Devil's Food Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #14)(26)

Bake the cookies at 325 degrees F. for 15 to 18 minutes. (Mine took 17 minutes.) They’re done when the coconut is toasted to a nice golden color on the tops.

Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets, in the baking cups, or in the mini muffin pans for 2 minutes. Then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely. If you’re using the baking cups, don’t remove them from the paper. They’re easier to serve that way, and they’ll look much prettier.

Store the Mini Mac Cookies in layers of wax paper in a box or in a storage container. Make sure the cookies don’t touch each other or they’ll stick together and be difficult to separate. They can be frozen, but again, don’t let the cookies touch each other.

Earl Flensburg and Carrie really loved these cookies. Mother says she’s going to order some from me every time they come over for dinner and serve them with chocolate ice cream.

PAPAYA MAC COOKIES

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

Hannah’s 1st Note: These cookies are called “Mac” because they’re macaroons.

14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk—I used Eagle Brand)





2 teaspoons vanilla extract





2 seven-ounce packages flaked coconut (that’s approx. 5 and 1/3 cups)





2 cups chopped dried papaya (chop it up to the size of raisins)***





*** - Dried papaya isn’t always available 12 months out of the year. If you can’t find it, you can use any dried fruit. I’ve made this cookie with dried pineapple, dried apricots, and sweetened dried cranberries. I think it could very well be delicious with anything!

Hannah’s 2nd Note: I always chop my coconut flakes a little finer in my food processor with the steel blade. If you don’t have a food processor, you can lay it out on a cutting board and chop it with a sharp knife.

Prepare your baking sheets. You can use mini size paper baking cups (1 and 5/8 inches diagonally, the size that will fit into a mini muffin pan), the mini muffin pan without baking cups, or cookie sheets. If you use the baking cups, just set them in the muffin pan. If you use the mini muffin pan without baking cups, spray it with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray and then flour it, OR use baking spray which already contains the flour. If you use cookie sheets, line them with heavy duty foil. Spray the foil with cooking spray and flour it, or simply use a baking spray that contains flour.

Open the can of sweetened condensed milk and empty the contents into a large mixing bowl. Add the vanilla extract and stir it in.

Measure out your coconut, chop it a bit finer with your food processor or a knife, and stir it into the bowl. (It’s easier if you add the coconut a half-cup at a time.)

Add your chopped papaya to the bowl, stirring it in as thoroughly as you can. (The goal here is to get some chopped papaya in every single cookie.)

If you’re using baking cups, drop some cookie dough inside with a teaspoon and press it down lightly with a wet fingertip. (This dough is sticky!) Since these cookies don’t rise, you can fill the baking cup very close to the top.

If you’re using mini muffin tins without the baking cups, simply use a teaspoon to fill them up and press down slightly with a wet fingertip. They’ll look best if they’re a little mounded on top.

If you’re using greased and floured (or sprayed with baking spray) cookie sheets, drop the dough by teaspoons onto the sheet and press them down slightly with a wet fingertip. Since these cookies don’t spread out, you can get 16 to 20 on each cookie sheet.

Bake the cookies at 325 degrees F. for 15 to 18 minutes. (Mine took 17 minutes.) They’re done when the coconut is toasted to a nice golden color on the tops.

Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets, in the baking cups, or in the mini muffin pans for 2 minutes. Then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely. If you’re using the baking cups, don’t remove them from the paper. They’re easier to serve that way, and they’ll look much prettier.

Store the Papaya Mac Cookies in layers of wax paper in a box or in a storage container. Make sure the cookies don’t touch each other or they’ll stick together and be difficult to separate. They can be frozen, but again, don’t let the cookies touch each other.

Claire and Bob loved these. They promised to bring back every type of tropical dried fruit they can find in Hawaii so that I can experiment with it.





Chapter Eight

When the alarm went off at four in the morning, Hannah had all she could do to squelch the urge to shut it off and pull the blankets over her head. It was Monday morning and the sun had not yet risen over the yardarm. They had fifteen batches of cookies to make for wedding receptions, two more batches for engagement parties, and one batch for a birthday celebration. And that didn’t count the dozens they’d have to bake to stock the display cookie jars at their coffee shop.

Then there was Doctor Bev’s birthday party and the effort she’d made to maintain her composure. And the scimitar hanging over her head, swinging lower by the tiniest increments with each second that passed. Was Norman falling in love with Doctor Bev? Perhaps she’d find out today when she saw him at noon. Maybe he was planning to break up with her. He’d said once that he was lonely living in their house all by himself, but that was before he adopted Cuddles. Cats were lots of company. Without Moishe, she might be lonely, too.