Scrumptious S’mores Cookie Bars, #Recipe #Giveaway @AuthorDarciHannah

Darci Hannah: Today I’m celebrating the launch of the 7th book in my Beacon Bakeshop mystery series, MURDER AT THE CAMPFIRE COOKOUT! Every time I get the opportunity to write another Beacon Bakeshop mystery, I feel like I’m visiting my best friends. Seven books ago, Lindsey Bakewell and her lovable Newfoundland dog, Wellington, popped onto the page when I began to write my first Beacon Bakeshop mystery, MURDER AT THE BEACON BAKESHOP. That was six years ago, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know Lindsey, her best friend Kennedy Kapoor, her hunky boyfriend, Rory Campbell, and Officer Tuck McAllister, Beacon Harbor’s hottest man in uniform, through all their adventures and misadventures in the charming lakeside village of Beacon Harbor, Michigan. When I started writing this book, I was told that my publisher was going to end the series with Campfire Cookout, simply because these books are published in the mass market format, and bookstores no longer wish to carry mass market books. The argument was made that if bookstores no longer carry these books, sales will go down, and that’s not good news for any author! If you’re a fan of this series, you might have heard the news as well. The Beacon Bakeshop mystery series is ending!

Naturally, I was devastated by the thought of ending my beloved series. However, just as I was told it was prudent to end the series with #7, I was also asked to relaunch the series with the same characters, same setting, but a slightly new hook so that it could be printed in a more bookstore-friendly format. Now, I don’t pretend to know all the ins and outs of the publishing industry, and I was slightly confused by what they were asking me to do. Yet after a long conversation with my agent, it suddenly dawned on me that the adventures in Beacon Harbor were not going away. They are simply being repackaged and given a slightly new focus in order to weather the fickle nature of the book industry. It was great news indeed!

I am so delighted to share this last Beacon Bakeshop mystery with you. I’ve always known that I wanted to bring Lindsey and her friends on a camping trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for the adventure of a lifetime, and this was the perfect opportunity to do just that. The setting in Campfire Cookout is as stunning as it is isolating, and the ladies from Beacon Harbor are way out of their element in this mystery. However, even characters in a book need to be pushed outside their comfort zone in order to grow and do a little soul-searching. Like a good tale told around a campfire, this book is a little spookier than the others in the series, but if you push through to the end, you just might get a little hint at what’s in store for Lindsey and her friends in books to come. I hope you enjoy MURDER AT THE CAMPFIRE COOKOUT as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it!

 

Here's one of my favorite recipes from the book.

Scrumptious S’mores Cookie Bars

Prep time: 15 minutes. Cook Time: 25 minutes. Makes 16 bars.

Ingredients:

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Small jar (7.5 oz) marshmallow cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line and 9 x 9 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar, about 2 minutes, then add the egg and vanilla, mixing until creamy. Gently incorporate the flour mixture into the butter mixture until a soft dough forms. Gently press half the dough into the prepared pan. 

Using a spoon, dollop enough of the marshmallow cream to cover the bottom crust. Use as much as you need, then gently spread it until smooth. Next, sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the marshmallow cream. 

On a piece of parchment paper, roll out the remaining dough to about 1/8 inch thick, and to roughly the size of the pan. You can use your hands for this, or a rolling pin. You might need to spray your hands or the rolling pin with non-stick cooking spray to keep the dough from sticking. Using a knife, cut dough into 2-inch squares and lay them as best as you can on top of the chocolate chip layer. There will be space between them, but that’s okay. You want a little marshmallow and chocolate poking out. 

Once done, put pan into the preheated oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely. Enjoy!

Print your copy here!

I’m giving away a copy of MURDER AT THE CAMPFIRE COOKOUT to one lucky winner.

Please tell me in the comments below if you’ve ever been camping. If so, what’s your favorite thing to make on a campout?

*Don’t forget to include your email in your comment.

**Continental U.S. only please!

Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you. 

Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com

Instagram: @authordarcihannah

Facebook: @Author Darci Hannah

Murder at the Campfire Cookout

By Darci Hannah

Book #7 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series

 

GET YOUR COPY TODAY! 

When Lindsey Bakewell leaves behind her lighthouse bakeshop, her boyfriend, Rory, and her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, for a glamping trip with her mother in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the bears leave them alone—but a killer doesn’t. . .

Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.

Far from roughing it, the ladies will be warm and cozy in chic vintage campers. Ellie insists Lindsey come along to win the campfire cookout contest. Campfire cooking has come a long way from bacon and beans. Soon Lindsey is making pizza, berry cobbler, and gooey Carmelita camping bars.

But the festive spirit is soon dampened when a body is found in Ellie’s camper. It seems like an accidental death until everyone’s tires are slashed and it’s clear the glampsite has become a crime scene. With no cell service to call for help, it’s up to Lindsey to smoke out the killer around the campfire . . .

Because no one is out of the woods yet.

A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle

By Darci Hannah

Book #2 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series

 

PURCHASE YOUR COPY TODAY!

When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases . . .

Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well. 

After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .

A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor

By Darci Hannah

Book #1 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series

 

PURCHASE YOUR COPY TODAY!

https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496747457/a-fatal-feast-at-bramsford-manor/

While filming at a haunted English manor, chef Bunny MacBride’s big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder in Darci Hannah’s new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series . . .

It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. For their first episode, the Food & Spirits team sets off to investigate Bramsford Manor, a historic house turned famously haunted hotel, in picturesque Hampshire, England. The sprawling estate is said to be home to the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died in the 18th century, the victim of a tragic accident on her Christmas wedding night.

Bunny leaves the spectral search to the pros and focuses on the feast, creating a traditional English holiday wedding dinner, complete with a gorgeous prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and rustic apple tarts. But Bunny’s task is made more difficult when someone steals a boning knife from her custom kit. Alas, when the blade finally turns up again—in the chest of an all-too-human dinner guest—Bunny’s woes only grow as she is named a lead suspect in the case! Now, with a haunted house full of living residents, staff, and crew, Bunny will need the help of Brett, Giff, and her clairvoyant Grandma Mac, to solve this murder before the manor gains another ghost!

Sally’s Strawberry Roll-up Cake for a Celebration @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: Whoo-hoo! Time for a celebration--and that means cake! I have two books coming out this month, the paperback edition of THE MANGO MURDERS, and the hardcover and ebook editions of book 16 in the Key West food critic mysteries, A DELICIOUS DECEPTION. This cake, while a little fussy, was the perfect celebratory treat. You could also use it for our country’s 250th anniversary—just add some decorative blueberries! The recipe started on Sally’s Baking Addiction, but I tweaked it to make the production a little easier on the chef.

Ingredients for the cake

Four large eggs, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons whole milk

2 teaspoon teaspoons vanilla extract

One cup cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons confectioners sugar for dusting

Separate the eggs into two bowls. Beat the egg whites with 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar until stiff peaks appear.

In the second bowl, beat the egg yolks with the remaining half cup sugar, the whole milk, and the vanilla extract, until thick and light.

Gradually fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Using a fine mesh sieve, sift the cake, flour, baking soda and salt into the batter. Mix gently until just combined.

Ahead of time, prepare a 10 x 15” baking pan. Butter the pan, add a piece of parchment paper over top, and butter that too. Meanwhile, sift the 2 tablespoons of confectioners sugar onto a thin tea towel or a piece of parchment. (You will use this for rolling the cake.)

Bake the batter in the prepared pan for 15 to 16 minutes. When the cake is done, flip it onto the sugared cloth or parchment, and carefully roll it up. Let rest until cool. (This step shapes the cake so it doesn’t break later.) Meanwhile, prepare the filling. 

Ingredients for the filling

8 oz cream cheese

1 cup freeze dried strawberries, making 1/2 cup ground  

1 cup heavy cream

1.5 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Fresh strawberries for decoration, optional but recommended 

Grind the cup of freeze dried strawberries, then drop in the cream cheese. Whip this until combined—the cream cheese will be a lovely pink color. Add the sugar and vanilla, pulse those in until combined.

Whip the heavy cream until thick, and gently fold this into the cream cheese mixture.

Unroll the cooled cake and spread it with cream cheese frosting. Cover the frosting with thin slices of strawberry. Roll the cake with frosting back up. Use the remaining frosting to decorate, along with leftover strawberries. (I had every intention of learning to pipe the icing into roses, but ran out of time!)

This makes a good sized and beautiful cake. Leftovers should be refrigerated and can be frozen. (We only had one piece left and I had my doubts, but it still tasted amazing!)

A DELICIOUS DECEPTION, coming July 14 at a bookstore near you!

Book 15 in the Key West series, paperback edition of THE MANGO MURDERS, is in bookstores July 7!

USA Today bestselling author Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series including A POISONOUS PALATE and A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS. Join her mailing list right here.

Happy Canada Day from Vicki Delany. Celebrate with a Maple Walnut Pie

Darci kindly exchanged days with me so I could wish all my Canadian (and Canadian-friendly) readers a happy Canada Day.  Today marks one hundred and fifty-nine years since Confederation, which on July 1, 1867 brought the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia together into the Dominion of Canada, an independent dominion of the British Empire. Other provinces later followed. Today, it’s called Canada Day, when I was young it was known as Dominion Day.  

Canada Day is a national holiday and is often marked by barbeques, picnics, fireworks, and other celebrations. 

Few things are more Canadian than maple syrup and this gorgeous pie, reminiscent of a traditional Quebec sugar pie, features it perfectly.

Although maple trees don’t grow in Western Canada, we still think of it as the Canadian symbol (the leaf is on the flag, after all).  For this recipe I used Fosterholm syrup, tapped and prepared, bottled and sold about ten kilometers down the road from my house.

Whether or not you’re having a Canada Day gathering, I hope you’ll try this recipe, particularly if you have a sweet tooth!

Canada Day Maple Walnut Pie

Ingredients:

Pastry:

2 cups (300 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (225 g) cold unsalted butter, thinly sliced

2/3 cup (150 ml) ice water

Filling:

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour

1 egg

1 cup (250 ml) 35% cream, plus more for brushing

1 cup (250 ml) maple syrup

2/3 cup (65 g) walnuts, chopped

1 tbsp brown sugar

Directions:

Pastry:

In a food processor or stand mixer, or by hand, combine the flour and salt. Incorporate the butter into the flour, leaving some butter lumps. Gradually add the water and combine just until the dry ingredients are moistened. The dough will be soft and sticky.

Cover dough with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 45 minutes or until firm.

Lightly butter and flour 8-inch pie or tart pan with a removable bottom.  (If you don’t have a removable bottom a standard pan will work but it might be harder to get out of the pan)

Filling:

Whisk together the cornstarch and flour. Add the egg and mix well. Add the cream and syrup. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom and sides of the pot. Simmer for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.

Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the cream. Let cool at room temperature for 1 hour.

Assembly:

With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

On a lightly floured work surface, roll half the dough into a circle and place it in a prepared pie pan.   

Spread the maple cream over the dough, Sprinkle the nuts over the cream.

Roll out remaining half of the dough and place on top of the pie.

With a pastry brush, lightly cover the top of the tart with cream. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Cut two small slices (about ½ inch each) in center of pastry,

Bake for 35 minutes or until the pastry is nicely golden. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

To continue the Canada Day celebrations, I’d like to offer a copy of MORE THAN SORROW,  one of my Canadian-set books, to two MLK followers. A copy will go to Canadian readers and one for a friend in the U.S.  All you have to do to enter is tell me what’s the official pie of YOU! That you eat or cook or both, don't have one? Tell me that too, and what country you are writing from. Don’t forget to include your email so I can contact the winners.

Shrimp With Pearl Couscous and Fried Capers -- Dinner with Leslie Budewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ:  I’m always searching for the Holy Grail – a dinner that’s packed with flavor, easy enough for a weeknight, and light on the prep. Bonus points for a one-pot dish – and double points if it’s pretty and colorful, too, because don’t we all want that?

This dish, adapted from a NY Times recipe reprinted in the Seattle Times, scores on all counts. 

Pearl couscous, sometimes called Israeli couscous, differs from its Moroccan cousin, the version many of us know from tabbouleh and other salads, mainly in size and texture. Both are made from semolina, but the pearl variety is rounder—think a small lentil. I found both traditional, the color of most pasta, and tri-color, colored with spinach and tomato. For this recipe, I used the tri-color. 

The crispy capers were a delight! I used a mesh strainer to rinse and drain them, then wrapped them in a paper towel so the excess moisture didn’t trigger an explosion. Kitchen explosions are generally bad. 

We made half—that’s what’s shown in the pictures. The intro to the original suggests gently folding a a can of cannellini or garbanzo beans, rinsed, drained, and warmed, into the couscous once it’s thoroughly cooked. Next time!

And if you think you're seeing a lot of me this week, you are! Our Spotlight Sunday post features me and my Food Lovers' Village books -- and there's still time to comment and have a chance to win a copy of Death al Dente, winner of the 2013 Agatha Award for Best First Novel! 

PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe for easy printing. 

Scroll down to the 💕 for the link. 

Shrimp With Pearl Couscous and Fried Capers

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

1/3 cup, capers, rinsed, drained, and patted dry

8 medium garlic cloves, minced 

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1½ pounds shelled, raw shrimp, deveined

kosher salt

1 tablespoon grated lime zest, plus ¼ cup lime juice 

1-1/2 cup pearl couscous, uncooked

2-1/2 cups vegetable broth or water, plus more as needed

½ cup chopped fresh mint leaves 

½ cup chopped parsley leaves and tender stems

In a stock pot or Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add the capers and stir with a slotted spoon, until they begin to darken and turn crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low. With the slotted spoon, remove capers to a small plate lines with a paper towel and set aside.

Add 2 tablespoons oil to the pot, and stir in garlic and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the garlic begins to turn golden and fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and a pinch of salt and cook until they turn pink, stirring so both sides cook evenly, about 2-3 minutes total. Spoon shrimp and as much of the garlic as you can to a small bowl or plate. Add lime zest and juice, stirring, and set aside. 

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to pot, and increase heat to medium-low. Add the couscous and toast, stirring regularly, until golden and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add broth or water, and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until the couscous is al dente and most of the liquid has evaporated, 7 to 10 minutes. Check regularly and add more liquid if needed. Remove from heat.

Stir to fluff. Add shrimp and herbs. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and lime juice. Spoon into bowls and top with the crispy capers. 

Enjoy! 

Serves 4.

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF! 

At Seattle Spice Shop, owner Pepper Reece has whipped up the perfect blend of food, friends, and flavor. But the sweet smell of success can be hazardous . . .  

Spring is in full bloom in Pike Place Market, where Pepper is celebrating lavender’s culinary uses and planning a festival she hopes will become an annual event. When her friend Lavender Liz offers to share tips for promoting the much-loved—and occasionally maligned—herb, Pepper makes a trek to the charming town of Salmon Falls. But someone has badly damaged Liz’s greenhouse, throwing a wrench in the feisty grower’s plans for expansion. Suspicions quickly focus on an employee who’s taken to the hills. 

Then Liz is found dead among her precious plants, stabbed by a pruning knife. In Salmon Falls, there’s one in every pocket. 

Pepper digs in, untangling the tensions between Liz and a local restaurateur with eyes on a picturesque but neglected farm, a jealous ex-boyfriend determined to profit from Liz’s success, and a local growers’ cooperative. She’s also hot on the scent of a trail of her own, sniffing out the history of her sweet dog, Arf. 

As Pepper’s questions threaten to unearth secrets others desperately want to keep buried, danger creeps closer to her and those she loves. Can Pepper root out the killer, before someone nips her in the bud?

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

ALL GOD'S SPARROWS AND OTHER STORIES: A STAGECOACH MARY FIELDS COLLECTION, now available in in paperback and ebook 

Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Out September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing.  

“Finely researched and richly detailed, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. I loved learning about this fascinating woman . . . and what a character she is! Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for bringing her to life so vividly.” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of Crow Mary

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest books are To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery and All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024. Watch for Lavender Lies Bleeding, the 9th Spice Shop Mystery, on July 15, 2025.

A past president of Sisters in Crime and former national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine. 

Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.