Never meet your heroes. Andrea was so excited to meet Connie Mac, but Hannah is not impressed with someone just because they are famous. Turns out, Hannah is right. Television chef Connie Mac is a difficult person to be around. Her unreasonable demands are taking the fun out of the winter carnival.
This is book 3 in the Hannah Swensen cozy mystery series. At the time of this blog, there are 29 books in this fun series. By book 3 the reader knows the characters and their interactions are as good as the mystery.
Blueberry Muffin Murder by Joanne Fluke
Cozy Mystery Novel Series with Recipes
Book Review
Outline and Tone:
Joanne Fluke hit the ball out of the park with this on. Lake Eden is hosting a winter carnival and Hannah is hosting television chef Connie Mac. Unfortunately, Hannah can’t get any baking tips from Connie because as it turns out Connie’s real talent is being rude, being demanding, and focusing on making sales. Connie is opening a new store at the mall so her appearance at the winter carnival is really just a publicity stunt to boost sales at her store. Blueberry Muffin Murder’s story flows at a brisk pace and the reader will be sucked into Norman’s injuries, Mike’s jealousies, Andrea’s cravings, as well as Hannah’s sleuthing. Searching for the murder is not the only mystery to be solved, Hannah also searches to find who birth parents are for an adopted childhood friend. All of this together makes this cozy mystery book enjoyable for the readier
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?:
The only unreal part of this series is the notion of anyone having two suitors and they are both content with the situation, even friendly with each other. If I was dating someone and they were dating someone else, you could call me out of the situation. But this love triangle does make for some interesting plots and twists, so I will accept it as it is.
The verdict:
Blueberries are my favorite fruit, these muffins are fantastic and Hannah’s sleuthing skills make this another must read from Joanne Fluke.
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).
Fantastic Recipe From this Novel
Assemble the ingredients
Whenever I make muffins or cupcakes, I use OXO silicone baking cups.
Reusable, oven and dishwasher safe comes in many colors.
They are reusable and dishwasher safe and typically they do not need to be greased. Some of the muffins did stick to the cups this time. It is possible I tried to take them out of the baking cups too soon or it is possible that the sugar in the muffins made them a bit more sticky.
Grease the bottoms only of a 12-cup muffin pan (or line the cups with cupcake papers).
Melt the butter. This OXO Good Grips 2-Cup Angled Measuring Cup is microwave safe and has a perfect pouring spout.
Easy to read measure marks on inside of cup. Dishwasher safe.
Mix in the sugar. Then add the beaten eggs, baking powder, and salt, and mix thoroughly.
Put one tablespoon of the flour in a plastic bag with your cup of fresh or frozen blueberries. Shake it gently to coat the blueberries, and leave them in the bag for now.
Add half the remaining two cups of flour to your bowl and mix it in with half the milk. Then add the rest of the flour and milk and mix thoroughly.
Here comes the fun part: Add ½ cup blueberry pie filling to your bowl and mix it in. (Your dough will turn a shade of blue, but don’t let that stop you-once the muffins are baked, they’ll look just fine.)
When your dough is thoroughly mixed, fold in the flour-coated fresh or frozen blueberries.
Fill the muffin tins three-quarters full and set them aside. If you have dough left over, grease the bottom of a small tea-bread loaf pan and fill it with your remaining dough.
The crumb topping recipe:
Mix the sugar and the flour in a small bowl. Add the softened butter and cut it in until it’s crumbly. (You can also do this in a food processor with hard butter using the steel blade.) [I used a pastry blender to create the crumb topping].
Sprinkle the crumb topping over your muffins and bake them in a 375°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes. (The tea-bread should bake about 10 minutes longer than the muffins.)
While your muffins are baking, divide the rest of your blueberry pie filling into 1/2-cup portions and pop it in the freezer. I use paper cups to hold it and freeze them inside a freezer bag. All you have to do is thaw a cup the next time you want to make a batch of Blue Blueberry Muffins.
When your muffins are baked, set the muffin pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes. (The muffins need to cool in the pan for easy removal.) Then just tip them out of the cups and enjoy.
These are wonderful when they’re slightly warm, but the blueberry flavor will intensify if you store them in a covered container overnight.
Grandma Ingrid’s muffin pans were large enough to hold all the dough from this recipe. My muffin tins are smaller, and I always make a loaf of Blue Blueberry tea bread with the leftover dough. If I make it for Mother, I leave off the crumb topping. She loves to eat it sliced, toasted, and buttered for breakfast.
I often highlight some of my favorite kitchen tools. I am a big fan of OXO. Check out the measuring beakers, measuring cups and measuring spoons. They are my go-to favorites because they are sturdy, the sizes are easy to read, and they are dishwasher save.
Blue Blueberry Muffins from: Blueberry Muffin Murder Cozy Mystery Series
Ingredients
- ¾ cup melted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten (just whip them up with a fork)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (no need to thaw if they are frozen)
- ½ cup blueberry pie filling
- 2 cups flour (no need to sift) plus 1 Tbsp flour for blueberries
- ½ cup mild
Crumb Topping:
- ½ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup flour
- ¼ cup softened butter (1/2 stick)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F, rack in the middle position
- Grease the bottoms only of a 12-cup muffin pan (or line the cups with cupcake papers).
- Melt the butter.
- Mix in the sugar.
- Then add the beaten eggs, baking powder, and salt, and mix thoroughly.
- Put one tablespoon of the flour in a plastic bag with your cup of fresh or frozen blueberries.
- Shake it gently to coat the blueberries, and leave them in the bag for now.
- Add half the remaining two cups of flour to your bowl and mix it in with half the milk.
- Then add the rest of the flour and milk and mix thoroughly.
- Add ½ cup blueberry pie filling to your bowl and mix it in. (Your dough will turn a shade of blue, but don't let that stop you-once the muffins are baked, they'll look just fine.) When your dough is thoroughly mixed, fold in the flour-coated fresh or frozen blueberries.
- Fill the muffin tins three-quarters full and set them aside.
- If you have dough left over, grease the bottom of a small tea-bread loaf pan and fill it with your remaining dough.
The crumb topping:
- Mix the sugar and the flour in a small bowl.
- Add the softened butter and cut it in until it's crumbly. (You can also do this in a food processor with hard butter using the steel blade.)
- Sprinkle the crumb topping over your muffins and bake them in a 375°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes. (The tea-bread should bake about 10 minutes longer than the muffins.)
- When your muffins are baked, set the muffin pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes. (The muffins need to cool in the pan for easy removal.)
- Then just tip them out of the cups and enjoy.
- These are wonderful when they're slightly warm, but the blueberry flavor will intensify if you store them in a covered container overnight.
What would I do differently next time?
I didn’t spray nonstick spray in the silicone baking cups and I didn’t let them sit long in them. These 2 mistake lead to some of the muffins not coming out easily. Next time, spray nonstick spray, and be patient!
Muffins are a simple snack or breakfast treat. Try these Apple Spice Muffins from Maddie Day’s Grilled for Murder. Or these Cherry Pie Muffins from Eggs in Purgatory by Laura Childs.
