Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait

Showing posts with label The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Cleo Coyle's Chocolate-Stuffed PB Cookies + Book & Tote #Giveaway News!

From Cleo Coyle: These coffeehouse-sized peanut butter cookies are sweet, tender, and stuffed with enough ooey-gooey melted chips to make a chocolate lover swoon.

We're baking them up to continue celebrating the release of our new Haunted Bookshop Mystery, The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait.

~ GIVEAWAY NEWS! ~

2 Chances To Win Our New

Haunted Bookshop Mystery

+ Our "Jack is Back" Tote Bag

1st Chance: Join us for a fun Q&A between

our (haunted) bookseller Penelope and

award-winning book reviewer Dru Ann Love.

Get to know our Pen & Jack...

To enter click here or on

the red button below...

Our giveaway at Dru's Book Musings
will remain open until May 20th.

For a 2nd Chance to win the
prize package above, scroll
to the end of this post...

Now let's eat!

Cleo Coyle writes two
bestselling mystery

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

A Note from Cleo

Readers of our 10th Coffeehouse Mystery, Murder by Mocha, will remember this cookie recipe as one Clare baked up for her daughter's boyfriend, NYPD Sergeant Manny Franco, in thanks for his backup at the International Confectioners' trade show.

Why did Clare need police backup at a Chocolate and Candy Expo? You'll find the hilarious answer in Murder by Mocha. And keep in touch with us for news of our brand-new Coffeehouse Mystery, coming later this year: Honey Roasted.

May you read (and eat) with joy!

~ Cleo

Click here to download
my recipe as a free PDF
that you can print, save,
or share.

Click for Cleo's free recipe PDF.

Cleo Coyle's
Chocolate Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes 18–20 big, stuffed cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1¼ cups peanut butter (standard creamy, do not use sugarless)
1 cup granulated sugar plus ½ cup, for dusting
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup good quality semisweet chocolate chips

Step 1—Make the dough: Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter, and sugars in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla and blend well. Finally, add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix only enough until a soft dough forms.

Step 2—Form and stuff: Pinch off generous pieces of dough and roll into big, golf-ball-sized rounds. Cradle the cookie ball in one hand. Use the thumb of your opposite hand to make a deep indentation in the center of each cookie ball. Fill the hole with about a teaspoon of chocolate chips and then seal the chocolate inside the dough ball. Gently roll the balls in white, granulated sugar for a finished look.

Step 3—Freeze: Place the cookie balls on a wax-paper-covered plate in the freezer for 30 minutes. (The wax paper will prevent the dough from adhering to the plate.) This freezing step is the key to a successful cookie. If you don’t freeze the cookie dough before baking, the cookie may break while baking and the chocolate may ooze out instead of staying in the center of the cookie. (If you plan to freeze the dough longer than 30 minutes, wrap it in plastic and foil to prevent freezer burn.)

Step 4—Bake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the chilled cookie balls on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, keeping the balls a few inches apart to allow for spreading. Bake them for 20–30 minutes. The cookies are not done until they flatten out, so be patient and wait for this to happen. The chocolate should stay inside. A nice “cover” for a cookie with oozing chocolate is to gently dust with confectioners’ sugar....

Yes, a bit of sweetness often

rescues the day—and the cookie!

Note: When making cookies, always allow your baking sheets to cool before putting more dough on them. A hot baking sheet will cause any cookie to spread too much and please do…

Eat (and read) with joy!

~ Cleo Coyle

New York Times bestselling author
of The Coffeehouse Mysteries and
Haunted Bookshop Mysteries

This is us -- Alice and Marc.
Together we write as Cleo Coyle.

Visit our online coffeehouse here.
And follow us at these links...

Facebook - Twitter - Instagram

Pinterest - Bookbub - Goodreads

🔎

Just Released

Our new mystery!

"Terrific Series"

~ Criminal Element

Buy Now at:

Amazon * B&N

Indiebound * BAM

+ More Buy Links

“Jack and Pen are a terrific
duo who prove that love
can transcend anything.”

—The Mystery Reader

To learn more, visit our
online Haunted Bookshop
by clicking here.

👇

Cleo is now working on her
next book and Newsletter!

Don't miss her book news,
bonus recipes, and fun

prize package giveaways!

TO SIGN UP...

Cleo's Free UPDATED!
Checklist of Haunted Bookshop

Mysteries in Order

The Haunted Bookshop Mysteries are
bestselling works of amateur sleuth fiction

featuring an earnest young widow who runs a
quaint Rhode Island bookshop and the ghost
of a hardboiled PI who haunts her.

Click the image above for Cleo's
free Checklist of Books in Order.

Cleo's Haunted Bookshop

Book & Tote Giveaway!

For a 2nd Chance to win our

Book & Tote Giveaway, click here

or on the red button below...

The red button above will take you
to our 2nd Giveaway Contest

and a brilliant review of our

new Haunted Bookshop mystery!

👆

Click for Cleo's free recipe PDF.

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

RELEASE DAY NEWS: The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait by Cleo Coyle

Congratulations to our own...

CLEO COYLE

On the release of her new Haunted Bookshop Mystery

THE GHOST AND THE HAUNTED PORTRAIT

Bookshop owner Penelope Thornton-McClure and her gumshoe ghost team up to solve the stunning mystery at the heart of a madwoman’s self-portrait in this all new installment from New York Times bestselling author Cleo Coyle.

While gathering a collection of vintage book cover paintings for a special event in her quaint Rhode Island bookshop, Penelope discovers a spooky portrait of a beautiful woman, one who supposedly went mad, according to town gossip. Seymour, the local mailman, falls in love with the haunting image and buys the picture, refusing to part with it, even as fatal accidents befall those around it. Is the canvas cursed? Or is something more sinister at work?

For answers, Pen turns to an otherworldly source: Jack Shepard, PI. Back in the 1940s, Jack cracked a case of a killer cover artist, and (to Pen’s relief) his spirit is willing to help her solve this mystery, even if he and his license did expire decades ago.

THE GHOST AND THE HAUNTED PORTRAIT

To learn more or buy,

click a link below...

Amazon here

B&N here

BAM * Indiebound

+ More Buy Links

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Cleo Coyle's Easy Kahlua Brownies + Haunted Bookshop Tote & Book #Giveaway

From Cleo Coyle: This past Sunday, my husband and I shared a special post about the 2004 beginnings of our Haunted Bookshop mystery series. If you missed it, we invite you to visit the post and enter our book-and-tote giveaway by clicking here or on our book cover below.

Be sure to leave a comment on our Sunday post with your email address, and you will be entered in our prize package giveaway to help celebrate next week's release of our 7th Haunted Bookshop Mystery:

The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait

by Cleo Coyle

To enter the giveaway for a signed copy of

our new Haunted Bookshop Mystery and the
fun, canvas "Jack is Back!" tote bag,

click here or on the red button below...

Our giveaway will stay open
until the drawing at Noon
on Saturday 5/1.

As for today, our regular Tuesday gig, we are sharing a recipe with (you guessed it) spirits! We know Jack, our hardboiled PI ghost, would approve of that idea, so let's get our Kahlua Brownies on...

☕ A Note from Cleo

Cleo Coyle writes two
bestselling mystery

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

As a longtime married couple, my husband and I are pretty well matched. Sure, we have our ups and down, but that bond between kindred spirits is something we understand, and we do our best to bring that understanding to our collaboration as writers, not only in our Coffeehouse Mysteries, but also in our Haunted Bookshop series, especially when it comes to our cosmically paired protagonists: Widowed bookshop owner Penelope Thornton-McClure and Jack Shepard, the gumshoe ghost who haunts her.

As for today's culinary pairing, Kahlua and chocolate are a great match, too. Coffee liqueur gives the chocolate in the brownies a richer and more dimensional taste. And the "spirit" of the rum in the Kahlua brings the party with the flavor. Unfortunately, retaining that flavor is tricky. Many recipes simply instruct you to add Kahlua to your batter, but during the baking, it's partially cooked away. Today’s easy recipe shares how Marc and I make our Kahlua brownies. Here's a hint. We were inspired by the affogato.

Affogato, which means "drowned" in Italian, is a deliciously easy dessert in which Italians simply pour a shot or two of hot espresso (or strongly brewed coffee) over a scoop or two of gelato or ice cream (as shown below)...

How has this inspired our version of Kahlua brownies? You'll see in the recipe! One last note: For convenience today, we're using a mix (as so many people do these days), but feel free to use your favorite scratch brownie recipe. Now let's get our Kahlua brownies on...

👇

To download this recipe in a
PDF document you can print,
save, or share, click here
or on the image below...

Click here for the free recipe PDF.

☕ Cleo Coyle's

Easy Kahlua Brownies

Makes one 9x9 pan of brownies (16 squares)

Ingredients:

Butter (for greasing pan and foil)

1 box brownie mix ("family size," see my note below*)

Brewed coffee (to replace water in mix's direction)

1/2 teaspoon instant espresso (see my note below*)

4 Tablespoons Kahlua (or any coffee liqueur)

1/2 cup (approximately) powdered sugar

(optional) 1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc...)

Mixes also usually require vegetable oil and eggs (consult box directions)

*Note on selecting brownie mix: The "Family Size" mixes for 13x9 pans almost always give you the option to make your brownies in a 9x9 pan instead. We prefer this option for slightly thicker brownies.

*Note: Instant Espresso is freeze-dried liquid espresso and can come in either powdered or crystal form. When used in baking, it brings fantastic flavor—and better flavor than freeze-dried instant coffee (which can be bitter or sour). Look for espresso powder in the instant coffee section of your grocery store or buy it online. Popular brands include Medaglia D’Oro Instant Espresso Coffee and Ferrara Instant Espresso Coffee.

Directions:

Step 1 - Prep pan: Line the bottom of your 9x9 metal pan with aluminum foil, allowing some of the foil to hang over two ends (like handles). This lets you lift the brownies completely out of the pan for cutting. Generously grease the foil and unlined sides of the pan with butter or non-stick spray.

Step 2 - Add coffee flavor: Make the brownies as your package directs but start the mixing by completely replacing the water in the mix's directions with brewed coffee and whisk in 1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder...

Step 3 - Finish batter: Once the coffee has cooled off, whisk in the egg (or eggs) and the rest of the required ingredients (most likely vegetable oil). Add the brownie mix and finish the batter as directed. If you like nuts in your brownies, fold in 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans.

Step 4 - Bake as directed: To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the brownies. If it comes out clean (moist crumbs are fine but there should be no wet batter), then the brownies are done.

Step 5 - Cool and (carefully) poke: Give the brownies 30 to 60 minutes to cool off. You can speed this up by placing the (uncovered) pan on a cold back porch or in your fridge. Cooling off the brownies will allow them to set; make it easier for you to poke clean small holes on the surface; and de-pan and slice them. Use a toothpick to create these holes, which will allow the Kahlua to penetrate the crust and seep into the brownies.

For best results (small, clean holes)...

Insert toothpick and twist as you lift.

Wipe pick clean before poking again.

Step 6 - Pour your Kahlua: The best way to do this is one tablespoon at a time in each quadrant of the brownie pan. Pour the liquid evenly over the top. (My showy shot glass method, as you can see, wasn't quite even enough and I tipped the pan to help distribute the Kahlua over the surface.)

Step 7 - Allow to set, de-pan, and pretty up with powdered sugar: Give the brownies a little time to absorb the Kahlua (at least 15 to 30 minutes). Then de-pan by running a knife along the unlined sides and using the handles to carefully lift the brownies out of the pan.

Use a sieve to evenly distribute

the powdered sugar over

the top of the brownies.

It looks so pretty, doesn't it?

A snowy winter wonderland

of chocolate, coffee, and Kahlua.

Step 8 - Slice and serve: We like to use a sharp pizza cutter, as shown below. The easiest way to get even slices is to eyeball the center of the pan and slice right down the middle of the big square. Then focus on each half and do the same thing, slicing down the center of each half. Use the same method across to create 16 even squares.