Cinnamon Roll Murder (Hannah Swensen, #15)(27)

“But don’t you have enough?” Andrea asked her.

“Maybe for Lisa’s rendition of Delores Finds the Body, but not for Michelle and Hannah Discover the Dead Bus Driver. Two stories will take a while, especially if Lisa embellishes.”

“And she will.”

“Naturally. She’ll probably take a break between the two, and customers will order more coffee and cookies.”

“What kind of cookie are you going to make?”

“I thought I’d try a new recipe I thought of when I made JoAnn Hecht’s recipe for Nutmeg Snaps. They were so popular, I decided to make more cookies with spices. I’m going to call these Cardamom Cuties.”

“That’s a nice name for a cookie. I don’t think I’ve ever had cardamom. What does it taste like?”

“It’s a little like cinnamon but it’s deeper and more intense. And it’s used more widely in European countries than it is here. Do you remember Great Grandma Elsa’s sticky buns?”

“Maybe. I was pretty little when she was alive. I remember that I liked going out to the farm because she always had cookies and things for us.”

“That’s a good place to start. Think about her kitchen table with the red and white tablecloth on top.”

“I remember that. It had little red flowers.”

“You got it. Now try to remember the afternoon that she gave us warm rolls and fresh-churned butter. Those were her sticky buns. They stuck to our fingers, and you dropped yours on the floor.”

“I remember! I cried.”

“And she told you not to cry because she’d just washed the kitchen floor. She picked up your roll, put it back on the plate, and finished eating it.”

“I remember that whole thing.”

“Okay. See if you can remember the taste of that roll. It had caramel and pecans on top, and the inside was filled with cardamom and sugar.”

Andrea shut her eyes. When she opened them, she was smiling. “I remember. Those rolls were delicious. Are the cardamom cookies going to taste like that?”

“We’ll find out. They’ll be ready to eat around noon.”

Andrea glanced at the clock. “It’s going to take you over three hours to make the dough?”

“No, that’ll go fast. But it has to chill for two hours or more in the refrigerator.”

“Can I help you make it?”

“Sure, as long as you crack the eggs and take them out of the shell before you add them to the bowl.”

Andrea sighed loudly. “You’re never going to let me forget that lemon pie, are you?”

“Probably not,” Hannah said, heading for the pantry to gather the ingredients.





CARDAMOM CUTIES

DO NOT preheat the oven yet—this cookie dough must chill before baking.





1 cup salted butter, softened (2 sticks, 8 ounces, ? pound)

2 and ? cups brown sugar (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

2 large eggs

1 and ? teaspoons baking soda

? teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cardamom

3 and ? cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)

? cup shredded coconut

? cup white chocolate chips

extra brown sugar (about ? cup) for rolling dough balls before baking





Hannah’s 1st Note: Although you can certainly make this recipe by hand, it’s a lot easier with an electric mixer.



Place the softened (room temperature) butter in a mixer bowl and beat it until it’s smooth.



Add the dark brown sugar and beat it until it’s nice and fluffy.



Mix in the eggs. Make sure they’re thoroughly incorporated.



With the mixer running on LOW speed, add the baking soda, salt, and cardamom. Keep beating until you’re sure they’re evenly distributed.



Add the flour in half-cup increments, beating after each addition.



If you have a food processor, put the shredded coconut and white chocolate chips in the bowl. Process with the steel blade in an on and off motion until the coconut and white chocolate are cut into smaller pieces.



If you don’t have a food processer, lay the coconut and white chocolate on a cutting board and chop them into small pieces with a sharp knife.



Take the cookie dough out of the mixer and stir the small pieces of coconut and white chocolate chips into the dough by hand.



Cover your mixing bowl with a sheet of plastic wrap and press it down over the top of your dough, tucking it in on the sides so that no air gets in.



Refrigerate the Cardamom Cuties cookie dough for two hours (overnight is fine, too) so that it is thoroughly chilled. Chilling the dough makes it much easier to work with.



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



Take your cookie dough out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter.



Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper, or spray them with Pam or another nonstick baking spray.



Put some brown sugar, a half-cup should do, into a small bowl. You’ll be rolling dough balls in the sugar before baking.