A new café/store, a newly found relative, a new pet, a new love life (or 2), and a new dead body. Robbie has a busy life and hopefully a busy store too!
This is the second book in Maddie Day’s A Country Store Mystery series. Robbie Jordan is the owner and cook at Pans and Pancakes, a café/store in southern Indiana. She is new to town with only one relative, an aunt, but she is making friends and perhaps enemies quickly. After being open just 6 weeks, she finds a dead body in her store.
Grilled for Murder by Maddie Day
Cozy Mystery Novel with Recipes Book Review
Outline and Tone:
Robbie has moved to her mom’s hometown for California to open a café/store. This series; A Country Store Mystery, the home of Pans and Pancakes Café and Store, is set in Salt Lick, Indiana, a fictitious town in southern Indiana. The town is described as being so far south it is almost Kentucky. I [Molly] have lived in 10 different states, but the southern Indiana colloquialisms that surprise Robbie are just as new and surprising to me as they are to the protagonist, Robbie. Learning these different word phrases and patterns of speech is an added bonus to this cozy mystery. This novel takes place shortly after the first one of the series, Flipped for Murder. Pans and Pancakes has been open only 6 weeks, but Robbie Jordan is finding her rhythm and the restaurant is doing well. That is until Robbie finds a dead body, this time in her store! Robbie learns a lot about her friends, neighbors and boyfriend who is a brother-in-law to the deceased.
The author:
Maddie Day is one of my favorite authors to follow on social media. She posts regularly on Twitter @edithmaxwell. She also has a large following on Instagram and Facebook. Like so many authors, Maddie Day is a pseudonym for Edith Maxwell. She has at least six book series that can all be found on her website which is elaborate and has inside information and reviews for all of her books.
What is not to like?:
I want to know more. I’m excited to learn more about Robbie and her love life and her dad! I hope the next book gives us more personal details!
The verdict:
Just like the last review I did for a Maddie Day book, Flipped for Murder, I recommend this book too. The recipes Ms. Day includes are not the typical sugary sweet desserts that are found in most cozy mysteries. Ms. Day cooks savory dishes and bread with whole wheat. While I may fudge a recipe here and there (for example, I only used half whole wheat and then half white flour in the Apple Spice Muffins), each recipe has been a hit.
Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you).
Assemble the ingredients
Here is my first disclaimer about the recipe. The first picture shows chopped walnuts in the small glass dish. This is what the recipe calls for and unfortunately, no on in my house likes. Since I want to sample the muffins and get their feedback I decided to make some alterations. First I swapped in the cinnamon roasted almonds as seen in the middle picture and since they were whole, I had to chop them myself. The chopped cinnamon roasted almonds are pictured in the third picture. I made one other swap that you cannot see, the recipe calls for 2 cups of whole wheat flour, I replaced one cup of whole wheat with one cup of all purpose white flour. Finally, the recipe in the novel says nothing about peeling the apples and since that is a chore that I would gladly skip, I left the peels on and it worked out just great, so do NOT peel the apples!
Combine eggs, sugar, milk, apples, and vanilla, and mix well.
This recipe does not need an electric or hand mixer, just use a non slip mixing bowl and a good silicone spatula. My favorite mixing bowls are OXO Good Grips 3-Piece Mixing Bowl.
OXO Good Grips 3- Piece Plastic Mixing Bowl Set LInk
OXO Good Grips also makes a great stiff silicone mixing spatula for jobs like mixing these muffins. I also enjoy using these cute OXO Good Grips 7 Piece Nesting Measuring Cups for any liquids one cup or less.
I use OXO Good Grips 2-Cup Angled Measuring Cup for any liquid over 1 cup.
Easy to read measure marks on inside of cup. Dishwasher safe.
Stir dry ingredients into wet with a fork until just mixed.
Spoon into a muffin pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until brown on top. Remove from pan and cool on rack. Keeping with my love for using silicone in baking, I always use the OXO Good Grips Silicone Baking Cups. They stand upon their own, reusable, and dishwasher safe.
Reusable, oven and dishwasher safe comes in many colors.
Since I decided to swap the chopped walnuts with cinnamon toasted almonds, I added one whole almond to the top of the muffins before baking. The heat of the oven gave the almonds a nice shine and helped to decorate the muffins.
Apple Spice Muffins from: Grilled for Murder
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup milk
- 2 cups chopped apples (about three small), any variety
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups whole-wheat flour [I used 1 cup whole-wheat and 1 cup all purpose white]
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ cup finely chopped walnuts [I used chopped cinnamon roasted almonds]
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a standard muffin pan. [If you are using silicone muffin cups, you do not need to grease those]
- Combine eggs, sugar, milk, apples, and vanilla, and mix well.
- Separately combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, and walnuts [or almonds].
- Stir dry ingredients into wet with a fork until just mixed.
- Spoon into a muffin pan.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until brown on top.
- Remove from pan and cool on rack.
- Serve warm with butter, peanut butter, or cream cheese.
What would I do differently next time?
Probably nothing, I liked the adaptations I made. The cinnamon almonds were a hit with my whole family.
If you are a fan of muffins like I am, these cherry pie muffins are a super easy treat. Cherry Pie Muffins from Eggs in Purgatory.
