Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Halloween cookies

Friday, October 27, 2023

Ghost Cookies @MaddieDayAuthor #Halloween #giveaway

MADDIE DAY, bringing you some yummy sugar cookies disguised as ghosts for Halloween!

Caveat: I'm rather stressed at the moment, with a big book release this week and a brand-new, barely cooked very premature grandchild - my first! So I didn't get very creative with my contribution to the Kitchen's two weeks of Halloween recipes.

Okay, the cookies look creative, but I confess I have used the recipe many times, including here. You see, it's my grandmother Dorothy's recipe for English Butter Cookies, which I bake every year at Christmas.

So, hang onto the recipe, grab some red and green sugars, and use it in six weeks for your own holiday cookie plate!

Maddie's Ghost Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup softened salted butter (never margarine)

1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1 egg

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 cups unbleached white flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Semisweet chocolate bits (not shown in photo)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream butter and sugar in mixer until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix flour and baking powder, then stir in until blended. Divide the dough in half, shape into disks, wrap, and chill for at least half an hour.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Dust a clean surface with flour and roll out first disk to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with a gingerbread woman cookie cutter and place on cookie sheet at least a half inch apart.

Have fun distorting the the figures so they look more ghoulish. When the sheet is full, sprinkle with white sugar and then add chocolate chip facial features.

Bake for 5-7 minutes, watching for browning.

Cool on the parchment paper. Repeat for the other disk and the scraps until all dough has been baked.

Remember you can reuse the recipe for Christmas using other cookie cutters and colored sugars.

Enjoy any time of year with a cup of coffee or tea, or a spot of sherry.

I can't wait to make these again in a couple of years for my granddaughter

Readers: What's your favorite cookie, holiday or otherwise? I'll send one of you a signed copy of my new book! The cover looks kind of Halloweeny, doesn't it?

🎃🍪🎃

Murder Uncorked featuring wine bar manager Cece Barton came out Tuesday!

My next book to release is Deep Fried Death, #12 in the Country Store Mysteries.

It releases the day after Christmas this year.

Check out all my writing:

We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Two-Ingredient #Chocolate Fudge #Halloween Cookies from author @CleoCoyle

From Cleo Coyle: My TREAT for you today is a TRICK. These tasty chocolate fudge cookies require only two ingredients. Yes, the recipe really works, and I'll admit it's downright freaky. But that's what makes it fun to share for Halloween season...

🎃 A Recipe Note from Cleo

Cleo Coyle writes two
bestselling mystery

series with her husband.
To learn more, click here.

This freakisly easy recipe is an adaptation of the famous Weight Watchers chocolate pumpkin muffins.

When I first learned about that recipe (1 box of chocolate cake mix + 1 can of pureed pumpkin, combined and baked in muffin cups), I was skeptical, but I gave it a try anyway. The resulting muffins tasted heavy to me. On the other hand, I did like the fudgy texture and chocolate flavor, so I thought, why not turn this two-ingredient concept into cookies? That would work much better...

I experimented with baking it up in smaller bites and (okay) I did add two more ingredients for better flavor: vanilla extract and chocolate chips. The result is the recipe I'm sharing with you today for an insanely easy fudge brownie-like drop cookie. I also added a pumpkin-colored glaze for a pretty Halloween presentation and extra-tasty finish.

ARE YOU AFRAID?...

Of tasting pumpkin?
Don't worry. You won't!

IS IT BETTER FOR YOU?

Yes! An entire can of pureed pumpkin takes the place of shortening in the recipe, which means it brings iron, dietary fiber, and vitamins A, C, and E to this Halloween party. Again, you do not taste the pumpkin in this recipe. What the pumpkin brings, along with nutrition and fiber, is enough moistness to make the finished chocolate cookie taste like a gooey fudge brownie.

And there you have it, the origin of today’s healthier Halloween recipe. With thanks to Weight Watchers for the inspiration: It's a treat that’s not a trick to make (as long as you have a can opener).

Click here to download this recipe
in a free PDF document that
you can print, save, or share.

Click for Cleo's free recipe PDF.

Mr. Fellowes is watching for trick or treaters...

🎃 Cleo Coyle's 2-Ingredient*

Chocolate Fudge Pumpkin Cookies

*As mentioned in my recipe note (above) I suggest a few extra ingredients for better flavor and a prettier presentation.

Ingredients:

1 box Devil’s Food cake mix
1 can (15 ounces) pureed pumpkin (100% pumpkin and not pie filling)
+ (for even better flavor and a prettier presentation)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or equivalent of chopped chocolate)
Cleo’s Pumpkin Spice Glaze (recipe below)

Step 1 – Make Batter: First pre-heat oven to 350º F. Lightly coat a baking sheet with non-stick spray or grease with oil or butter. (For best results, do not use parchment paper. The cookie batter needs to feel the full heat of the baking pan.) In a mixing bowl, combine entire box of cake mix with canned pumpkin and vanilla. Do not add any additional liquid. Gently stir, working the canned pumpkin into the cake mix until a blended, wet batter forms. (This may take a minute but trust me, it will work.) Finally, fold in the chocolate chips.

Step 2 – Drop and Bake: Drop batter by tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake in a well pre-heated 350º F. oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Do not over-bake. Cookies should be a bit soft and gooey in the center. While warm, they will be very soft on the outside, as well. Allow them to cool on the pan a few minutes and then transfer carefully to a rack to finish cooling. (They will always be somewhat soft because these are gooey fudge brownie cookies, not hard and crunchy cookies.)

Step 3 – Decorate: Finish with a drizzle of Cleo’s Pumpkin Spice Glaze (recipe below).

A NOTE ON STORING: Because pumpkin takes the place of shortening in these cookies, they are best eaten within a day or two. Store in refrigerator.

🎃 Cleo's Easy

Pumpkin Spice Glaze

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (*see note below to make your own)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Food coloring (orange OR red and yellow to make orange)
2 cups powdered sugar

Step 1 - In a medium saucepan, combine butter, water, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and food coloring. Heat slowly, stirring until butter melts. At no time should this mixture simmer or boil.

Step 2 - Add the powdered sugar and stir until it all completely melts into the liquid. Whisk to remove any lumps and blend into a smooth, thick glaze. If the glaze is too thick, whisk in a bit more water.

Step 3 - While the glaze is still warm, use a fork to drizzle it over the cookies. As the glaze cools, it will harden. If the glaze hardens in the pan, simply return the pan to the stovetop and warm the glaze while whisking. If needed, add a bit more water to thin the glaze back to the right consistency for drizzling.

*SPICE NOTE: Pumpkin pie spice is available in most grocery store spice sections. To make your own, simply mix the following ground spices for 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice: ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ginger, 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice or ground cloves, and 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg.