Devil's Food Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #14)(36)

Remove the cookies from the oven, leave them on the cookie sheet for a minute or so, and then remove them to a wire rack.

Cool the cookies completely and then store them in a tightly covered container or cookie jar.

If you just don’t want to make rolled cookies, I’ve found an alternative. Here’s the ball and sugar method:

Way To Bake #2—The Dough Ball Method

This way is fun and easy, and it doesn’t require a breadboard, rolling pin, or flour. You also get sugar on the tops AND bottoms!

Roll the chilled dough in 2 and a half inch balls with your fingers. (That’s approximately the size of a plum.) Roll the dough ball in a bowl of sugar and place it on a greased (or sprayed with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray) cookie sheet. Flatten it to a quarter-inch thick with a wide metal spatula or your impeccably clean palm.

Repeat the process of rolling dough balls, coating them with sugar, and placing them on the cookie sheet. They should be 2 to 3 inches apart and a standard-size cookie sheet will hold 6 of these big delicious cookies.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 9 to 10 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges. (Mine took the full 10 minutes.)

Remove the cookies from the oven, leave them on the cookie sheet for a minute or so, and then remove them to a wire rack.

Cool the cookies completely and then store them in a tightly covered container or cookie jar.

The third way to make the cookies is the refrigerator method. It takes a little longer, but it’s very simple. Here it is:

Way to Bake Cookies #3—The Slice Method

Divide the chilled dough into 2 parts. Return the 2nd part to the refrigerator while you work with the 1st part.

Tear off a sheet of wax paper that’s approximately a foot and a half (18 inches) long. Flip it over so it doesn’t roll right back up again for you and lay it out on your counter with the long expanse facing you.

Plunk your chilled dough down on the wax paper and use your hands to shape it into a foot-long log. (This may remind you of playing with modeling clay in kindergarten.)

Center the cookie dough log at the edge of the long expanse of wax paper and roll it up.

Twist the ends of the wax paper to secure the log of cookie dough inside, and place it in your refrigerator.

Leave it there overnight so it’s chilled thoroughly.

In the morning, when you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

While you’re waiting for your oven to preheat, grease (or spray with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray) your cookie sheet.

When your oven comes up to temperature, remove the log of cookie dough from the refrigerator. Unroll it and use a sharp, thin knife to slice off 6 quarter-inch slices.

Put some white sugar in a bowl with a fairly flat bottom and, one by one, lay the cookie slices in the bowl. Flip them over to coat the other side with sugar and then place them 2 to 3 inches apart on the cookie sheet. A standard-size cookie sheet will hold 6 of these large cookies.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 8 to 10 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges. (Mine took the full 10 minutes.)

Remove the cookies from the oven, leave them on the cookie sheet for a minute or two to set up, and then use a flat metal spatula to remove them to a wire rack. Cool the cookies completely and then store them in a tightly covered container or cookie jar.

It doesn’t really matter which way you choose to prepare the cookie dough for baking. Whether you roll them out with a rolling pin, form them into dough balls, or slice them, the bake time will be approximately the same, the cookies will be delicious, and the yield will remain approximately the same.

Yield: 3 dozen large, Big Soft Chewy Molasses-Oatmeal Cookies.

Hannah’s 2nd Note: Lois told Grandma Knudson that these were her dad’s favorite cookies. We can certainly see why!

Hannah’s 3rd Note: My great-grandmother, Elsa Swensen, had a trick for keeping cookies like this soft and chewy. She put some orange or lemon peel in the bottom of her cookie jar. The moisture in the citrus peel kept the cookies soft and any slight orange or lemon flavor the cookies absorbed was all to the good! When citrus fruit wasn’t in season in Minnesota, she used a chunk of apple to keep the cookies moist.





Chapter Twelve

“Are you okay?” Norman asked when she opened her condo door at seven that night.

“I think so.” Hannah thought about his comment for a moment. “Don’t I look okay?”

“You look great! You know I love to see you wear that outfit.”

Hannah smiled, but she declined to do the little pirouette that was called for by his compliment. Her heart was too heavy for that. “I love this skirt and sweater set,” she said. “I wore it because I needed …”

“What?” Norman asked when her voice trailed off.

“I guess I needed a little cheering up.”

“Then that’s exactly what I’ll do,” Norman promised. “Let me get your coat and we’ll go. I know what happened this afternoon, Hannah, so we can talk over dinner and sort things out.”

It wasn’t exactly a miracle, but it felt like one to Hannah as she thrust her arms into the dress coat Norman held for her, watched him toss Moishe several fish-shaped kitty treats to keep him busy while they were gone, and escorted her out the door. One thing about Norman—he always seemed to know what she needed. And this time the gorgeous-enough-to-be-a-model Doctor Bev didn’t enter into the equation. Norman was here, and Hannah planned to keep him with her for a good, long while. Doctor Bev was home alone. She had to be. Mike was tied up with Reverend Matthew’s murder, so Doctor Bev would just have to cool her heels.