What might be the longest love triangle in cozy mystery history finally comes to an end in this novel. However, the novel focuses more on the Food Channel’s Dessert Chef competition than her wedding. The reader is the true winner of this competition because it brings us the recipe for Butterscotch Sugar Cookies which are fabulous!
Book #19 in this series brings the reader to Hannah’s wedding. Mother, Delores, sisters Andrea and Michelle are all excited, but there is at least one unhappy resident of Lake Eden. Hannah is finally blissfully in love and even lovey-dovey with her fiancé. However, before her wedding she has one more murder mystery to solve.
Wedding Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
Butterscotch Sugar Cookies
from a cozy mystery:
Wedding Cake Murder
by Joanne Fluke
Book Outline and Tone:
Author Joanne Fluke does a great job of having secondary story lines. The main story line is Hannah’s participation in the Food Channel Dessert Chef baking contest. The contestants are professionally trained chefs and Hannah. As the underdog, she manages to win the first leg of the contest which (conveniently) brings the remainder of the competition back to Hannah’s home town of Lake Eden.
The murder victim is someone connected to the competition that also had connections to Lake Eden. This is clever, because it allows several characters from Lake Eden to be part of the investigation. Hannah continues to use her intellect and skills to dig and dig until the assailant is discovered.
The secondary story line involves the preparation for her wedding. If you have read book #18 then you know who the fiance’ is. If you just randomly happened to pick up this novel then I won’t spoil the surprise. Hannah remains true to herself and the wedding plans are mostly simple and true to her Minnesota family. Now that she is married, I am excited to see what kinds of trouble she can get into with her new husband.
The Best Quote:
“Every single one of the Food Channel cameras was trained on her, documenting her dash into the church. No one said a word and Hannah stopped as she approached the front, as if there were some sort of invisible barrier. ‘Sorry I’m late,’ she said as she faced the bank of cameras. ‘I was catching a killer.’”
“There was perfect silence in the crowded church for a few brief seconds, and then Grandma Knudson rose to her feet. ‘Relax,’ she said, addressing the congregation. ‘That’s our Hannah for you!’”
Point of View:
The novel is told in third person from Hannah’s point of view.
The Author: Joanne Fluke
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’m glad the novel focused on the baking contest rather than wedding preparations, but a little more wedding excitement would have been alright with me.
The verdict:
First of all add butterscotch chips to your grocery list right now. These cookies are fabulous. Then enjoy some warm cookies while you are also enjoying this novel.
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).
Butterscotch Sugar Cookies
Assemble the Ingredients
Melt the butter and butterscotch chips in a microwave-safe bowl by putting the chips on the bottom of the bowl and the butter on top of that.
Heat for one minute on HIGH, let the bowl sit in the microwave for one minute, and then try to stir it smooth. If you can, you’re done. If you can’t, continue to heat in 30-second increments followed by a standing time of one minute, until you can stir the mixture smoothly. (You can also do this in a saucepan on the stovetop at LOW heat.)
OXO Good Grips 3- Piece Plastic Mixing Bowl Set LInk
After you have stirred the mixture smooth, set it on the kitchen counter or on a cold burner to cool. When the mixture has cooled to slightly above room temperature, pour it into a mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer.
Add the powdered sugar and the white sugar. Beat until the mixture is smooth.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
Mix in the vanilla extract. Make sure it’s well combined.
Add the baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix until everything is thoroughly combined.
Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition. You don’t have to be precise-just divide your flour into roughly 4 parts. (One very important reason for adding the flour in increments is so that the whole mountain of flour won’t sit there on top of your bowl and erupt like a volcano all over your kitchen when you try to combine it with all the other ingredients.)
Once the dough has been thoroughly mixed, refrigerate for 1 hour.
Then prepare your cookie sheets by spraying them with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray. Alternatively, you can line them with parchment paper.
Place a half-cup of white sugar in a shallow bowl.
Roll one-inch cookie dough balls with your fingers. (You can also use a 2-teaspoon scooper to form the dough balls.)
Dip the dough balls in the bowl with the sugar and roll them around until they’re coated.
Hannah’s 1st Note: Work with only two or three cookie dough balls at a time. If you put more than that in the sugar at a time, they may stick together.
Place the dough balls on the cookie sheet, 6 dough balls to a standard-size sheet. The original recipe says to put 12 cookie balls on the cookie sheet, but these cookies spread a lot. My first batch spread into each other and became one big cookie.
The original recipe calls to flatten the dough balls with the back of a metal spatula. This will make them bake evenly. If you leave them on the cookie sheet as dough balls, they will flatten out during the baking process, but the insides will be chewy instead of melt-in-your-mouth crispy. However, I liked it better when I made a small dent on the top and added some Turbinado sugar to the tops.
Bake the Butterscotch Sugar Cookies at 325 degrees for 13 to 15 minutes. (Mine took 14 minutes.)
Yield: approximately 5 to 7 dozen fudgy Butterscotch Sugar Cookies.
Lisa’s Note: Herb says these cookies are like potato chips. You can’t eat just one. They also hold up really well if you stick several in around the sides of a dish of vanilla or chocolate ice cream.
Butterscotch Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups salted butter (4 sticks, 16 ounces, 1 pound)
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
- 2 cups powdered (confectioner's) sugar (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
- 1 cup white (granulated) sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cream of tartar (critical!)
- 1 tsp salt
- 4½ cups all-purpose flour (not sifted-pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
- ½ cup white sugar in a bowl for coating the cookie dough balls that you will make.
Instructions
- Melt the butter and butterscotch chips in a microwave-safe bowl by putting the chips on the bottom of the bowl and the butter on top of that.
- Heat for one minute on HIGH, let the bowl sit in the microwave for one minute, and then try to stir it smooth. If you can, you're done. If you can't, continue to heat in 30-second increments followed by a standing time of one minute, until you can stir the mixture smoothly. (You can also do this in a saucepan on the stovetop at LOW heat.)
- After you have stirred the mixture smooth, set it on the kitchen counter or on a cold burner to cool.
- When the mixture has cooled to slightly above room temperature, pour it into a mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer.
- Add the powdered sugar and the white sugar. Beat until the mixture is smooth.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
- Mix in the vanilla extract. Make sure it's well combined.
- Add the baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix until everything is thoroughly combined.
- Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing after each addition. You don't have to be precise-just divide your flour into roughly 4 parts. (One very important reason for adding the flour in increments is so that the whole mountain of flour won't sit there on top of your bowl and erupt like a volcano all over your kitchen when you try to combine it with all the other ingredients.)
- Once the dough has been thoroughly mixed, refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Now: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
- Then prepare your cookie sheets by spraying them with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray. Alternatively, you can line them with parchment paper.
- Place a half-cup of white sugar in a shallow bowl.
- Roll one-inch cookie dough balls with your fingers. (You can also use a 2-teaspoon scooper to form the dough balls.)
- Dip the dough balls in the bowl with the sugar and roll them around until they're coated.
- Place the dough balls on the cookie sheet, 6 dough balls to a standard-size sheet. The original recipe says to put 12 cookie balls on the cookie sheet, but these cookies spread a lot. My first batch spread into each other and became one big cookie.
- The original recipe calls to flatten the dough balls with the back of a metal spatula. This will make them bake evenly. If you leave them on the cookie sheet as dough balls, they will flatten out during the baking process, but the insides will be chewy instead of melt-in-your-mouth crispy. However, I liked it better when I made a small dent on the top and added some Turbinado sugar to the tops.
- Bake the Butterscotch Sugar Cookies at 325 degrees for 13 to 15 minutes. (Mine took 14 minutes.)
- Yield: approximately 5 to 7 dozen fudgy Butterscotch Sugar Cookies.
What would I do differently next time?
These are crispy, sweet, and delicious. I like my cookies a bit more cake like. Next time I will try reducing the butter in half and see how it goes.
Here are some other fabulous cookies!
Lemon Tea Cookies from Murder with Lemon Tea Cakes by Karen Rose Smith
Red ‘N White Strawberry Cookies from The Cereal Murders by Diane Mott Davidson
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies from Death of a Pumpkin Carver by Lee Hollis
Cocoa Snaps from Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke.
