Chocolate Cream Pie Murder (Hannah Swensen #24)(5)

Hannah’s 2nd Note: Work with only one cookie dough ball at a time. If you drop more than one in the bowl of powdered sugar, they’ll stick together. Also, make only as many cookie dough balls as you can bake at one time. Cover the remaining dough and return it to the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake more.



Place the coated cookie dough balls on your prepared cookie sheets, no more than 12 cookies to a standard-size sheet.



Hannah’s 3rd Note: If you coat your fingers with powdered sugar first and then try to form the cookie dough into balls, it’s a lot easier to accomplish.



If you decide you want to decorate your cookies, press half of a maraschino cherry, rounded side up, on top of each cookie before you bake them. Alternatively, you can decorate them with candy hearts or any other Valentine candy. For Valentine’s Day, Andrea uses the little hearts with sayings printed on them or the red gelatin hearts with sugar on the top.



Bake your Valentine Whippersnapper Cookies at 350 degrees F. for 10 minutes. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then move them to a wire rack to cool completely. (This is a lot easier if you line your cookie sheets with parchment paper—then you don’t need to lift the cookies one by one. All you have to do is grab one end of the parchment paper and pull it, cookies and all, onto the wire rack.)



Once the cookies are completely cool, store them between sheets of waxed paper in a cool, dry place. (Your refrigerator is cool, but it’s definitely not dry!)



Yield: 3 to 4 dozen soft, delicious cookies that taste a bit like macaroons but are much easier to eat.





Chapter Two


More parishioners stayed for the social hour than anyone expected. Most of them wanted to reassure Hannah that they weren’t angry she’d misled them about Ross’s absence. There were also plenty of favorable compliments about the Valentine Whippersnapper Cookies that Hannah had brought. Andrea, who was sitting next to Hannah at one of the long tables, looked delighted to take credit for creating the recipe.

Hannah smiled as Del Woodley, the head of DelRay Manufacturing, came up to greet her. “Hi, Del. How’s everything with you?”

“Good.” Del gave a quick nod. “Benton and I listened to what you had to say, Hannah, and I just want to tell you that if Ross ever shows his lying face in Lake Eden again, Benton and I want you to call us. We’ll be glad to take care of that lowlife for you!”

There was a determined expression on Del’s face, and Hannah gave a little shiver. It was clear that he was serious. Del had a reputation for being tough in his business dealings, and Hannah had no doubt that he could also be tough when it came to something personal.

“Thank you, Del,” she said, trying to think of some way to accept his sentiment without actually accepting what she thought he was proposing. “It makes me feel better just to know that I can count on you and Benton.”

“Don’t forget that we’ll be there if you need us.”

“I won’t forget,” Hannah promised.

The next people to arrive at Hannah’s table were Lisa and Herb Beeseman. Lisa was Hannah’s business partner at The Cookie Jar, and Herb was Lake Eden’s marshal in charge of local security and parking enforcement.

“Lisa!” Hannah was surprised to see her. “I thought this was your week at St. Jude’s.”

“It is,” Herb explained, “but when Lisa found out that you planned to address the congregation here, we decided to go Lutheran two weeks in a row and Catholic for the next two weeks.”

Hannah smiled at her partner. Since Lisa’s family was Catholic and Herb’s family was Lutheran, Lisa and Herb had worked out a plan even before they were married. The whole family would spend one Sunday at Lisa’s church, St. Jude, and the next week at Herb’s church. Since Herb’s mother, Marge, had married Lisa’s father, Jack, this worked out well for both families.

Herb cleared his throat and leaned close to give Hannah a piece of paper. “Here’s my cell number, Hannah. Call me if Ross ever bothers you again and I’ll take care of him for you.”

“And I’ll help!” Lisa said with a frown. “Herb and I talked about it last night and I’m already on the lookout for him at The Cookie Jar.”

“Thank you,” Hannah said, tucking the number in her purse, “but I really doubt he’ll come back to Lake Eden again. He must know that there’s nothing for him here.”

Lisa did not look convinced. “Maybe, but it never hurts to be prepared. Herb and I worked out a plan. If he sees Ross, he’s going to stop him for some trumped-up traffic violation and give you time to make yourself scarce.”

Once Lisa and Herb had left, Lisa’s Aunt Nancy bustled up to the table. She was wearing the lovely engagement ring that Heiti had given her at Christmas. “Hello, Hannah,” she said. “I thought your speech went very well. I watched everyone’s reaction, and there isn’t a single person here who’s not completely on your side. Ross is a rat and he doesn’t deserve a wonderful person like you.”

“Thank you.” Hannah could tell that Aunt Nancy had rehearsed what she planned to say because she’d blurted it out rapid-fire. “Lisa told me that you’re working on a new cookie recipe for me.”