Poor Grandma Knudson experiences several shocking discoveries in this novel. It’s a good thing Hannah Swensen has made some Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars to help calm her nerves. This page turner will keep you guessing in a way that some cozies do not. While you may not be as shocked as Grandma Knudson, I guarantee the Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars will help brighten your day!
The small town of Lake Eden has rallied around Reverend Bob and his new bride Claire. The whole church throws them a going away party just before they finally get to have a honeymoon. The seminary is sending a reverend to fill in for Bob so he can have the relaxing vacation he deserves. But will the new reverend bring happiness or mystery to the town?
Devil’s Food Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
Find the deluxe, newly-released collector’s edition if Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder on Amazon. The description says “Celebrating the 25th anniversary of Joanne Fluke’s bestselling culinary capers, a deluxe collectors’ edition featuring sprayed edges with stenciled artwork, designed endpapers, reversible dust jacket, foil stamped cloth binding, and a brand new recipe!”
Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder: Deluxe Collector’s Edition by Joanne Fluke
Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars
from a cozy mystery:
Devil’s Food Cake Murder
by Joanne Fluke
Book Outline and Tone:
Most novels in the cozy mystery genre follow the pattern, new person is introduced, they are not good people, they get killed. This novel breaks that pattern, or at least has the reader thinking it is a new pattern (you have to read it to find out!). There are more twists in this novel than are typically found and I am here for it!
Things that haven’t changed: Hannah is a great baker and investigates a murder, the people of Lake Eden are salt of the earth good people, Hannah’s friends and family are supportive and entertaining characters too. Author Joanne Fluke has given us a great cozy mystery.
There is one mystery not solved in this episode of the Hannah Swensen series and that is why has Norman’s ex-fiancé come to Lake Eden. Norman introduces her to everyone as his new partner in his dentist office. Hannah and I are justifiably confused. Why has he made his ex-fiancé his new partner? This appears to be a new plot line that will no doubt continue into the next installment.
The Best Quote:
“Hannah stared at him uncomprehendingly while he gazed at her, utterly miserable. They stayed like that for what seemed like hours…”
Point of View:
The story is told in third person limited, the audience knows what Hannah is thinking but not what other characters are thinking.
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. 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 online with Hallmark Movies. Joanne Fluke is active on Facebook and Twitter. She does many interviews with her local news station and posts them on her Youtube channel.
What is not to like?:
While I really did enjoy the novel, this section will be a bit longer than usual. I have 2 issues with the story line. First I must say, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Only in this case it is the other way around. Hannah has been dating both Norman and Mike for 14 novels now and the 3 of them seem to be just fine with that. I can accept that as a literary plausible storyline. But in this book, when Bev comes to town and both Norman and Mike start dating her, Hannah is fit to be tied! Hmmm… Seems only fair to me!
The second issue is a small passing conversation, but it is these types of conversation that create such divisiveness in the U.S. Lisa comments that she hopes the murder victim was not shot because then politicians will try to take all of her guns away and she like to go hunting. Did you see what I’m talking about? Those who advocate for gun safety regulations never talk about taking away guns used for hunting. The battle has been for registration, safety, and to ban guns that no one, outside of the military, needs such as the AR-15. Here is a list from the U.S. Congress about semi-automatic weapons used in mass shootings.
Please don’t spread divisive, logical fallacies such as what Lisa said.
The verdict:
The Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars are decadent and fabulous! You must try them. The novel is a great installment in the series and I am excited for the next book.
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 Euphoria Cookie Bars
Assemble the Ingredients
Spray a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan with Pam (or line it with heavy-duty foil and then spray it) and set it aside to wait for its yummy contents.
Melt the butter in a small microwave-safe bowl on HIGH for 50 seconds.
OXO Good Grips 3- Piece Plastic Mixing Bowl Set LInk
If you bought chocolate wafers, break them down into crumbs with your food processor or put them in a large, sealable plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Measure out the chocolate wafer crumbs (or the Oreo cookie crumbs) and add them to the bowl with the melted butter.
Stir the cookie crumbs and the butter until everything is moistened. (The resulting mixture will resemble wet, dark sand.)
Spread the butter and cookie crumb mixture in the bottom of your cake pan and spread it out as evenly as you can.
Pat it smooth with the palms of your impeccably clean hands or with the blade of a metal spatula.
Sprinkle on the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Try to distribute them as evenly as possible.
Arrange the miniature marshmallows on top of the chips as evenly as you can.
Open the can of sweetened condensed milk and pour it over the top of the marshmallows as evenly as you can.
Sprinkle the white chocolate chips on top, trying for an even distribution.
Your goal is to get something of every ingredient in each cookie bar when you cut them.
Measure out the Cocoa Puffs (or whatever chocolate cereal you used) and spread it out on top of the white chocolate chips. Again, try for an even distribution.
Sprinkle the milk chocolate chips over the chocolate cereal as evenly as you can.
Press everything in the pan down with the flat blade of a metal spatula or the bottom of a measuring cup as I did. (If the cereal crunches a bit, that’s okay.)
Bake the Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars at 350 degrees F. for 20 to 25 minutes. (Mine took 24 minutes.)
Remove the cookie bars from the oven and cool them in the pan on a cold stovetop burner or on a wire rack.
When the Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars reach room temperature, cut them into brownie-sized pieces right in the pan. Don’t take them out unless you’re going to eat them immediately.
You can now refrigerate the cookie bars in their pan to set up firmly.
Hannah’s 1st Note: If you don’t cut the bars before you put them in the refrigerator, you may have a problem. They’re very firm when they’re chilled.
When you’re ready to serve, use a metal spatula to remove the cookie bars from the pan. No one will be able to resist.
Yield: 23 to 35 rich, decadent cookie bars, depending on how generous you are when you cut them. (This yield would be from 24 to 36 bars, but I know you’ll eat one right away.)
Hannah’s 2nd Note: These cookie bars are a huge hit at The Cookie Jar. They especially appeal to hard-core chocoholics like Mother. Andrea warns me that they’re extremely rich, so you should “save” your child by eating half of his or her Chocolate Euphoria Bar before handing it over.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: Mother actually said she thought I should frost Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars with Fudge Frosting! She really is incorrigible. If you follow her suggestion, the Chocolate Euphoria Bars will have SEVEN layers!
Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter (one stick, 4 ounces, 1/4 pound)
- 2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (or Oreo cookie crumbs) [Recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups, but that was not enough to make a layer in the 9x13 pan so I just crushed up some more Oreos]
- 1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 cups miniature marshmallows
- 1 can (14 ounces) condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk!) sweetened
- 1 cup (6 ounces) white chocolate chips (or vanilla chips)
- 2 cups Cocoa Puffs cereal (or any other chocolate crunchy cereal) I used chocolate Rice Crispies
- 1 cup (6 ounces) milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Spray a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan with Pam (or line it with heavy-duty foil and then spray it) and set it aside to wait for its yummy contents.
- Melt the butter in a small microwave-safe bowl on HIGH for 50 seconds.
- If you bought chocolate wafers, break them down into crumbs with your food processor or put them in a large, sealable plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Measure out the chocolate wafer crumbs (or the Oreo cookie crumbs) and add them to the bowl with the melted butter.
- Stir the cookie crumbs and the butter until everything is moistened. (The resulting mixture will resemble wet, dark sand.)
- Spread the butter and cookie crumb mixture in the bottom of your cake pan and spread it out as evenly as you can.
- Pat it smooth with the palms of your impeccably clean hands or with the blade of a metal spatula.
- Sprinkle on the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Try to distribute them as evenly as possible.
- Arrange the miniature marshmallows on top of the chips as evenly as you can.
- Open the can of sweetened condensed milk and pour it over the top of the marshmallows as evenly as you can.
- Sprinkle the white chocolate chips on top, trying for an even distribution.
- Your goal is to get something of every ingredient in each cookie bar when you cut them.
- Measure out the Cocoa Puffs (or whatever chocolate cereal you used) and spread it out on top of the white chocolate chips. Again, try for an even distribution.
- Sprinkle the milk chocolate chips over the chocolate cereal as evenly as you can.
- Press everything in the pan down with the flat blade of a metal spatula or the bottom of a measuring cup. (If the cereal crunches a bit, that's okay.)
- Bake the Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars at 350 degrees F. for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Remove the cookie bars from the oven and cool them in the pan on a cold stovetop burner or on a wire rack.
- When the Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars reach room temperature, cut them into brownie-sized pieces right in the pan. Don't take them out unless you're going to eat them immediately.
- You can now refrigerate the cookie bars in their pan to set up firmly.
- If you don't cut the bars before you put them in the refrigerator, you may have a problem. They're very firm when they're chilled.When you're ready to serve, use a metal spatula to remove the cookie bars from the pan. No one will be able to resist.
What would I do differently next time?
Even when making these the first time, I realized that the recipe called for 1 & 1/2 cups of crushed Oreos for the bottom layer, but that was not enough to fill the bottom of the 9X13 pan. I crushed up more for at least 2 cups of crushed cookies.
Watermelon Kool-Aid Cookies with Watermelon Fizz Candy from Apple Turnover Murder by Joanne Fluke
Orange Julius Cookies from Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke
Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies from Chocolate Chip Crunch Murder by Joanne Fluke
