspoonful onto a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then move to a wire rack.

Yield 10-12 dozen, depending on size.

Cream Puff Shells
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) UNSALTED butter
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup flour, packed down
4 eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. On medium heat in a small pot or sauce pan, pour in water.

Chop butter into pieces and put into water. Let it melt.

Add salt and sugar. Bring to a boil.

In a bowl, mix flour and baking powder.

Once water mixture is boiling, turn heat down to low and dump in flour/baking powder mixture. Stir quickly for about 30 seconds–mixture will form a dough ball.

Remove from heat and let the dough cool for about 20 minutes on the counter. Once dough is cool, break one egg and mix it into the dough until smooth.
Repeat with remaining eggs, one at a time until mixture has a smooth, taffy-like consistency–about 3-5 minutes with mixer. Don’t over mix.

For mini-cream puffs: drop a teaspoon of batter per puff on to the parchment-lined cookie sheet. You can fit 12-15 per sheet–don’t crowd them. Cook them for about 25-40 minutes depending on size; when you take them out of the oven, pierce the sides with sharp knife to prevent collapses.

If you’d like to make large puffs, cook them for about 55 minutes.
Let the puff shells cool away from drafts.
Yield 25-50 mini puffs or 10-14 large ones.

When they are cool, cut the top 1/3 off and remove any stringy dough. Fill with filling of your choice. The creampuff shells you can fill with any filling you want: vanilla pudding, chocolate pudding, pie filling (cherry, blueberry, apple)



Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 beaten eggs
2 cups corn flakes
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips

Melt butter, add the sugars, and mix.

Add soda, salt, vanilla and eggs. Mix well.

Crush the corn flakes with your fingers. (I measure mine, put them in a baggie, and squeeze them -- it's more fun than a stress ball.) Add the crushed corn flakes, flour, and chocolate chips, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

Place walnut-sized scoops of dough on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard-sized sheet. Flatten them slightly with a floured or greased fork in a crisscross pattern.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Remove the cookies to a wire rack to complete cooling. (The rack makes them crunchy.)


Peanut Butter Melts

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method ------

1 cup melted butter
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tbs molasses - coat spoon with non stick cooking spray
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup peanut butter -- (either smooth or crunchy- your choice)
2 beaten eggs -- (just whip them up with a fork)
2 1/2 cups flour -- (no need to sift)

Preheat oven to 375°F, rack in the middle position

Microwave the butter in a microwave-safe mixing bowl to melt it.

Add the sugar, vanilla, and molasses.

Stir until it's blended, then add the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.

Measure out the peanut butter. (I spray the inside of my measuring cup with Pam so it won't stick.) Add it to the bowl and mix it in.

Pour in the beaten eggs and stir. Then add the flour, and mix until all the ingredients are thoroughly blended.

Form the dough into walnut-sized balls and arrange them on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. (If the dough is too sticky to form into balls, chill it for a few minutes and try again.)

Flatten the balls with a fork in a crisscross pattern. (If the fork sticks, either spray it with Pam or dip it in flour.)

Bake at 375°F for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn golden. Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.



Mini Cheeseburger Cookies I don't have the recipe for this particular cookie but I know it's made with store bought cookies and you make homemade butter-cream icing that you color. I think these little cookies would be so much fun at a child's birthday part.