Cinnamon Roll Murder (Hannah Swensen, #15)(56)

“So you got hair, saliva, and blood.”

“Yes, and Bill’s detective book said that all three could be used to get samples of DNA. We’ll let Doc Knight choose whichever he wants. Did you get anything?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“A guilty conscience. I really liked Judy and I feel terribly guilty about deceiving her.”

“Well, don’t. We’re the best chance she has to be happy again.”

Hannah looked at her sister in bewilderment. “What do you mean?”

“I mean Judy doesn’t really want to move. She loves that house. When she showed it to us, she was really proud of everything she’d done to it, especially the playroom for Diana and how she’d decorated Diana’s bedroom. She’s a good mother to Diana, a lot better than Doctor Bev is. Remember when she said that Doctor Bev was more interested in socializing with her friends than she was in spending time with her daughter?”

“I remember.”

“I came back in time to hear what she said about reading to Diana every night. That’s what parents do. She’s taken over as Diana’s mother because Doctor Bev doesn’t want to be bothered.”

It was a harsh assessment, but Hannah couldn’t help but agree. “You’re probably right,” she said. “While you were upstairs, Judy told me that she baked cookies with Diana and her friends, and how worried she was about the move and whether Diana could adjust to a new home, a new preschool, making new friends, a mother who came home every night, and a new father.”

“I knew I was right!” Andrea signaled and pulled off the freeway. “Judy doesn’t want to give up her house and move. She wants to stay right where she is and be Diana’s mother. That’s why I said that we were her best chance at happiness. If we succeed in breaking up Doctor Bev and Norman, Judy’s life with Diana will stay exactly the way she wants it.”





RASPBERRY DROP SANDWICH COOKIES

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.





1 and ? cups white (granulated) sugar

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

3 large eggs

? teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 and ? cups raspberry pie filling (I used Comstock)

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

———————-

? cup raspberry cream frosting (frosting recipe fol- lows the cookie recipe)





Hannah’s 1st Note: Make the frosting first.



Hannah’s 2nd Note: Unless you have a very strong stirring arm, use an electric mixer to make this cookie dough.



Place the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.



Place the butter, which must be softened to room temperature, on top of the sugar. (We’re not talking about room temperature in a farm kitchen during a snowstorm—the butter must be easily spreadable.)



Turn the mixer to LOW and mix for one minute. Gradually increase the speed of the mixer, scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently and beating for one minute at each level, until you arrive at the highest speed.



Beat at the highest speed for at least 2 minutes or until the resulting mixture is very light and fluffy.



Turn the mixer down to LOW and add the eggs, one at time, mixing after each addition. Then add the salt. When that’s mixed in, add the baking soda and mix until it’s incorporated.



Measure out a cup and a half of raspberry pie filling. Turn the mixer on LOW speed and add the pie filling to your bowl. Shut off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.



With the mixer running on LOW, add the flour in one-cup increments, mixing after each addition. Shut off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Give the mixture a final stir by hand. (The resulting cookie dough should be fluffy, but not at all stiff like sugar cookie or chocolate chip cookie dough.)



Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. It’s the easiest way to bake these cookies. If you don’t have parchment paper and you really don’t want to go out to get any, grease your cookie sheets heavily, or spray them thoroughly with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.



Using a teaspoon (not the measuring kind, but one from your silverware drawer), drop rounded teaspoons of cookie dough on your baking sheet, 12 to a standard-size sheet.



Bake your Raspberry Drop Cookies at 375 degrees F. for 12 minutes. Take the cookies out of the oven and slide the cookie-laden parchment paper onto a wire rack to cool. (If you used greased cookie sheets, you’re going to have to let the cookies sit on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes and then remove them to a wire rack with a metal spatula.)



Cool the cookies thoroughly. Frost the bottom of one cookie with Raspberry Cream Frosting and then sandwich the bottom of another cookie on top of it. This will make a little cookie sandwich that is rounded on both the top and the bottom.



Yield: approximately 2 to 2 and ? dozen delicious cookie sandwiches, depending on cookie size.



Raspberry Cream Frosting:





3 cups powdered (confectioner’s) sugar