Devil's Food Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen, #14)(56)

“Hannah!” Grandma Knudson’s voice was quavery and breathless. “Hannah!”

“Grandma Knudson, are you okay?” Hannah asked, keeping her voice as calm as possible. Grandma Knudson sounded upset beyond belief.

“Yes. Yes. I am. Oh, Hannah! The most amazing thing has happened!”

“What is it, Grandma Knudson?” Hannah wondered if the shock of Reverend Matthew’s murder and the stress of the past twenty-four hours had taken its toll on Grandma Knudson’s health.

“It’s Matthew! You’ve got to come right away, Hannah! Matthew isn’t dead. He’s alive!”





CHOCOLATE EUPHORIA COOKIE BARS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

? cup butter (one stick, 4 ounces, ? pound)





1 and ? cups chocolate wafer crumbs (or Oreo cookie crumbs)***





1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips





2 cups miniature marshmallows





1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk!)





1 cup (6 ounces) white chocolate chips (or vanilla chips)





2 cups Cocoa Puffs cereal (or any other chocolate crunchy cereal)****





1 cup (6 ounces) milk chocolate chips





*** - My store had Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers, but they weren’t crumbed. I zooped them up in my food processor with the steel blade. The 9-ounce package of Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers made about 2 cups of crumbs.

**** - I couldn’t find Cocoa Puffs in my neighborhood grocery store, so I used chocolate Cocoa Krispies (like Rice Krispies, only chocolate).

Spray a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan with Pam (or another nonstick cooking spray) and set it aside to wait for its yummy contents.

Melt the butter in a small microwave-safe bowl on HIGH for 50 seconds.

If you bought chocolate wafers, break them down into crumbs with your food processor or put them in a large, sealable plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Measure out the chocolate wafer crumbs (or the Oreo cookie crumbs) and add them to the bowl with the melted butter. Stir the cookie crumbs and the butter until everything is moistened. (The resulting mixture will resemble wet, dark sand.)

Spread the butter and cookie crumb mixture in the bottom of your cake pan and spread it out as evenly as you can. Pat it smooth with the palms of your impeccably clean hands or with the blade of a metal spatula.

Sprinkle on the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Try to distribute them as evenly as possible.

Arrange the miniature marshmallows on top of the chips as evenly as you can.

Open the can of sweetened condensed milk and pour it over the top of the marshmallows as evenly as you can.

Sprinkle the white chocolate chips on top, trying for an even distribution. Your goal is to get something of every ingredient in each cookie bar when you cut them.

Measure out the Cocoa Puffs (or whatever chocolate cereal you used) and spread it out on top of the white chocolate chips. Again, try for an even distribution.

Sprinkle the milk chocolate chips over the chocolate cereal as evenly as you can.

Press everything in the pan down with the flat blade of a metal spatula. (If the cereal crunches a bit, that’s okay.)

Bake the Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars at 350 degrees F. for 20 to 25 minutes. (Mine took 24 minutes.)

Remove the cookie bars from the oven and cool them in the pan on a cold stovetop burner or on a wire rack.

When the Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars reach room temperature, cut them into brownie-sized pieces right in the pan. Don’t take them out unless you’re going to eat them immediately.

You can now refrigerate the cookie bars in their pan to set up firmly.

Hannah’s 1st Note: If you don’t cut the bars before you put them in the refrigerator, you may have a problem. They’re very firm when they’re chilled.

When you’re ready to serve, use a metal spatula to remove the cookie bars from the pan. No one will be able to resist.

Yield: 23 to 35 rich, decadent cookie bars, depending on how generous you are when you cut them. (This yield would be from 24 to 36 bars, but I know you’ll eat one right away.)

Hannah’s 2nd Note: These cookie bars are a huge hit at The Cookie Jar. They especially appeal to hardcore chocoholics like Mother. Andrea warns me that they’re extremely rich, so you should “save” your child by eating half of his or her Chocolate Euphoria Bar before handing it over.

Hannah’s 3rd Note: Mother actually said she thought I should frost Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars with Fudge Frosting! She really is incorrigible.





Chapter Nineteen

The first thing Hannah noticed when they pulled into the parsonage driveway was that there were no fresh tire tracks coming up the drive. Clara Hollenbeck’s car had been parked at the back of the house when Hannah had left on Monday after finding Reverend Matthew’s body, but the Hollenbeck sisters must have left to run some errands for Grandma Knudson. That meant Grandma Knudson was alone, and she was obviously confused if she thought that Reverend Matthew was still alive.

“I wonder if I should have put in a call to Doc Knight to meet us here,” she said, turning to Norman.

“You can call him later if he’s needed. Let’s go in and see what’s going on with Grandma Knudson first.”