Since the Hannah Swensen Mystery series debuted in 2000 with Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, Joanne Fluke has been serving criminally delicious recipes with her murder mysteries for 20 years. Her latest release Coconut Layer Cake Murder is no different, with over 20 recipes included in between chapters of murder and mayhem, as Cookie Jar owner and baker Hannah Swensen must prove her sister’s boyfriend’s innocence in a crime—which is harder than figuring out what went wrong with a recipe.
From cakes to cookies to muffins, murder isn’t exclusive to one dessert. Below are five recipes from the Hannah Swensen Mystery series that will satisfy any sweet tooth!
CINNAMON AND RAISIN SNAP COOKIES
From Coconut Layer Cake Murder (2020)
DO NOT preheat your oven quite yet—this dough needs to chill before you bake it.
Ingredients:
1 cup raisins (either brown or golden)
1/4 cup rum (I used white Bacardi)
2 cups salted, melted butter (4 sticks)
2 cups brown sugar (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
1 cup white (granulated) sugar
2 large eggs, beaten (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar (critical!)
1 teaspoon salt
4 and 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it.)
Dough ball rolling mixture:
1⁄2 cup white (granulated) sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1⁄8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (freshly grated is best)
Hannah’s 1st Note: If you’re making these cookies for children or if you don’t want to use rum, simply substitute water for the rum and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract for flavor.
Place the raisins in a microwave-safe bowl that will hold 2 cups.
Pour the quarter-cup rum over the top of the raisins.
Heat the raisin and rum mixture for 2 minutes on HIGH.
Let it sit in the microwave for 1 minute and then take it out and remove it to a pot holder or towel on your kitchen counter.
Cover the bowl containing the raisins and rum with a sheet of foil to keep the heat in. The raisins will plump up while you’re mixing up the rest of your cookie dough.
Place the 4 sticks of butter in another microwave-safe bowl. Melt the butter in the microwave for 2 minutes on HIGH. Let the melted butter sit in the microwave for another minute and then remove it to another pot holder or towel on your kitchen counter.
Add the sugars and mix. Let the mixture cool to room temperature while you beat the eggs and then stir them in.
Add the vanilla, cinnamon, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix well. Add flour in increments, mixing after each addition.
Use your hands to roll the dough in walnut-size balls. (If dough is too sticky, chill for an hour before rolling.)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl to make the dough ball rolling mixture. (Mixing it with a fork works nicely.) Roll the dough balls in the mixture and place them on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. Flatten the dough balls with a greased spatula.
Bake at 350°F. for 10–15 minutes. (They should have a touch of gold around the edges.) Cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove the cookies to a rack to finish cooling.
Yield: Approximately 8 dozen, depending on cookie size.
PINEAPPLE AND WALNUT MUFFINS
From Chocolate Cream Pie Murder (2019)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
Ingredients
The Batter:
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained (measure AFTER draining and patting dry)
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup white (granulated) sugar
3⁄4 cup salted butter (1 and 1⁄2 sticks, 6 ounces)
2 beaten eggs (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
1⁄2 cup whole milk
1⁄2 cup finely chopped walnuts (measure AFTER chopping)
Crumb Topping:
1⁄2 cup white (granulated) sugar
1⁄3 cup all-purpose flour
1⁄4 cup salted butter (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) softened to room temperature
Grease the bottoms only of a 12-cup muffin pan (or line the cups with double cupcake papers—that’s what I do at The Cookie Jar).
If you haven’t done so already, put the crushed pineapple in a strainer with a small bowl underneath it. Press it down with the back of a mixing spoon, trying to get out as much juice as you can.
Pour the drained juice in a refrigerator container and save it for someone who likes to drink pineapple juice. Once you’ve completely drained your pineapple, measure out 1 cup of pineapple and place it in a small bowl.
Sprinkle the crushed, drained pineapple with 1 Tablespoon of the all-purpose flour. Then mix the flour with the pineapple. (The flour will help to soak up any moisture left in your crushed pineapple.)
Get out a medium-size mixing bowl and a wooden spoon if you intend to make this recipe by hand, but you can use an electric stand mixer or a hand-held mixer from this point on if you wish.
Place the white (granulated) sugar in the bottom of the mixing bowl.
Add the softened, salted butter and mix it with the sugar. Mix until the ingredients are light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, mixing them in thoroughly until they are well incorporated.
Sprinkle in the baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Mix them in thoroughly.
Add HALF of the all-purpose flour to a mixing bowl and mix it in with HALF of the whole milk.
Add the remaining flour and the remaining milk. Mix until everything is thoroughly blended.
Mix in the crushed pineapple and the finely chopped walnuts by hand.
Fill the muffin cups three-quarters full and set them aside. If you have batter left over, grease the bottom of a small tea bread loaf pan and fill it with your remaining batter.
Crumb Topping:
Mix the sugar and the flour in a small bowl. Add the butter and cut it in until it’s crumbly. (You can also do this in a food processor with chilled butter and the steel blade by processing in an on-and-off motion.)
Hannah’s Note: If your topping isn’t crumbly enough, just put it in a plastic bag and stick it in the freezer of your refrigerator for 5 minutes or so. That should be enough to make it crumble in your fingers.
Fill the remaining space in the muffin cups with the crumb topping. Then bake the muffins in a 375 degree F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes. (The tea bread should bake about 10 minutes longer than the muffins.)
When your muffins are baked, set the muffin pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes. (The muffins need to cool in the pan for easy removal.) Then just tip them out of the cups and enjoy.
These are wonderful when they’re slightly warm, but they’re also good cold.
Yield: 12 muffins and perhaps a tea bread.
RASPBERRY DANISH
From Raspberry Danish Murder (2018)
DO NOT preheat your oven yet. You must do some preparation first.
Hannah’s 1st Note: Frozen puff pastry dough is good for all sorts of things. When you buy it for this recipe, buy 2 packages. You’ll only use one package in this recipe, but keep that second package in your freezer for later. Thaw it when you want to dress up leftovers by putting them inside little puff pastry packets and baking them, or make some turnovers from fresh fruit. Puff pastry can also be used for appetizers.
Ingredients
The Pastry:
One 17.5-ounce package frozen puff pastry dough (I used Pepperidge Farm, which contains 2 sheets of puff pastry)
1 large egg
1 Tablespoon water (right out of the tap is fine)
White (granulated) sugar to sprinkle on top
The Raspberry Sauce:
3⁄4 cup fresh raspberries (you can also use frozen, but you’ll have to thaw them and dry them with paper towels so they won’t have an excess of juice)
2 Tablespoons water (right out of the tap is fine)
1⁄4 teaspoon ground cardamom (if you don’t have it, use cinnamon)
1 and 1⁄2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1⁄2 cup white (granulated) sugar
The Cream Cheese Filling:
8-ounce package brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature (I used Philadelphia)
1⁄3 cup white (granulated) sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla extract
The Drizzle Frosting:
1 and 1⁄4 cups powdered (confectioners) sugar (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
1⁄4 cup whipping cream (that’s heavy cream, not Half & Half)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1⁄8 teaspoon salt
Thaw both sheets of puff pastry dough according to package directions. Do this on a floured surface (I used a bread board). To prepare the surface, sprinkle on a little flour and spread it around with your impeccably clean palms.
While your puff pastry sheets are thawing, make the raspberry sauce.
In a medium-size saucepan, combine the raspberries with the water.
In a small bowl, combine the cardamom, cornstarch, and sugar. Stir with a fork until they are thoroughly mixed.
Sprinkle the contents of the bowl on top of the raspberries and water in the saucepan. Stir everything together until all the ingredients are well mixed.
Cook the contents on the stovetop at MEDIUM HIGH heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture reaches a full boil. Continue to stir for 2 minutes. Then pull the saucepan over to a cold burner, turn off the burner you used, and let the raspberry sauce cool to room temperature.
While your raspberry sauce is cooling, make the cream cheese filling.
In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the softened cream cheese with the sugar and the vanilla extract. Beat the mixture until it is smooth and creamy. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it on the counter.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: If your forgot to soften your cream cheese, you can do it by unwrapping the cream cheese, placing it in a microwave-safe bowl and nuking it for 10 seconds or so in the microwave.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: You will not be making the Drizzle Frosting yet. You will do this after your Raspberry Danish are baked and cooling on racks.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
While your oven is preheating, prepare 2 baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
Check your sheet of puff pastry to see if it is thawed. If it is, it’s time to prepare it to receive its yummy contents.
Unfold one sheet of puff pastry on your floured board. Sprinkle a little flour on a rolling pin and roll your puff pastry out to a twelve-inch square.
Hannah’s 4th Note: I use a ruler to make sure I have a 12-inch square when I’m through.
Use a sharp knife to make one horizontal cut through the middle of the square and one vertical cut through the middle of the square. This will divide it into 4 equal (or nearly equal) pieces.
Break the egg into a cup. Add 1 Tablespoon of water and whisk it up. This will be your egg wash.
Transfer one of your cut squares of puff pastry to your prepared cookie sheet.
Use a pastry brush to brush the inside edges of the square with the egg wash. This will make the edges stick together when you fold the dough over the cream cheese and raspberry sauce.
Measure out 1⁄4 cup of the cream cheese filling and place it in the center of the square.
Spread the cream cheese over the square evenly to within 1⁄2 inch of the edges.
Spread 2 Tablespoons of the raspberry sauce over the cream cheese.
Pick up one corner of the square and pull it over the filling to cover just a little over half of the filling. Then pick up the opposite corner and pull that over to overlap the first corner.
Since the egg wash you used on the square of puff pastry dough acts as a glue, that second corner should stick to the first corner. If it doesn’t, simply use a little more of the egg wash to stick the two overlapping corners together.
Hannah’s 5th Note: This sounds difficult, but it’s not. You’ll catch on fast once you complete the first one. It takes much longer to explain than it does to actually do it.
When you’ve completed the first of the 4 squares, cut your second sheet of puff pastry and repeat the process to complete those.
Once you have all 8 Raspberry Danish on the cookie sheets, brush the top of the pastry with more egg wash and sprinkle on a little granulated sugar.
Bake your Raspberry Danish at 375 degrees F., for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they’re golden brown on top.
Remove the cookie sheet from the oven to a wire rack and let the pastries cool for 10 minutes. While your Raspberry Danish are cooling, make the Frosting Drizzle.
Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl and mix it with the cream, vanilla extract, and salt. Continue to mix until it’s smooth and thoroughly combined.
Use your favorite method to drizzle frosting over the tops of your Raspberry Danish. A pastry bag (or a plastic bag with one of the corners snipped off) works well for this.
Hannah’s 6th Note: If you don’t want to use a pastry bag to do this, simply mix in a little more cream so that the frosting will drizzle off the tip of a spoon held over the pastries.
When all the Raspberry Danish have been decorated with the frosting drizzle, pull the parchment paper and the Raspberry Danish off the cookie sheet and back onto the same wire rack.
These pastries are delicious eaten while slightly warm. They’re also good cold.
If any of your Raspberry Danish are left over (I don’t think this will happen!), wrap them loosely in wax paper and keep them in a cool place.
BROWNIE CANDY
From Banana Cream Pie Murder (2017)
DO NOT preheat oven. This dessert needs NO baking!
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces, 1⁄2 pound) salted butter, softened
1 cup cashew butter
1 pound powdered (confectioners) sugar
1 and 1⁄2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers (I used Nabisco Nilla wafers)
1 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips (6-ounce by weight bag is fine)
Hannah’s 1st Note: Take the 2 sticks of butter out of the refrigerator, unwrap them, and put them in a covered mixing bowl the night before you want to make this Brownie Candy. They’ll be nice and soft in the morning.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: I chop my vanilla wafers in the food processor with the steel blade in an on-and-off motion. If you don’t have a food processor, put them in a sealable plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Just make sure they’re finely crushed.
In a medium-size mixing bowl, mix the salted butter with the cashew butter. A wooden spoon works well for this. Continue to mix until the mixture is smooth, creamy, and thoroughly incorporated.
Add the powdered sugar to your bowl. There’s no need to sift unless it’s got big lumps. Stir until the powdered sugar is thoroughly incorporated.
Measure out a cup and a half of crushed vanilla wafers and add them to your bowl. Mix until you have a homogenous mixture.
Spray the bottom of a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray. Alternatively, you can line the pan with heavy duty aluminum foil and spray that.
Dump the butter, cashew butter, powdered sugar, and crushed vanilla wafer mixture into the cake pan and pat it out as evenly as you can in the bottom.
Melt the chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler over MEDIUM heat or in a heavy metal saucepan on LOW heat, stirring constantly.
Alternatively, you can melt the chips in the microwave by placing them in a small microwave-safe bowl or Pyrex 2-cup measuring cup and heating them on HIGH for 1 minute. At the end of that time, let them stand in the microwave for 1 minute and then try to stir them smooth. If there are still lumps, heat them in 20-second intervals with 20-second standing times until you can stir them smooth.
With a heat resistant spatula, spread the melted chocolate on top of the mixture in the cake pan. Spread it out as evenly as possible.
Place the pan in the refrigerator until the Brownie Candy is firm. This will take at least 2 hours.
When your dessert is firm and the chocolate on top has hardened, take the cake pan out of the refrigerator and cut your dessert into brownie-sized pieces.
Yield: Approximately 24 to 36 pieces, depending on cutting size.
PEANUT BUTTER POTATO CHIP COOKIES
From Wedding Cake Murder (2016)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
The following recipe can be doubled if you wish. Do not, however, double the baking soda. Use one and a half teaspoons.
Ingredients
1 cup softened butter (2 sticks, 1⁄2 pound, 8 ounces)
2 cups white (granulated) sugar
3 Tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 beaten eggs (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)
2 cups crushed salted potato chips (measure AFTER crushing) (I used regular thin unflavored Lay’s potato chips)
2 and 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
1 and 1⁄2 cups peanut butter chips (I used Reese’s, a 10-ounce by weight bag. I know that’s close to 2 cups, but I like lots of peanut butter chips in these cookies)
Lisa’s Note: The butter in this recipe should be at room temperature unless you have an un-insulated kitchen and it’s winter in Minnesota. In that case, you’d better soften it a little.
Hannah’s 1st Note: 5 to 6 cups of whole potato chips will crush down into about 2 cups. Crush them by hand in a plastic bag, not with a food processor. They should be the size of coarse gravel when they’re crushed.
Mix the softened butter with the white sugar and the molasses. Beat them until the mixture is light and fluffy, and the molasses is completely mixed in.
Add the vanilla and baking soda. Mix them in thoroughly. Break the eggs into a glass and whip them up with a fork. Add them to your bowl and mix until they’re thoroughly incorporated.
Put your potato chips in a closeable plastic bag. Seal it carefully (you don’t want crumbs all over your counter) and place the bag on a flat surface. Get out your rolling pin and roll it over the bag, crushing the potato chips inside. Do this until the pieces resemble coarse gravel. (If you crush them too much, you won’t have any crunch—crunch is good in these cookies.)
Measure out 2 cups of crushed potato chips and mix them into the dough in your bowl. Add one cup of flour and mix it in. Then add the second cup of flour and mix thoroughly. Add the final half cup of flour and mix that in.
Measure out a cup and a half of peanut butter chips and add them to your cookie dough. If you’re using an electric mixer, mix them in at the slowest speed. You can also take the bowl out of the mixer and stir in the chips by hand.
Let the dough sit on the counter while you prepare your cookie sheets. Spray your cookie sheets with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or line them with parchment paper, leaving little “ears” at the top and bottom. That way, when your cookies are baked, you can pull the paper, baked cookies and all, over onto a wire rack to cool.
Drop the dough by rounded teaspoons onto your cookie sheets, 12 cookies on each standard-sized sheet.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: I used a 2-teaspoon cookie scoop at The Cookie Jar. It’s faster than doing it with a spoon.
Bake your Peanut Butter Potato Chip Cookies at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until nicely browned. (Mine took 11 minutes.)
Let the cookies cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet and then remove them with a metal spatula. Transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Yield: Approximately 5 dozen wonderfully chewy, salty and soft cookies that are sure to please everyone who tastes them.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: DO NOT bake these for anyone with a peanut allergy!
Lisa’s Note: These cookies travel well. If you want to send them to a friend, just stack them, roll them up like coins in foil, and cushion the cookie rolls between layers of Styrofoam peanuts, or bubble wrap.
