DARCI HANNAH: With Halloween just around the corner I thought I’d not only give away a copy of the book, but also share one of my favorite pumpkin-inspired recipes from my Halloween cozy mystery, MURDER AT THE PUMPKIN PAGEANT. This recipe for Pumpkin Scones with Maple Glaze is a reader favorite, and mine too. I love making scones in general and find them easy to whip up on a lazy weekend morning. They’re the perfect treat for guests, and kids love them too. However, now that we’re in the thick of pumpkin season, and I find myself craving everything pumpkin, I’ve been making lots of these yummy, pumpkin scones. Adding the maple glaze on top makes them even more delicious. One of my favorite guilty fall pleasures is having one of these pumpkin scones with a hefty shot of pumpkin spice coffee creamer in my coffee. These also go well while reading a copy of MURDER AT THE PUMPKIN PAGEANT!
So, put on a cozy sweater, grab a mug of pumpkin spice coffee, and let’s get baking!
Pumpkin Scones with Maple Glaze
Prep time: 15 minutes. Cook time: 20 to 25 minutes. Makes 8 servings.
Ingredients:2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup (one stick) cold butter, cubed
½ cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup heavy cream
½ cup chopped pecans (optional)
Maple Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon maple extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Using a pastry blender or a fork, cut in the cold butter until small pea-sized crumbs form. *One of my favorite hacks for
butter is to grate it. It's easier to incorporate into the flour mixture.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, pumpkin puree, egg, vanilla extract, and the heavy cream. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients. At this point you can mix in the nuts too. Mix until the dough is moist. (If the dough is too sticky, add more flour one tablespoon at a time.)
Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Shape the dough into a 9-inch circle that is approximately 1-inch thick. Using a floured knife, cut the dough into 8 even pieces. Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them 2-inches apart. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until done. Scones should be crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. Remove to a cooling rack.
For the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk the glaze ingredients together. Once the scones have cooled, top each scone with the maple glaze. Let the glaze set, then enjoy!
You can print a copy of the recipe HERE!
To enter to win a copy of MURDER AT THE PUMPKIN PAGEANT tell me what your favorite Halloween treat is in the comments below!
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
ORDER 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
ORDER 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 . . .
COMING FEBRUARY 23, 2027
A TOAST TO AGATHA CHRISTIE’S GHOST
By Darci Hannah
Book #3 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!
Chef Bunny MacBride has gotten roped into a ghost-hunting reality show called Food & Spirits, creating dishes to whet the appetites of apparitions. Along the way, she’s discovered she has some supernatural gifts of her own—and an eerie knack for solving murders…
The cast and crew are on Burgh Island, at a restored Art Deco hotel that boasts Agatha Christie as its most famous guest—and now its most famous ghost. They’re filming at a murder-mystery weekend, and Bunny expects it to be more kooky than spooky. But she’s excited to meet the renowned resident chef and delighted to run into her Granny Mac playing the role of Miss Marple. As a bonus, her romance with costar Brett continues to simmer.
The downside is dealing with arrogant guests like Buckley Thorne, who sends back her beetroot salad and demands whipped cream for her peach Melba. Then the show’s phony psychic, Giff, insists on playing Poirot, complete with an absurdly bad accent. When it turns out the victim role is assigned to Buckley Thorne, she feels a touch of satisfaction—until she realizes he’s doing too good a job of playing dead . . .
Shocked to learn Buckley’s true identity, Bunny has to change course once again from cook to crime-solver. She’d sensed an undercurrent of drama at the dead man’s table—and with help from the spirit of the world’s greatest mystery writer, she’s looking closely at the victim’s handsome son, much-younger wife, and elegant circle of friends to conjure up a solution . . .
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