In June 2020, Kayla suggested that we start a book club. It sounded like a lot of fun. 2020 has not been the best year, to say the least, so this was a great way to keep ourselves busy, and give us something to talk about on a monthly meet up. 🙂
We decided to start with the Hannah Swensen murder mystery series by Joanne Fluke. Kayla and I have always liked the Hallmark movie series that was based on these books since the main character owns a bakery – The Cookie Jar, and they weave a lot of baking into the storyline. Grandma Pam also liked the Hallmark movie, but hadn’t seen as many in the series as Kayla and I have. The books contain a lot of recipes that we thought would make the books interesting as well.
Book 1: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
Book 1 discussion 7/12/2020: We all like this book. I think that we figured out who the murderer was about the same place in the book. We all enjoyed reading the recipes that were inside the book.
The character introduction was at the initial stages, and I was surprised how late in the book the Mike character was introduced (compared to the Hallmark movie). Hannah’s brother-in-law, Bill, took a bigger role in this mystery than he did in the movie version.
This book had a short story at the end called “Candy for Christmas” that was super cute. It wasn’t a mystery, but just a nice Christmas story about a runaway named Candy that Hannah befriends and helps. However, after the short story, there was also a excerpt from the 26th book in the series that Kayla and Grandma both read by accident; they both said that it gave away a huge spoiler, and really shouldn’t have been included at the end of the first book in the series.
Grandma Pam made the Chocolate Chip Crunch cookie recipe from the book- the full recipe was a lot of cookies (4 dozen), so I halved the recipe to add it below. She said the cookies were good, but not as good as regular chocolate chip cookies. The cookies turned out chewy (like oatmeal cookies)….not crispy. She said she cooled 1/2 of them on a wire rack as per the instructions, but they were the same texture as the ones she cooled on aluminum foil.
All 3 of us enjoyed the book, and decided to read the second book in the series next.
Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter ( 1 stick, melted)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 eggs (beaten with a fork)
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 cup crushed corn flakes
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Melt butter. Add the sugars, and stir.
- Add soda, salt, vanilla, and beaten eggs. Mix well.
- Then add flour and stir it in.
- Add crushed corn flakes and chocolate chips and mix it all thoroughly.
- Form dough into walnut-sized balls with your fingers, and place on a cookie sheet. Press them down slightly with a floured spatula.
- Bake 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
- Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack until they’re completely cool.
Book 2: Strawberry Shortcake Murder
Book 2 Discussion 08/01/2020: We all liked this book, but all agreed that the mystery in this book wasn’t as strong as the first book. However, we did all enjoy the character development in this 2nd book of the series. There is a lot of more detail about the town, and some of the interesting establishments in their small town in Minnesota. We also enjoyed the storyline around her cat, Moishe. For example- how Hannah had to bungee cord her pantry shut, but he half chewed through the cord to get to his kitty krunchies. The story still seems to mostly revolve around Hannah and her sister, Andrea, solving the mystery together, and there is not a lot of interaction with her romantic interests, Mike and Norman.
Kayla thought that the Strawberry Shortcake recipe sounded really good (we all agreed!). Grandma Pam thought that the Chocolate Highlander Cookie Bars sounded good (and I agree- it would be my 2nd choice for a recipe to make from this book!). But I decided to make the Cocoa Snaps recipe from the book. I did substitute Earth Balance buttery sticks for the butter, and I halved the recipe (so I would only have 2 dozen cookies instead of 4 dozen). The cookies were good, but Glenn and I felt like the cookies were ‘missing’ something (it may have to do with the butter substitution- that might have changed the flavor just enough to make them a bit bland). Also, I usually add a few tablespoons extra flour to cookie recipes due to the high altitude in Colorado, but I think that might have been a mistake to add the extra flour with these cookies. They didn’t turn out crispy (I thought with “Snap” in the name they would be crispy); they were a bit brownie like. These cookies don’t spread at all… however flat you make them before putting them in the oven is exactly how they will look after they are baked. They are a ‘snap’ to make, though! 😉
Cocoa Snaps
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup melted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
- 1 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg (beaten with a fork)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (in a small bowl for later)
Instructions
To Make the Dough:
- Melt butter
- Mix in cocoa until thoroughly blended.
- Add brown sugar and blend well
- Let it cool slightly, then mix in the beaten egg.
- Add soda, salt, and vanilla. Stir.
- Add flour and mix thoroughly.
- Chill dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (or overnight)
To Bake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Make sure rack is in the middle of the oven.
- Roll dough into walnut-sized balls
- Only roll enough for the cookies you plan to bake immediately, and return the bowl of dough to the refrigerator.
- Roll the dough balls in the bowl of granulated sugar and place them on cookie sheets
- Flatten the cookies with a spatula or the heel of your (clean) hand.
- Bake at 250 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes, and then place cookies on wire rack to finish cooling.