Thank you to Lucy/Roberta for inviting me to write a guest post on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen. I feel like I know all of you through your books and recipes, as well as from panels at mystery conventions.

Val left New York City after a car accident nearly killed her celebrity chef passenger and doomed her career. Now living with her curmudgeonly grandfather in a tourist town near the Chesapeake Bay, she runs the Cool Down Café at an athletic club and tests recipes for her long-planned cookbook. When a club patron is found dead, Val cooks up a scheme to expose the murderer who framed her cousin.
While Val investigates five suspects and uncovers five key clues, Granddad takes up cooking, creating havoc in the kitchen even when trying recipes that have only five ingredients. In a reaction against the elaborate gourmet dishes of celebrity chefs, Val prefers recipes “the average person could make in less time than it took to watch a TV cooking show.” By Cook or by Crook includes 8 five-ingredient recipes.
Having boxed myself in with the five-ingredient blueprint, I relish the chance to share a recipe on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen with more ingredients than that . . . but not a lot more. Oatmeal cookies are comfort food perfect for all seasons, but this version with dried cranberries, cider spices, and pecans suits the autumn and winter holidays particularly well.
Oatmeal Cran Pecan Cookies
Yield: approximately 50 cookies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Ingredients
½ cup butter
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 large or extra large unbeaten egg
1 cup uncooked rolled oats (or quick oats)
¾ cup unsifted flour
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp double-acting baking powder
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup coarsely chopped pecans
Directions:
Cream the butter and sugars. Beat in the egg and the vanilla. Add the oatmeal and flour. Mix well.
Combine the spices and baking powder in a separate bowl and add them to the butter mixture.
Fold in the cranberries and chopped pecans.
Drop rounded teaspoons of dough onto a greased cookie sheet, spacing them two inches apart.
Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes.
Remove the cookies from the sheet and cool them on a rack.
Note: The cookies shown in the photo are only a fraction of the ones this recipe yields. Certain members of my family got to the batch before I had a chance to take a picture of them. You gotta expect that with oatmeal cookies.

NOTE FROM LUCY: Doesn't this all sound delicious? And Maya is offering a galley copy to one lucky commenter for her brand new mystery, BY COOK OR BY CROOK. JUST LEAVE YOUR EMAIL IN THE COMMENT TO BE ENTERED!
Would love to read this book. The cookies look awesome!
ReplyDeleteb5sycop@nefcom.net
These cookies taste better than they look and disappear fast. Thank you for posting.
DeleteLooks like a great cozy mystery. Congrats on the New Book.
ReplyDeletexzjh04 gmail.com
Thank you for the congratulations and for posting. I'm excited about my first book coming out.
DeleteGood luck with the series. Sounds like a good read. And the cookies look delicious, have to try those.
ReplyDeletesallycootie@gmail.com
Thank you the good luck wishes. I hope you enjoy the cookies.
DeleteCookies sound great, as does this new book. Thanks for the giveaway. Kuzlin at aol.com
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting. I hope you enjoy the cookies and the book.
Deletesounds great
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting a comment.
DeleteBoth the book and the cookies sound wonderful. I plan to try both! :) Thanks for the opportunity to win a copy of your book! rencw@verizon.net
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for your comments.
ReplyDeleteEasier way to cook and a great mystery, what better combination is there?
ReplyDeleteThank you. Happy reading and eating!
ReplyDeleteSounds great, can't wait to read it
ReplyDeletedebbiec1313@yahoo.com
Thank you. I hope you enjoy the book.
Deletesounds delish!! both the series and the recipe!! thank you!
ReplyDeleteannie
mysandycat@aol.com
Thank you for your comment.
DeleteThe cookies sound delicious. I love cranberries in cookies.
ReplyDeletecozyupwithkathy at gmail dot com
I'm a cranberry fan too. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteI like cranberry oatmeal cookies.
ReplyDeletesgiden at Verizon dot net
Thanks. It's hard to pass up oatmeal cookies.
DeleteThe 5 ingredient recipes and the cookies sound relish. Congratulations on the new book.
ReplyDeleteGrace dot Koshida at gmail dot com
Thank you!
DeleteLove a new book with food and death. Can't wait to read them. Oatmeal cookies are my favorite cookie of all times. cathyjoenk@charter.net
ReplyDeleteThank you. I hope you enjoy the book.
DeleteMmmm, Oatmeal cookies are my favorite and to be eaten while reading a new book, pure heaven.
ReplyDeleterjprazak6@gmail.com
Reading and eating--who could ask for a better way to spend the day? Thank you for your comment.
DeleteI always have oatmeal, pecans, and cranberries in my cupboard so this could become a go-to recipe for me.
ReplyDeletesuefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
It's certainly one of my standby recipes. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteI would love to try your book. suefoster109@netzero.net
ReplyDeleteThank you. I hope you enjoy it.
DeleteThe story sounds great as do the cookies. I look forward to reading it and enjoying some yummy oatmeal cookies. Thanks!
ReplyDeletelkish77123 at gmail dot com
Thanks for commenting. I hope you like the cookies and the book.
DeleteSounds fantastic, thank you for the chance ;)
ReplyDeletejslbrown2009(at)aol(dot)com
Thank you for visiting and adding a comment.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to try the cookies and the book! Jlsbookclub (at) nc (dot) rr (dot) com
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy both. Thank you for commenting.
DeleteThe recipe and the book both sound great!!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I appreciate your comment.
DeleteYes, they both look yummy. I might "cheat" and add chocolate chips, too.
ReplyDeletelibbydodd at comcast dot net
I "cheat" and add coconut sometimes. Thanks.
DeleteI love the idea of grandpa cooking! Your book sounds terrific and I'll try the cookies since oatmeal-raisin is my very favorite.
ReplyDeletekpbarnett1941[at]aol.com
Who doesn't love cookies and a mystery? I think it's going to be a hoot reading about Grandpa in the kitchen, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting. I hope you like the book and the cookies.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting idea to use 5 ingredients to focus a mystery around. I love a got mystery that includes recipes too. robeader53@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting.
DeleteThis debut sounds captivating and wonderful. Thanks. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words.
DeleteWelcome, Maya! Your timing couldn't be more perfect. I saw fresh cranberries at the store two days ago and pounced on them! Best of luck with your book. Such a cute title!
ReplyDeleteHi Krista, Thanks for your good wishes.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI love mysteries with recipes. Looking forward to this series.
ReplyDeleteamp67 (at) mchsi (dot) com
I hope you enjoy the book. Thank you for commenting.
DeleteLooking forward to this series!
ReplyDeletediannej at mpinet dot net
Thank you. I appreciate your comment.
DeleteWelcome to the Kitchen, Maya! Big congrats on the launch of your brand new mystery series. "Five Ingredients" is a fantastically fun concept for a culinary mystery, and I'm looking forward to reading it--WITH a plate of your cookies by my elbow, thank you very much! I'm loving all the fall harvest flavors and looking forward to baking up a batch. Thanks for spending time with us today and have a lovely Sunday.
ReplyDelete~ Cleo
Thank you for welcoming as a guest to the Kitchen. I grew up in New York and love how you capture the neighborhood feel in your mystery series. Most people think of NYC as an impersonal urban area, but it's really just a bunch of small towns. Thanks also for your kind comments.
Delete