New Year's Eve Banana Creme Pie Puffs - Libby's Final Post @LibbyKlein

 

Happy New Year's Eve!

2025 is over! Can you believe it? Time just goes faster and faster with every passing year. It seems like I've been on the Mystery Lovers' Kitchen blog forever, but it's only been a couple of years. I've loved my time in the kitchen with these amazing authors and it pains me to have to go. But life has gotten very busy and there just isn't as much time to write my Layla Virtue Mysteries as I need to create the depth of story that Layla deserves. I will miss you all commenting on my recipes. I hope you try to make some of them and let me know how they turn out for you.

I'll be finishing up the last few chapters in book 3 here in the next few weeks. The working title is currently When the Levee Breaks. Meanwhile, Gimme Shelter releases in April when the trade paperback of Vice and Virtue comes out. 

 

And you may or may not be aware that Poppy is getting a refresh with new covers! 

These are the ones I've seen so far.

   

  

I’ll no longer be on the blog every other Wednesday, but you have an amazing new cook coming to the kitchen soon! In the meantime, feel free to sign up here for my hardly-ever-sent newsletter to be able to get all my news and nonsense right after I get it. It's the best way to stay in touch because I don't control Facebook or Instagram and we can't keep up with their algorithm changes. As a farewell, here is one of my all time best gluten free recipes that will be sure to amaze family and friends who won't believe there is no gluten.

Libby's Banana Cream Pie Puffs

Yield: 12 large or 24 small cream puffs

 Choux Paste (sounds like Shoe paste) – a most intimidating sounding recipe - is actually very easy. I recommend using a stand mixer for incorporating the eggs.

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter

1 cup water

Hefty pinch salt

1 cup gluten-free flour blend that has xanthan gum already added

*if your gluten-free flour blend does NOT have Xanthan gum already added (like Bob’s Red Mill does not) add ½ teaspoon xanthan gum to the recipe

4 eggs

Vanilla Pastry Cream:

 INGREDIENTS:

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

Heavy pinch salt

1 ½ cups whole milk – Not skim milk. 

    If you’re making pastry with skim milk you don’t deserve cream puffs.

6 egg yolks

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract - or scrape one vanilla bean

Later:

1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

2 Ripe Bananas

 

DIRECTIONS:

 Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. In a heavy saucepan, add 1 stick of butter and 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. 

When the butter is melted, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour all at once, mixing quickly (the mixture will form a ball). Let it stand for a couple of minutes to cool a few degrees.

Transfer to the bowl of your stand mixer (or keep beating it to death with a wooden spoon like I show here) and add the eggs to the flour mixture, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 

Transfer a large scoop of dough into your fitted pastry bag. Pipe rounds of dough for 12 large or 24 small puffs. Dip your fingertips into cold water and smooth the mounds of dough into pretty balls. They will puff us as they bake but they won’t smooth out like dinner rolls.

Bake the domes for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Poke a hole in the side of each one with a knife and put them back in the oven for 2 minutes. Take them out and let them cool.

Make the pastry cream filling.

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, bring the sugar, milk, cornstarch, and salt to a simmer. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks.

Bring the mixture in the saucepan to a boil while stirring continuously. Continue to simmer until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk hot milk into the egg-yolk mixture a little at a time to bring up the temperature of the yolks. Add everything back into the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat while whisking continuously until the custard is so thick it coats a spoon, like soft pudding. 

Now cook it until it boils for one minute. It will be very thick even while hot. Remove from heat and stir in 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract or the vanilla beans. Transfer the custard to a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap down to the surface of the custard. Chill until the custard is completely cold. The plastic wrap won't even cling to the custard it's so thick.

In a separate bowl, beat the 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form.

With a rubber spatula, fold a little of the whipped cream into the custard to loosen it up. 

Then fold all the custard into the whipped cream. Chill again until thick and stiff.

Slice your puffs in half like hamburger buns. and dollop pastry cream in the middle and top with ripe banana slices. Cover with a little more pastry cream and the top half of the cream puff bun. Finish with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Chocolate Babka #Recipe by @LibbyKlein #Christmas #Hanukkah #holiday

Libby Klein "Back away from the babka!" I've been obsessed with Chocolate Babka since The Seinfeld Dinner Party episode declared cinnamon the lesser babka. I personally would agree since I'm not a huge cinnamon fan - sorry Jerry. Cinnamon has it's place in some of my favorite things like pumpkin and apple desserts, but that's kind of where it's reign ends. I'm a big fan of variety and there are a lot of other flavors. This one has a lovely rich chocolate taste and because it's bread you don't feel guilty eating it any time of the day.

Babka is a sweet bread made from an enriched dough. I got this gluten-free recipe and adapted it from The Loopy Whisk gluten free blog. If you don't need to be gluten-free, Paul Hollywood makes a good one. You can get his recipe here. This is a big holiday item and makes a great hostess gift for a dinner party. (See what I did there.)

Gluten-Free Chocolate Babka

Yield 1 Loaf

Ingredients

Chocolate filling:

100 g (3½ oz) dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa solids), chopped
55 g (½ stick) unsalted butter
50 g (¼ cup) caster/superfine or granulated sugar
¼ tsp salt
25 g (¼ cup) Dutch processed cocoa powder

Gluten free enriched dough:

15 g (3 tbsp) whole/rough psyllium husk (If using psyllium husk powder, use only 13g.)
255 g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) lukewarm water
160 g (1⅓ cups + 1 tbsp) tapioca starch
100 g (¾ cup) millet flour, plus extra for flouring the surface
60 g (⅓ cup + 2 tbsp) sorghum flour
40 g (3 tbsp) granulated sugar
6 g (2 tsp) instant yeast
6 g (1½ tsp) baking powder
5 g (2 tsp) xanthan gum
5 g (1 tsp) salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1 egg yolk, room temperature
35 g (2½ tbsp) sunflower oil, or other neutral-tasting oil of choice

Egg wash:
1 large egg, whisked

Simple sugar syrup:
50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
45 g (3 tbsp) water

Instructions

Making the dough:

Make the psyllium gel: In a bowl, mix together the psyllium husk and lukewarm water. After about 30-45 seconds, a gel will form. Add the egg, egg yolk and oil to the psyllium gel and mix well to combine.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the tapioca starch, millet flour, sorghum flour, sugar, instant yeast, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the psyllium gel-egg mixture.

With your stand mixer (or by hand) knead the dough until smooth and all the ingredients are evenly incorporated and the dough is sticky and elastic.

Place in an oil lined bowl and cover with clingfilm and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day:

Chocolate filling:

In a saucepan, combine the chopped chocolate, butter, sugar and salt. Melt everything over medium heat until smooth and glossy. 

Remove from the heat and stir in the cocoa powder. Mix well until smooth. Allow the chocolate filling to cool to room temperature. It will thicken slightly and reach a nicely spreadable consistency.

Shaping the babka:

Line a 9x5-inch (23x13cm) loaf tin with parchment/baking paper and set aside until needed.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball, then roll it out into a large 12×18-inch (30x45cm) rectangle. Dollop on the chocolate filling and, using a small spatula, spread it out into an even layer all the way to the edges. Roll up the dough into a 12-inch (30cm) long skinny log and arrange it so that the seam faces down.

Use a lightly oiled, sharp serrated knife to cut the log lengthwise in half starting almost at the top but going all the way to the bottom.

Turn the two halves so that the cut sides face upwards showing all the chocolate layers, and then loosely twist the two strands around each other. You want the finished twist to fit gently inside your lined loaf tin. Carefully transfer the babka. You might need to gently squish the ends of the braid towards the center, to make the babka fit.

Lightly cover the loaf tin with a sheet of plastic wrap/cling film (to prevent it from drying out) and proof in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours. If it takes longer – it takes longer. Just be patient. You really want it to proof well before baking or it with be tight and tough. I like to put it in a cold oven with a pan of boiling water on the rack underneath it.


Baking the babka:

Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position and preheat the oven to 325ºF (162ºC).

Once the babka has doubled in size, brush it gently with the egg wash.

Bake at 325ºF (162ºC) for 75-90 minutes until the babka reaches and internal temperature between 180ºF (82ºC) and 190ºF (87ºC)and it’s a deep golden brown on top. If it starts browning too much or too quickly, you can cover it with a sheet of foil, shiny side up, and continue baking until done.


Simple sugar syrup:

While the babka is baking, prepare the sugar syrup. In a small saucepan or a microwave-safe bowl, combine the sugar and water. Heat them either on the stovetop or in the microwave until the mixture only just comes to a boil and the sugar has fully dissolved. Set aside and allow to cool completely.

Immediately out of the oven, while your babka is still hot, brush it generously with the sugar syrup – the more syrup you use, the sweeter the crust.

Allow the babka to cool in the loaf tin for about 10 minutes, then remove it out of the tin onto a wire rack. Enjoy warm or cooled completely to room temperature.

This whip-smart, witty series packs an emotional punch within an engaging mystery as Layla Virtue, a 30-something recovering alcoholic and former cop turned party musician, finds a sideline in solving murders from her new home in a Potomac County trailer park…

An unforgettable mystery brimming with hilarity and heart for readers of Margot Douaihy, Jane Pek, and Darynda Jones.

As the song says, you can’t always get what you want. Maybe that’s why, instead of fulfilling her youthful dream of being a rock star, Layla Fortune is living in a trailer park while playing third-rate gigs, including a stint at a ʼ70s Abba brunch. Given everything else she’s been through lately, she’s not complaining (much) about satin ruffles and go-go boots. She has a squad of supportive new BFFs, and she’s reclaimed a relationship with her famous rocker dad. His recent diagnosis has brought them even closer—sharing the trailer park’s lake house, which he’s had remodeled in typically over-the-top style.

Libby Klein writes ridiculously funny murder mysteries from her Northern Virginia office with a very naughty calico Persian named Miss Eliza Doolittle, and a sweet black Lab named Vader. She can name that tune for 70s and 80s rock in the first few notes, and she's translated her love of classic rock into her Layla Virtue Mysteries. Libby was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that prevents her from eating gluten without exploding. Because bread is one of her love languages, she includes the recipes for gluten free goodies in her Cape May based Poppy McAllister series. Most of her hobbies revolve around travel, and eating, and eating while traveling. She insists she can find her way to any coffee shop anywhere in the world, even while blindfolded. Follow all of her nonsense on her website www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/

New Cover Reveal and #Recipe for Coconut Lime Cake by @LibbyKlein #Holiday #Dessert #Thanksgiving #Christmas

Libby Klein I've been obsessed with the Great British Baking Show lately. I've been sick so I've been binge watching Netflix to distract myself. I'm gutted every time my favorite baker is booted from the tent. I even got all the books from the library so I could see the recipes. This is from one of the show cookbooks, but a baker is never given credit for the bake. The original recipe is for a three tiered cake like a wedding cake and I don't have enough people to eat my desserts to commit to that level of showstopper. This is my pared down, three layer version. Then I added a lime curd between the layers because Paul Hollywood insists a cake needs a sharpness to cut through the sweet. And I covered the cake in a lovely Swiss Meringue buttercream because it's light and fluffy.

You'll also see my new cover for Gimme Shelter - book 2 in the Layla Virtue (not cozy) Mysteries. Let me know in the comments what you think about it.

Coconut Lime Cake

Makes two 9-inch rounds

Coconut Cakes

2 sticks unsalted Butter, softened and cubed
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, beaten lightly
2 tsp vanilla paste or extract
2 cups plain flour or a 1 to 1 gluten free flour
3 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
1/4 cup coconut cream

1 1/2 cups desiccated coconut for covering the finished cake

Lime Curd Recipe follows

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe follows

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and pinch of salt. Fold into the butter mixture being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. 

Fold in the desiccated coconut and the coconut cream and combine until smooth. Divide the batter between two prepared 9-inch round pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes until risen and golden, and a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans.

Lime Curd Filling

2 large eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp Lime zest 
1/3 cup fresh key lime juice (about 2–3 lemons)
¼ cup unsalted butter

Whisk all the ingredients together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir continuously over low to medium heat until the curd is thick enough to cling to a spoon. This will take about 6-8 minutes. Spread in a wide casserole dish or on a sheet pan and pop it in the fridge to cool quickly.

Swiss Buttercream

6 large egg whites (approximately 180g)
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
1 and 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened but still cool and cut into Tbsp size pieces
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Separate the eggs, placing the egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer. 

Whisk sugar into the egg whites, then set the bowl over a saucepan filled with just two inches of simmering water over medium heat. Do not let the bottom of the egg whites bowl touch the water. Whisk the whites and sugar constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture has thinned out, about 4 minutes. The mixture will be thick and tacky at first, then thin out and be frothy white on top. To test that it’s ready, you can use your finger or an instant read thermometer. Lightly and quickly dip your finger (it’s very hot, be careful) and rub the mixture between your thumb and finger. You shouldn’t feel any sugar granules. If using a thermometer, the temperature should read 160°F (71°C).

Transfer the bowl to your stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. On medium-high speed, beat the mixture until stiff glossy peaks form and the meringue is no longer warm to the touch, at least 10-15 minutes. If the bowl and meringue still feel warm, wait until both cool to room temperature (around 70°F (21°C)) before adding the butter in the next step.

 

Switch the stand mixer to the paddle attachment. On medium-high speed, add the butter 1 Tablespoon at a time. Wait for the butter to fully mix in before adding the next Tablespoon. After all the butter has been added, turn the mixer down to medium speed and fully beat in the vanilla and salt, about 30 seconds.

Fill the Cakes

Make a wall of Swiss buttercream around the edge of the first layer. Fill the well with lime curd. Repeat with the second layer. cover the top and sides of the cake with Swiss buttercream and pat coconut into the frosting. 

This whip-smart, witty series packs an emotional punch within an engaging mystery as Layla Virtue, a 30-something recovering alcoholic and former cop turned party musician, finds a sideline in solving murders from her new home in a Potomac County trailer park…

An unforgettable mystery brimming with hilarity and heart for readers of Margot Douaihy, Jane Pek, and Darynda Jones.

As the song says, you can’t always get what you want. Maybe that’s why, instead of fulfilling her youthful dream of being a rock star, Layla Fortune is living in a trailer park while playing third-rate gigs, including a stint at a ʼ70s Abba brunch. Given everything else she’s been through lately, she’s not complaining (much) about satin ruffles and go-go boots. She has a squad of supportive new BFFs, and she’s reclaimed a relationship with her famous rocker dad. His recent diagnosis has brought them even closer—sharing the trailer park’s lake house, which he’s had remodeled in typically over-the-top style.

Libby Klein writes ridiculously funny murder mysteries from her Northern Virginia office with a very naughty calico Persian named Miss Eliza Doolittle, and a sweet black Lab named Vader. She can name that tune for 70s and 80s rock in the first few notes, and she's translated her love of classic rock into her Layla Virtue Mysteries. Libby was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that prevents her from eating gluten without exploding. Because bread is one of her love languages, she includes the recipes for gluten free goodies in her Cape May based Poppy McAllister series. Most of her hobbies revolve around travel, and eating, and eating while traveling. She insists she can find her way to any coffee shop anywhere in the world, even while blindfolded. Follow all of her nonsense on her website www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/

Haunted Dubai Monster Cookies High Protein #Recipe Maison Methodologie Copycat by @LibbyKlein #Halloween #HighProtein

Libby Klein I am slammed with ads on Facebook and Instagram for these outrageously expensive protein cookies from Maison Methodologie. They always look amazing and I want them. The first time I looked into buying them I thought for sure I was misunderstanding something. Like is that assortment for a dozen of each cookie? or a dozen total cookies. If you've checked them out you know exactly what I mean. So I confess. I finally broke down and bought them. They are good. They are smaller than I expected for the price. And I can tell you from working on a copycat recipe that a lot of the cost comes from high quality ingredients and the amount of protein powder necessary to get the cookies to meet the macros they say they have.  Plus the packaging and the detail and of course the profit margin. And I personally love a variety pack of just about anything.

While all that is true, and they were a very nice treat, I still can't afford to eat a $12 cookie every day. And since I know how to bake, I have no business buying $12 cookies very often when I can just make them myself. No offence to Maison Methodologie. You better believe I'm waiting to see what the post Thanksgiving sale looks like!

So the cookie I decided to tackle was their Haunted Dubai for Halloween. I cannot guarantee that a side by side comparison would prove I have nailed this copycat because it's not one that I received in my order. But I did make a very good cookie that makes for a high protein snack or meal replacement.

I used President butter from France, Valrhona chocolate from France, Pistachio Paste from Sicily, Einkorn wheat, Black Cocoa from King Arthur and Levels Vanilla Bean Protein Powder.

I know the recipe isn't exactly the same because, Dubai chocolate has toasted phyllo involved and I did not add that. You could though. For the same texture you could toast a few tablespoons of coconut and add it on top of the pistachio. I also did not add any green food coloring to my pistachio because I prefer not to have colorings whenever possible. I used a very expensive Sicilian Pistachio spread, but you could substitute just white chocolate ganache with green food coloring if you're going for the look without the pistachio flavor and added expense. 

In fact, if you make these for the kids for Halloween you can just make any chocolate-chocolate-chip cookie recipe you want and decorate them with the green tinted white chocolate and candy eyes. But if you're going for the high protein kick so you can have one of these as a meal replacement, I've got you covered with the whole recipe below, and the nutrition information and comparison is below that. Be sure to let me know in the comments what you think.

Haunted Dubai Monster Cookies
Maison Methodologie Copycat

Makes 15 Giant or 18 Large or 24 Medium Cookies

Ingredients

2 sticks (1 cup) of French butter
¾ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup monk fruit with allulose
1½ cup Einkorn flour
1½ cup Vanilla Protein Powder
¼ cup black cocoa powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp kosher salt
3 eggs
140 grams Valrhona milk chocolate (Either feves or chopped chocolate bars)
24 tsp (1/2 cup)  Sicilian Pistachio Spread
48 candy eyes

*If you have coconut, toast some and sprinkle it on top to make these a really nice Dubai Chocolate inspired Cookie.

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350°.

Combine Flour, Vanilla Protein Powder, Black Cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Whisk to combine.

Put butter, brown sugar, and monk fruit in the bowl of your stand mixer. Beat until thick and creamy. Add Eggs and molasses to the sugar and butter. Beat to combine. Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low until the dough comes together.

Chop the chocolate if necessary. Add to the cookie dough. Mix well. Take the dough and form either 18 large balls or 24 medium sized balls with a chocolate piece on top. Flatten slightly.

Bake in a 350° oven for 10 minutes for 24 medium cookies, 12-14 minutes for 18 large cookies. Let cool on the pan.

Stir your pistachio paste until smooth. Drizzle lines of pistachio paste across the center of each cookie. Add two candy eyes in the middle of the pistachio paste.

I tried to make 70 gram cookies like the Maison Methodologie website says their cookies weigh, but they were way too big for me and came in at a whopping 400 calories. At 70 grams each, the recipe makes 15 cookies.

If you make 18 large sized cookies, they each have 
330 calories / 19.5 g protein / 18g fat / 22g carbs.

If you make 24 Medium cookies, they each have
250 Calories / 14 g protein / 13 g fat / 17g carbs.

For comparison, the macros for the Maison Methodologie Brown Butter Milk Chocolate Cookies according to their website are
293 Calories / 15 g protein / 16 g fat / 23 g carbs.

Layla Virtue, a blue-haired, 30-something recovering alcoholic and former cop is trying to reinvent herself as a musician—between AA meetings, dodging eccentric neighbors at her trailer park, and reconnecting with her mysterious dad—in this ​unforgettable new mystery brimming with hilarity and heart.

Layla is taking her new life one day at a time from the Lake Pinecrest Trailer Park she now calls home. Being alone is how she likes it. Simple. Uncomplicated. Though try telling that to the group of local ladies who are in relentless pursuit of Layla as their new BFF, determined to make her join them for coffee and donuts.

After her first career ended in a literal explosion, Layla’s trying to eke out a living as a rock musician. It’s not easy competing against garage bands who work for tacos and create their music on a computer, while all she has is an electric guitar and leather-ish pants. But Layla isn’t in a position to turn down any gig. Which is why she’s at an 8-year-old’s birthday party, watching as Chuckles the Clown takes a bow under the balloon animals. No one expects it will be his last . . .

Who would want to kill a clown—and why? Layla and her unshakable posse are suddenly embroiled in the seedy underbelly of the upper-class world of second wives and trust fund kids, determined to uncover what magnetic hold a pudgy, balding clown had over women who seem to have everything they could ever want. Then again, Layla knows full well that people are rarely quite what they seem—herself included . . .

Libby Klein writes ridiculously funny murder mysteries from her Northern Virginia office with a very naughty calico Persian named Miss Eliza Doolittle, and a sweet black Lab named Vader. She can name that tune for 70s and 80s rock in the first few notes, and she's translated her love of classic rock into her Layla Virtue Mysteries. Libby was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that prevents her from eating gluten without exploding. Because bread is one of her love languages, she includes the recipes for gluten free goodies in her Cape May based Poppy McAllister series. Most of her hobbies revolve around travel, and eating, and eating while traveling. She insists she can find her way to any coffee shop anywhere in the world, even while blindfolded. Follow all of her nonsense on her website www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/

Fabulously Moist Pumpkin Bread with Walnuts #Recipe by @Libby Klein

Libby Klein The merest hint of chill in the air, the first leaf to turn colors, and I fly into action baking fall treats. Autumn is my favorite time of year and I will it to start when the days are so muggy you need a shower after checking the mailbox at the end of the driveway. 

Pumpkin bread isn't new, and I'm not doing anything special with it here. But this is a fantastically moist recipe that turns out every time. If you want to fancy it up, try a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds on top of the loaves before they go into the oven. Or make a cheesecake spread or orange honey butter to slather on the slices and eat them for dessert or breakfast.

Quick breads are muffins made in loaf pans, so they could not be easier. Mix your dry ingredients in one bowl, your wet ingredients in another, then combine them. Fold in your extras and pour into pans. Voila. The house smells like Fall. You're welcome.

I'll use any excuse to put nuts in a recipe. If they're optional, I always use the option. How about you? What do you add to pumpkin bread? Or are you a purist adding nothing but the love? Let me know in the comments.

Fabulously Moist Pumpkin Bread with Walnuts

Yield 2 loaves

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
⅔ cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 ½ cups gluten-free 1-to1 flour (or all-purpose flour)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice (I love the Spicewalla blend)
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Gather the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour two 9x5-inch loaf pans.

Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and spice together in a large bowl. 

Mix pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water, and sugar in a separate bowl until well blended. Fold in the walnuts.

Stir flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour batter into the prepared pans.

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 50 minutes.

Layla Virtue, a blue-haired, 30-something recovering alcoholic and former cop is trying to reinvent herself as a musician—between AA meetings, dodging eccentric neighbors at her trailer park, and reconnecting with her mysterious dad—in this ​unforgettable new mystery brimming with hilarity and heart.

Layla is taking her new life one day at a time from the Lake Pinecrest Trailer Park she now calls home. Being alone is how she likes it. Simple. Uncomplicated. Though try telling that to the group of local ladies who are in relentless pursuit of Layla as their new BFF, determined to make her join them for coffee and donuts.

After her first career ended in a literal explosion, Layla’s trying to eke out a living as a rock musician. It’s not easy competing against garage bands who work for tacos and create their music on a computer, while all she has is an electric guitar and leather-ish pants. But Layla isn’t in a position to turn down any gig. Which is why she’s at an 8-year-old’s birthday party, watching as Chuckles the Clown takes a bow under the balloon animals. No one expects it will be his last . . .

Who would want to kill a clown—and why? Layla and her unshakable posse are suddenly embroiled in the seedy underbelly of the upper-class world of second wives and trust fund kids, determined to uncover what magnetic hold a pudgy, balding clown had over women who seem to have everything they could ever want. Then again, Layla knows full well that people are rarely quite what they seem—herself included . . .

Libby Klein writes ridiculously funny murder mysteries from her Northern Virginia office with a very naughty calico Persian named Miss Eliza Doolittle, and a sweet black Lab named Vader. She can name that tune for 70s and 80s rock in the first few notes, and she's translated her love of classic rock into her Layla Virtue Mysteries. Libby was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that prevents her from eating gluten without exploding. Because bread is one of her love languages, she includes the recipes for gluten free goodies in her Cape May based Poppy McAllister series. Most of her hobbies revolve around travel, and eating, and eating while traveling. She insists she can find her way to any coffee shop anywhere in the world, even while blindfolded. Follow all of her nonsense on her website www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/