LUCY BURDETTE: Today we’re delighted to welcome friend Barbara Ross to our kitchen, with her new Maine Clambake mystery, HIDDEN BENEATH. She’s sharing a favorite family cookie recipe—and a giveaway of the new book! Welcome Barb!
BARBARA ROSS: Thanks for inviting me today, Lucy! In Hidden Beneath, a neighbor serves these cookies to my sleuth Julia and her mother Jacqueline when they visit the Portland, Maine condo of a deceased friend of Jacqueline’s. The cookies turn out to be all Julia gets for lunch and she puts away quite a few of them. Good thing they’re delicious.
Many people know that my husband, Bill Carito, develops the recipes for the Maine Clambake Mysteries. However, despite my persistent encouragement, Bill has never had an interest in baking. For baked goods, I turn to my other main resource, a book of handwritten recipe cards my mother’s mother gave to me for Christmas 1984, three months before she died. In the real world, this recipe comes from that book.
Ingredients
2/3 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
parchment paper
Instructions
Mix butter, lemon rind, ginger, baking soda, salt, and vanilla.
Beat egg, lemon juice, and sugar until fluffy. Add to above.
Stir in flour until well mixed.
Refrigerate for four hours.
Shape into 3/4-inch balls. Place 1½ inches apart on parchment paper on cookie sheet.
Flatten to 1/8-inch thickness with the bottom of a glass covered with a damp cloth. Dip bottom of glass and cloth in water if dough sticks.
Bake at 400 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes, until edges are golden brown.
Do you have a family favorite cookie recipe? Leave a comment to be entered in Barbara's giveaway drawing!
About Hidden Beneath
Serving up mouthwatering shellfish, the Snowden Family Clambake has become a beloved institution in Busman’s Harbor, Maine. But when new clues rise to the surface five years after the disappearance of Julia Snowden’ s mother’s friend, the family business shifts to sleuthing .
Julia and her mother, Jacqueline, have come to the exclusive summer colony of Chipmunk Island to attend a memorial service for Jacqueline’s old friend Ginny, who’s been officially declared dead half a decade after she went out for her daily swim in the harbor and was never seen again. But something seems fishy at the service—especially with the ladies of the Wednesday Club. As Julia and Jacqueline begin looking into Ginny’s cold case, a present-day murder stirs the pot, and mother and daughter must dive into the deep end to get to the bottom of both mysteries . . .
Buy Links
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Chapters/Indigo
Thanks for sharing these, Barb - they sound delish! I am loving the book from Maine this week.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're enjoying the book!
DeleteThis recipe does sound yummy! My mom had a cookie recipe that she would make once a year. They were rosette shaped cookie. Thanks for chance!
ReplyDeleteJess
Maceoindo(at)yahoo(dot)com
I have never made a rosette shaped cookie. I would like to try it sometime.
DeleteI have a chocolate chip recipe that is always my go to cookie. I'm excited to try your ginger lemon cookie, it sounds yummy dwager1234@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteMy sister-in-law makes a chocolate chip cookie that is amazing, so I appreciate them as a go-to.
DeleteI love ginger so thank you for the recipe. My favorite cookie is an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. aprilbluetx @ yahoo dot com
ReplyDeleteMy husband is an oatmeal cookie guy.
DeleteGinger snaps are my year round favorite - other cookies I seem to make seasonally. Adding lemon but no molasses is a new twist I"ll try next time. Looking forward to reading the next adventure with Julia and the clan!
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother also made ginger snaps. They would come in the mail to summer camp or college dorm in a coffee can. It was always a good day when they arrived.
DeleteWelcome back Barb!!! All your recipes are FUN-tastic! And your books are the best! Kudos to Bill, and to your Ma! Your recipe card looks similar to the box of recipes that my wife inherited from her mom in Iowa...she often bakes some of the family favorites. My favorite cookie is my wife's oatmeal cranberry pecan cookies. Thank you for offering Hidden Beneath to a lucky reader...It might even be lil' ol' me :-) Luis at ole dot travel
ReplyDeleteOatmeal cranberry pecan sounds amazing.
DeleteI don't have a family cookie recipe. Though now that ginger has been mentioned, i'm have a craving for a crunchy molasses cookie.
ReplyDeletefruitcrmble AT comcast DOT net
Now I have a craving for a crunchy molasses cookie!
DeleteMy favorite family cookie recipe is my grandma’s sandtarts.
ReplyDeleteKitten143 (at) Verizon (dot) net
I have never heard of sandtarts.
DeleteMy favorite two flavors. Ginger and Lemon. What a delight these cookies are. My favorite treat was one my grandmother made. She was an expert baker and her rugalach were delectable. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteNow I want rugalach. This is turning into a hungry morning.
ReplyDeleteA delightful story and tasty sounding cookies.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteMy grandma's chocolate chip cookies, my other grandma's Twix bar cookies, and my cousin's wife's sugar cookies.
ReplyDeletekozo8989@hotmail(dot)com
Twix cookies. Those sound so interesting.
DeleteMy sister makes great butter cookies.
ReplyDeletewskwared(at)yahoo(dot)com
I make butter cookies, too, but they're rolled and cut, so only at Christmas!
DeleteI like the no-bake oatmeal, chocolate, and peanut butter cookies you make on the stovetop and drop onto parchment paper. They are easy and delicious!
ReplyDeleteNancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot ) com
I don't think I've ever had no bake cookies.
DeleteLove these - My mom would make them (we called them chocolate haystacks) all the time when we were kids in the sixties and seventies.
DeleteLemon & ginger are a great combination. My favorite cookie is called Anginetti, the lemon flavor. They are also made with anisette.
ReplyDeleteI've had Anginetti and love them.
DeleteGinger + lemon + easy + cookie = sold! Thanks for a great recipe and great books, Barb.
ReplyDeleteYou are so welcome!
DeleteI have a recipe for my grandmother's butterscotch cookies, made with brown sugar and pecans. Cooled completely, they're crunchy. Piled together on a plate while warm they stay soft. patdupuy@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI have a recipe for my grandmother's butterscotch cookies. I wonder if they are similar?
DeleteLike Bill, I am not really not much of a baker, but at Christmas I do try to make pizzelles. It was a standard from my mom's kitchen. I've tried lemon, chocolate and maple flavors, but always end up back with almond and anise. Love the Maine Clambake series. It's one of my favorites! makennedyinaz(at)hotmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you love the Maine Clambake Mysteries. Bill's godmother made pizzelles, mostly at Easter. I love them.
DeleteI love my dad's ginger snaps!! They're thin & crispy.
ReplyDeletedolphingalsmurphy (at) yahoo (dot) com
My grandmother's ginger snaps are amazing. I still make them.
DeleteMy great aunt would make us these M&M cookies as kids - loved them! Nice alternative to chocolate chip.
ReplyDeleteI love M&M cookies
DeleteOur family favorites are chocolate chip and snickerdoodles. I love a good almond horn too. My daughter-in-law loves everything lemon, will have to make some for her ❤️🍋
ReplyDeleteI hope she likes them!
Deleteoh but this recipe looks so yummy. thanks for sharing. your book looks fantastic. when I was 7 or 8 mom found a recipe that had been passed down from generation to generation in her family. Cherry Carnival Cake. oh my goodness this is divine. it quickly became my birthday cake. every year before our birthday (five kiddos) we would get to choose dinner and desert. when I got married, my husband took over that job. even if we had my parents over. when the two kiddos came along and were old enought to help out in the kitchen with dad, the three of them would make it. now they are both gone and if I could now eat it I for sure would. but you know, age and restrictions. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net
ReplyDeleteCherry Carnival Cake sounds amazing.
DeleteMy sister-in-law's chocolate chip cookies. Love ginger and lemon - thanks for the recipe!
ReplyDeletejtcgc at yahoo dot com
I hope you enjoy them!
DeleteThank you for the recipe - sounds yummy and I love lemon and I love ginger. My favorite cookies are Monster cookies, Cowboy cookies or Oatmeal Raisin cookies. Thank you for the chance to win. madamhawk at gmail dot com
ReplyDeleteYum, these look delicious! I have a recipe card in my grandmother's handwriting for her ginger cookies! They are truly the best! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJholden955(at)gmail(dot)com
I have my Granny’s recipe for Calumet Sugar Cookies. Her only adaptation was she left the spices our and added vanilla. I grew up with them being called Tea Cakes, but when I was fixing my family tried and true cookbook, the old recipe card she brought out had this other name. I still make them and they are one of Hubby’s favorite cookies.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom also for as far back as I can remember made Ozark Honey Oatmeal Cookies that she also always added ground pecans to. Love this recipe because the older they get the better they are. They are perfect for mailing any time of the year (heat of summer and frigid winters). How can a cookie with honey, oats, coconut and nuts be bad?
Thank you for the chance to win a copy of “Hidden Beneath”, which is on my TBR list!
2clowns at arkansas dot net
The cookies and cream flavored cookies are a holiday favorite. My mom and grandma were not big into baking so they did not bake cookies. Once I was old enough, I became the family cookie baker. cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteNothing more daring than coconut macaroons in my cookie baking history. My husband and I love anything with ginger!
ReplyDeletebrowning gloria at hotmail
I enjoy cookies with white chocolate chips and caramel! tWarner419@aol.com
ReplyDeleteThese sound super yummy ... I love all things lemony and the addition of spicy ginger makes them even more appealing! My favorite family cookie recipe is my mom's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. One word .... delectable! Thanks for the recipe and the contest!
ReplyDeleteThese sound super yummy ... I love all things lemony and the addition of spicy ginger makes them even more appealing! My favorite family cookie recipe is my mom's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. One word .... delectable! Thanks for the recipe and the contest!
ReplyDelete