Today our kitchen welcomes Peggy Ehrhart, with a yummy recipe and a 3-book giveaway for DEATH OF A KNIT WIT. Leave a comment to be entered in the drawing!
Peggy Ehrhart: They are what they eat, and the characters in my Knit & Nibble mysteries do a lot of eating . . . and cooking. Members of the Knit & Nibble knitting club take turns hosting the group, and each week’s host serves a dessert when the group breaks for refreshments. It’s fun to make the desserts reflect the personalities of the people who serve them.
Nell Bascomb is in her eighties. She’s the oldest member of the group and a devotee of simple, traditional desserts. She also disapproves of excessive sugar and is something of an anti-sugar crusader. In Death of a Knit Wit, Nell bakes gingerbread when the group meets at her house.
Gingerbread recipes are not hard to find, so for my visit to Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen I thought I’d invent something inspired by gingerbread but a little more creative. My Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies complement the spicy but not too sweet effect of gingerbread with a delicious butter and cream cheese filling similar to the one I use when I make carrot cake.
The recipe makes about 20 sandwich cookies (40 single cookies).
You won’t need your electric mixer for the cookies but you will need it for the filling.
Ingredients for the cookies:
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp butter or margarine
1 tbsp milk or plain yogurt
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
½ tsp ground ginger
Ingredients for the filling:
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), softened
1-1/2 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
Sift flour, salt, and spices into a large bowl.
Heat molasses in a small saucepan until it starts to boil. Add the butter or margarine, the sugar, and the milk or yogurt and stir to blend.
Add the molasses mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon. The dough will be stiff.
Butter two large cookie sheets, at least 12” x 18”. (You can use three or four smaller ones instead, or bake the cookies in two batches.)
Carve off teaspoon-sized bits of dough.
With your hands, roll them into ovals.
Pat them flat, not thicker than 1/8 of an inch. The dough is surprisingly un-sticky—working with it is rather like working with Play-Doh. Place the cookies on the cookie sheets, about twenty per sheet, not too close together—though they don’t spread out too much.
Bake them at 350 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes. They cook very fast.
Let them cool on the cookie sheets and then carefully remove them with a spatula.
While they are cooling, make the filling.
Put the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl.
Using your electric mixer, blend them until they are smooth and then blend in the powdered sugar.
When the cookies are cool, assemble your sandwiches. Turn half the cookies on their backs and spread filling on their undersides.
Top each spread cookie with a plain cookie.
Leave a comment to be entered in the drawing for one of 3 copies of Peggy's book!
Peggy Ehrhart is a former English professor who currently writes the Knit & Nibble mystery series for Kensington. The eighth book in the series, Death of a Knit Wit, has just been released. Her amateur sleuth, Pamela Paterson, is the founder of the Knit & Nibble knitting club, and Peggy herself is a devoted crafter. Visit her at www.PeggyEhrhart.com
This sounds like a series I need to read. Jean Peerenboom
ReplyDeleteI hope you will!
DeleteI love the cover. I crochet, but when I tried to teach myself how to knit, it was a disaster. Thanks for the chance to win this book.
ReplyDeleteTo me, knitting is easier than crocheting,though I do both, and my crocheting is limited to granny squares. Luckily, they have a lot of uses.
DeleteThanks for the recipe! Love gingerbread! I will have to start reading your books.
ReplyDeleteAs I said in the intro to this recipe, gingerbread makes an appearance in DEATH OF A KNIT WIT, along with lots of other goodies.
DeleteLOVE gingerbread! It always makes me think of my Granny who would have a pan coming fresh out of the oven as I finished doing her yard work. Oh the smell which wasn't anything compared to the taste.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of making gingerbread filled cookies! Thank you for the Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies recipe. I will be trying this for sure.
Can't wait for the opportunity to read and review DEATH OF A KNIT WIT. Shared and hoping to be one of the very fortunate ones to win a copy. Thank you for the chance!
2clowns at arkansas dot net
The filling also makes great icing for Carrot Cake--another one of those recipes one associates with grannies and cozy long-ago times.
DeleteAll I can say is YUM!!!!
ReplyDeleteKitten143 (at) Verizon (dot) net
They are quite YUM--definitely a case of "can't eat just one."
DeleteThis is a fun series! Thanks for the recipe.
ReplyDeletebmedrano34 at yahoo.com
Thanks! I'm glad you like the series. #9 will be out in a year and I'm about to start #10.
DeleteI just won this series from the Kensington Ukraine Auction! I can't wait to start reading it. ❤️
ReplyDeleteI just won this series from the Kensington Ukraine Auction! I can't wait to start reading it. ❤️
ReplyDeleteThanks for bidding in the auction--a very worthy cause. I'll be hearing from the organizers soon with details of the winners and I'll get the books right in the mail to you.
DeleteThis looks like the perfect read to me. Thanks for this great chance.
ReplyDeleteThe above comment is by me. Linda May. It shows as unknown.
DeleteLove gingerbread - thanks for the recipe!
ReplyDeletejtcgc at yahoo dot com
You're welcome! It's a particularly spicy and gingery dough that I hope gingerbread-lovers will appreciate.
DeleteAlways looking for new series and this was just placed on my TBR List :D
ReplyDeleteThe first was MURDER, SHE KNIT if you like to read mystery series in order. DEATH OF A KNIT WIT is #8. The mystery plots are self-contained, of course, but there's a romantic subplot ...
DeleteThat looks so good, I love cookies. I knit and crochet so this would be a fun book to read.
ReplyDeletekozo8989(at)hotmail(dot)com
You will meet lots of fellow knitters, and one crocheter, in the Knit and Nibble knitting club.
DeleteThese cookies are delectable and the book lovely. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteThank you! Delectable is a good word for them.
DeleteThe recipe sound good and I love the book cover Cindynorman2(at)att(dot)net
ReplyDeleteThank you! The same artist does all the covers and I love them too.
DeleteThese sound delicious, I have never made a molasses cookie though I really enjoyed them from my Grandmother back in the day. Thanks for sharing the recipe and giveaway.
ReplyDeleteI did not know until I started working on the recipe that molasses could be a key ingredient in gingerbread.
DeleteLove the cover and the recipe sounds yummy!
ReplyDeleteLuvs2read4fun (at) gmail (dot) com
Thank you! The recipe is fun to make and is indeed quite yummy.
DeleteI like the rather free form shape of these cookies. They look "real".
ReplyDeletelibbydodd at comcast dot net
Thanks! As I said in the recipe, the dough is very easy to handle. It can be molded into an oval (or circle or whatever) without having to use a cookie cutter.
DeleteLove the cover and love the cookie idea. I have a sorghum cookie recipe I love that this filling would be great in! This looks like a series I need to try out. I read about it on the Delicious Mysteries group on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteYes, the filling would be great with a sorghum cookie. As I said in the recipe, I use it for Carrot Cake, which is another old-time cozy classic.
DeleteRecipe looks delicious and your book sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeletediannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com
Thank you! The cookies are pretty hard to resist. I hope readers find the book equally compelling.
DeleteI love to bake! Thanks for the new recipe. I can't wait to read this book! I just bought A Fatal Yarn & Knit of the Living Dead at B&N yesterday!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the chance to win it.
Thank you! There's a #7, KNITTY GRITTY MURDER, between KNIT OF THE LIVING DEAD and the newest one. The mystery plots are self-contained, of course, but there's a ongoing romantic subplot that advances (or sometimes retreats!) in each book.
DeleteI love the cover and the title! Our family is pretty knitting-obsessed these days, and I'm trying to think up projects and color combinations involving cotton yarn, although I myself am not the household knitter.
ReplyDeletejsmith[delete brackets]3may[delete brackets]2011
[at symbol]
yahoo[dot]com
Pot-holders? Cotton yarn might be good, or wool of course, because the synthetic fibers could melt when exposed to high heat.
DeleteI don't know what happened to the reply I just posted.
DeleteI see it has showed up!
DeleteThank you for this opportunity!!
ReplyDeletelindalou64(@)live(dot)com
You're welcome! I'll do a random drawing for the winners tomorrow (Tuesday).
DeleteI think I would enjoy the Knit and Nibble series. My grandmother made gingerbread that I remember very fondly! I do numerous crafts but I have not learned to knit. I am, however, very good at nibbling! The cookie look superb!
ReplyDeleteNancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com
Thank you! The nibbling is as important as the knitting in my books.
DeleteLove the cover and the book title! The recipe looks so good. Would love to win a copy! Thank you for the chance!
ReplyDeletejarjm1980(at)hotmail(dot)com
Thank you! The covers are all done by the same artist and I love them too.
DeleteSounds good. Love the cover. cheetahthecat1986ATgmailDOTcom
ReplyDeleteThank you for responding.
DeleteSounds delicious! Thanks for the chance. JL_Minter@Hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteI love gingerbread! Any kind. Your cover is great and the book title is, too. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAwesome recipe. I can't wait to give it a try. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI am gingersnap fan. Thanks for the chance!
ReplyDeleteJess
maceoindo(at)yahoo(dot)com
I'm always looking for new authors and series to read, sounds good! tWarner419@aol.com
ReplyDeleteI hope you will give the Knit & Nibbles a try.
DeleteLooks like a fun book, and the cookies look yummy!!
ReplyDeletesmurphy(at)macados(dot)net
Readers tell me that the Knit & Nibbles are fun, and a good distraction from the current state of the world.
DeleteSounds like a great book and the cookies look really yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe. cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteThe cookies are hard to resist, if I do say so myself.
DeleteThank you for the recipe and a chance to win! I enjoy the Knit and Nibble books and adore ginger cookies. madamhawk at g mail dot com
ReplyDeleteSo happy to hear that you enjoy the books!
DeleteLove the books! the cookies look good, gotta try that recipe!
ReplyDeleteI hope you love the cookies too!
ReplyDeleteI like reading books with knitting/crocheting characters although I only crochet myself. And I do like eating gingerbread.
ReplyDeletewskwared(at)yahoo(dot)com
Oh my! The cookies look yummy, especially the filling ��! I admire you have the talent of knitting and crocheting. I grew up in a tropical country in South East Asian, and we don't normally wear warm clothing, hence don't really learn to knit.. Thank you for the opportunity to know you and your books, which are cozy and interesting. Love the book cover of Death Of A Knit Wit that has three kitties �� - I'm a crazy cat lady! LOL.
ReplyDeleteI do not knit or crochet but wish I did. Gingerbread cookies are a favorite of mine.
ReplyDeleteJoy
ReplyDeleteTerrific book. Thanks for the recipes. Cookies look and sound very yummy. I'll have to try filling on carrot cake & carrot cake cookies. I have plums waiting to be made into Plum Turnovers.
I have recently discovered you fabulous books. Just love your characters. Such a nice touch including projects and recipes. Cannot wait to try them. I am not a knitter, but reading your books makes it sound fun.
ReplyDelete