Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Hannah Swensen #1)(46)

“The maternity ward nurse said that he was at the hospital until nine on Wednesday morning. I just dropped by to remind you that the sheriff’s department’s open house is tomorrow. You’re going to bake cookies for us, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. It’s on my calendar.” Hannah led the way into the back room and pointed to the huge calendar that hung on her wall.

“What kind are you making?”

“Black and Whites. I might as well start mixing them up right now.”

“Black and Whites?”

“They’re fudge cookies with powdered sugar on top,” Hannah explained. “I developed the recipe last week and I’m naming them after your new squad cars.”

“The guys will like that. Are you going to bake them now?”

“No, not until tomorrow morning. The dough has to chill overnight. I’ll have them out at the station before noon.”

“That’s another reason I came in. Sheriff Grant’s driving the new guy around and he said they’d come in to pick them up.”

“New guy?”

“He’s coming in tomorrow morning. Sheriff Grant hired a really good detective away from the MPD.”

“Why would a Minneapolis detective want to come here?” Hannah was flabbergasted. “It’s got to mean a big salary cut.”

“I know. We only make half as much as the MPD guys do, but I heard that he wanted to move here for personal reasons.”

“Personal reasons?”

“Yeah, he wanted to get out of Minneapolis. I know his wife died. I figure he probably wants to make a fresh start where things don’t remind him of her.”

That made sense, but Hannah was still worried. Winnetka County was big, but did the sheriff’s department really need two new detectives?

“There’s a lot I can learn from his guy, Hannah. I got a chance to peek at his personnel jacket and he’s solved a ton of tough cases.”

Hannah nodded and got out her mixing bowls, arranging them in a row. What Bill had just told her disturbed her deeply. If this new man had been hired as a detective, it didn’t bode well for Bill’s promotion. “Do you have time to watch the shop for me while I mix up this dough? Lisa should be back any minute and I’ll pay you in cookies.”

“Sure.” Bill gave her a big grin. “I’m on my lunch break.”

Once Bill had left, Hannah gathered the ingredients for the cookies she’d named Black and Whites. While she worked, she thought about the new detective. Bill had said that his wife had died, and Delores was bound to zero in on any new unattached man in town.

Hannah did her best to practice positive thinking as she mixed up the dough. She’d won a jackpot last night, and if her luck held, Bill’s new colleague wouldn’t be the type of man that her mother would consider as a prospective son-in-law. Unfortunately, as far as Delores was concerned, any ambulatory male without a felony conviction was a viable candidate.





Black and Whites




Do not preheat oven yet—dough must chill before baking.

2 cups chocolate chips

? cup butter (1? sticks)

2 cups brown sugar (or white sugar with a scant 2 tablespoons molasses mixed in)

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour (not sifted)

approx. ? cup confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar) in a small bowl



Melt chocolate chips with butter. (Microwave on high power for 2 minutes, then stir until smooth.)



Mix in sugar and let cool. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Add flour and mix well.



Chill dough for at least 4 hours. (Overnight is even better.)



When you’re ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.



Roll walnut-sized dough balls with your hands. (Messy—wear plastic gloves if you wish.) Drop the dough balls into a bowl with the powdered sugar and roll them around until they’re coated. (If the dough gets too warm, stick it back in the refrigerator until you can handle it again.)



Place the balls on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. (They will flatten when they bake.) Bake at 350 degrees F. for 12 to 14 minutes. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, and then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.



Made these for the Winnetka County Sheriff’s Department Open House, in honor of their four new cruisers.



Yield: 6 to 8 dozen, depending on cookie size.





Chapter Fifteen




Hannah stepped back to assess her reflection. Her new dress was exquisite. She’d pulled her frizzy red hair back in the ebony clasp her younger sister Michelle had sent from an art and jewelry fair they’d held on the Macalester campus, and it actually looked good. And Lisa had been right. Her new shoes couldn’t have been more perfect. Hannah looked sophisticated for the first time in her life, and it was a bit of a shock. She also looked sexy, which was even more of a shock, and she hoped that Norman wouldn’t think she’d worn this dress just for him.

Moishe yowled from his spot on the bed and Hannah turned to give him a thumbs-up. “You’re right. I know I’ve never looked this good before. It’s a real change, isn’t it?”