Chocolate Salami Cookies -Perfect for April Fools Day- from: Coconut Layer Cake Murder

When Lonnie (Michelle’s policeman boyfriend) is the last person seen with the murder victim, the sheriff office in Eden Lake needs an outside person to help investigate. Hannah Swensen is ready and able. Although she admits to having trouble figuring out what happened, the reader is given enough clues to easily narrow down the list of suspects.

This is book #25 of Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen Mystery series. Hannah is back to sleuthing and keeping her friends out of trouble.

Coconut Layer Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Cozy Mystery Novel Review

Outline and Tone:

Ms. Fluke continues to use interesting writing techniques. In this book, after the murder victim is found, she spends a large chunk in a flashback of the events that lead up to the killing. This allowed for a delightful development of a character, Lonnie, Michelle’s boyfriend. Another aspect of this installment that I enjoyed were the clues that were dropped throughout the story. Be sure you pay attention in the flashbacks as well as during Hannah’s sleuthing. Hannah Swensen has surrounded herself with wonderful family, friends, and working partners that allow her to process her time with Ross and allowed her to spend most of this cozy mystery outside of the Cookie Jar Bakery. I found this story to move quickly, kept my interest at every page and has an ending that makes me want to read the next book too. Ms. Fluke has created a fun series!

The author:

Joanne Fluke published her first Hannah Swenson novel, Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder, in 2001. Since then she has been a New York Times bestselling author several times. She is a popular guest on her local television station and she always uploads her interview to her Youtube Channel. She even has many interviews organized by the book. Some of her books have been made into movies on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel. Murder, She Baked: A Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery can be found https://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/. Joanne Fluke will interact with fans on her Twitter and her Facebook accounts.

What is not to like?:

I enjoyed the story and some of the recipes. I had fun making chocolate pastrami (no pastrami used in the recipe). I suppose for me, the only thing not to like is the 2 recipes that use coconut. I am simply not a fan of coconut.

The verdict:

I easily recommend this book. I don’t think it would read well as a stand alone because there are references to characters and events that happened before this story began.

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).

Chocolate Salami Recipe from the novel

Assemble the Ingredients

This is a super simple recipe with only 4 ingredients, but they do need to chill so don’t wait until the last minute to prepare them for your April Fool’s Day Prank.

Like all of Hannah Swensen’s recipes, she has several personal notes in the directions. I will keep Hannah’s note here but not in the step by step recipe at the bottom.

Hannah’s 1st Note: You can use any vanilla cookie that is tan or white and will resemble the fat particles in salami or Summer Sausage.

Hannah’s 2nd Note: If you want to make your own vanilla cookies to crush, I’d suggest Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies. They’re delicious and very crushable.

Use a Ziploc plastic bag to crush your vanilla wafer cookies. Simply dump them into the bag, press the Ziploc strip at the top to lock it, and lay the bag out on your counter. Either take out a rolling pin and crush them, or crush them by squeezing the bag in your hand. Your goal is to get cookie pieces approximately the size of coarse gravel.

After I took this picture, I still had some crushing to do. Remember the cookies will represent the fat swirled in the sausage.

Place the 2 sticks of salted butter in a microwave-safe bowl. (I used a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup.)

Melt the butter on HIGH for 1 minute. Let the butter sit in the microwave for 1 minute. If the butter is melted, you’re done. If not, melt it in additional 30-second increments with 30-second standing times in the microwave until it melts.

Pour the melted butter in a large mixing bowl.

Add the cocoa powder to the mixing bowl and stir it in. I tried to stir it in with a spatula but had to switch to a whisk.

I love the OXO Good Grips 6-Piece Plastic Measuring Spoons because the measuring size is so clearly marked.


	
	
		
		
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Open the can of sweetened condensed milk and pour it into the mixing bowl. Mix it in thoroughly.

Add the crushed vanilla wafers (or whichever cookie you chose to crush) to the bowl. Mix it in thoroughly.

The white bowl in the picture is OXO Good Grips 3-Piece Mixing bowl set. These are my go-to bowls because they have a spout for pouring, a grip handle and a rubberized bottom that helps them stay in place when mixing.

Molly's Favorite Mixing Bowls

OXO 3 Piece Mixing Bowl Set

Good Grips, no slip when mixing. Each bowl has a spout for easy pouring. Dishwasher safe.

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Place a sheet of parchment paper on your kitchen counter. Scoop out roughly one-fifth of the mixture and place it on the parchment paper.

Spray your palms with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray and shape the salami “dough” on the parchment paper into a long roll the size of a salami.

Be sure to leave “ears” at the sides of your Chocolate Salami roll so that you can twist them to tighten the roll later.

Move your salami roll close to the bottom of the parchment paper and roll it up tightly. Press in the end of the roll with your palms. Twist the loose paper on the sides of your roll so that your Chocolate Salami will stay tightly rolled.

Place the salami roll in a Ziploc freezer bag.

Take out one-fourth of the remaining mixture in the bowl and make another salami roll.

Place it in the Ziploc freezer bag. Use one-third of the remaining mixture to make a third roll. Place that in the Ziploc bag.

Use half of the remaining mixture to make a fourth roll and place it in the Ziploc bag. Roll the remaining mixture for the 5th Chocolate Salami and place it in the bag.

The above is how the recipe tells you to separate the dough, I just eyeballed making 5 salami rolls and it turned just fine.

Now you have 2 choices.

You can place the Chocolate Salami rolls in the refrigerator for 2 hours before serving or you can place the Chocolate Salami rolls in your freezer.

Chocolate Salami rolls placed in the refrigerator will keep for up to 1 week.

Chocolate Salami rolls placed in the freezer will keep for up to 6 months. If you put the rolls in the freezer, thaw a roll by placing it in the refrigerator overnight.

Yield: 5 salami-size rolls or 3 rolls the size of summer sausage.

These Chocolate Salami rolls or Chocolate Summer Sausage rolls are a novelty, but they also taste wonderful. They’re fun at parties that include children, even though it might mean getting dessert before dinner. Wrap any leftovers and keep them in the refrigerator.

To serve, sprinkle powdered sugar over the rolls. Then slice with a sharp knife and arrange the slices on a platter.

Hannah’s 3rd Note: I serve my Chocolate Salami or Chocolate Summer Sausage rolls by placing the slices on top of vanilla wafer or vanilla cookies.

Chocolate Salami perfect for April Fools day cookies

Chocolate Salami Cookies (Perfect April Fools Day) from: Coconut Layer Cake Murder

This is a no-bake recipe that is served chilled. These Chocolate Salami rolls or Chocolate Summer Sausage rolls are a novelty, but they also taste wonderful. They're fun at parties that include children, even though it might mean getting dessert before dinner.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 2

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Ingredients

1½ boxes vanilla wafers like Nabisco Nilla Wafers
1 cup salted butter
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk NOT evaporated milk

Instructions

Use a Ziploc plastic bag to crush your vanilla wafer cookies. Simply dump them into the bag, press the Ziploc strip at the top to lock it, and lay the bag out on your counter. Either take out a rolling pin and crush them, or crush them by squeezing the bag in your hand. Your goal is to get cookie pieces approximately the size of coarse gravel.
Place the 2 sticks of salted butter in a microwave-safe bowl. (I used a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup.) Melt the butter on HIGH for 1 minute. Let the butter sit in the microwave for 1 minute. If the butter is melted, you're done. If not, melt it in additional 30-second increments with 30-second standing times in the microwave until it melts.
Pour the melted butter in a large mixing bowl.
Add the cocoa powder to the mixing bowl and stir it in.
Open the can of sweetened condensed milk and pour it into the mixing bowl. Mix it in thoroughly.
Add the crushed vanilla wafers (or whichever cookie you chose to crush) to the bowl. Mix it in thoroughly.
Place a sheet of parchment paper on your kitchen counter.
Scoop out roughly one-fifth of the mixture and place it on the parchment paper.
Spray your palms with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray and shape the salami "dough" on the parchment paper into a long roll the size of a salami.
Be sure to leave "ears" at the sides of your Chocolate Salami roll so that you can twist them to tighten the roll later.
Move your salami roll close to the bottom of the parchment paper and roll it up tightly. Press in the end of the roll with your palms. Twist the loose paper on the sides of your roll so that your Chocolate Salami will stay tightly rolled.
Place the salami roll in a Ziploc freezer bag.
Do the same to make 4 more salami rolls.
You can place the Chocolate Salami rolls in the refrigerator for 2 hours before serving or you can place the Chocolate Salami rolls in your freezer.
Chocolate Salami rolls placed in the refrigerator will keep for up to 1 week.
Chocolate Salami rolls placed in the freezer will keep for up to 6 months.
If you put the rolls in the freezer, thaw a roll by placing it in the refrigerator overnight.
To serve, sprinkle powdered sugar over the rolls. Then slice with a sharp knife and arrange the slices on a platter.