Characters That Cook Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe and Excerpt feat Author Debra Sennenfelder

 

Welcome to a super special day. 

Today we are in the kitchen with Hope Early.  Hope is the Main Character  in Author Debra Sennefelder's Cozy Mystery  Series  Food Blogger Mysteries.  

The recipe and following excerpt are from  

Read the excerpt . . . 

The back door of Hope’s kitchen swung open, and Claire burst in, waving the North Country Gazette, the daily newspaper serving Litchfield County.

“Peaches McCoy is dead.” Claire slammed the door shut. 

Good thing Hope was baking cookies and not a soufflé.

“We already know that. And it made the paper already?” Hope continued scooping spoonfuls of oatmeal cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets.

“No! But there was an article on Whitcomb’s development on the front page.” Claire’s voice held a hint of mirth.

Hope shook her head. After she returned home from the garden tour, she’d spent a couple of hours in a funk. She wasn’t sure what to do first. E-mails, barn chores, bake cookies, or just collapse on the sofa and watch mindless television. She chose to put on her apron and bake.

The soothing hum of the stand mixer, the productive whizzing of the food processor, and the satisfying tick of the timer put everything right in Hope’s world. At least for a little while.

“I’m certain Peaches manipulated, lied, and probably seduced Lionel Whitcomb to get the listing for the Hunting Hills development.”

With one subdivision under way and another ambitious one just approved; developer Lionel Whitcomb’s name was on everyone’s lips those days. Though what usually followed wasn’t very flattering, at least from those opposed to new building in Jefferson.

“Ah,” Hope acknowledged, with careful neutrality. “Is that what you plan to do?”

“God, no! I can’t imagine how she could have slept with that slob. Obviously, she didn’t have standards. Besides, I’m married.” Claire tossed the newspaper on the island countertop.

Hope didn’t want to discuss anyone’s sex life. The day had been too brutal, and she hadn’t had enough coffee. “What happened to talking about the weather?”

The book is available on 

More links and author/book info.  below the recipe

The Cookie Recipe . . . 

Hope’s Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Recipe from The Uninvited Corpse by Debra Sennefelder

Yield: about 3 dozen

¾ cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup bread flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

1 2/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheet pans with silicone baking sheets.

In bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Scrape side of bowl as needed. Reduce speed of mixer and then add in the egg and egg yolk, one at a time, beating well to incorporate into mixture. Beat in vanilla.

In separate bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until just combined. Be careful not to overmix. Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop dough by rounded tablespoon and drop onto prepared sheet pan, 2 inches apart to allow room for spreading. Then drop another scoop (approximately 1 ½ teaspoon) of dough onto of each cookie. Press together lightly making sure not flatten the cookie.

Bake for 9-12 minutes, rotating half-way through baking, or until cookies have spread out and the edges are golden, but the center of the cookie still looks soft and just slightly undercooked. Every oven is different so I like to bake two cookies first to get the timing down correctly and then fill up the next cookie sheet.

Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies will store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

About Author

 Debra Sennenfelder

Debra Sennefelder is the acclaimed author of the Food Blogger Mysteries and the Resale Boutique Mystery Series. An avid reader who reads across a range of genres, mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery.

Her first novel, THE UNINVITED CORPSE (A Food Blogger mystery) was published in 2018.When she’s not reading, she enjoys cooking and baking and as a former food blogger, she is constantly taking photographs of her food. Yeah, she’s that person.

Born and raised in New York City, where she majored in her hobby of fashion buying, she now lives and writes in Connecticut with her family. She’s worked in retail and publishing before becoming a full-time author. Her writing companion is her adorable and slightly spoiled Shih-Tzu, Connie.

Connect with Debra . . . 

Amazon click Here

Barnes & Noble  click Here

Website click Here

Facebook click Here

BookBub  click Here

Goodreads click Here

Instagram  click Here

Also featured here . . . 

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The series Featured 

I have had the privilege of reading the series when Debra toured her books with Great Escapes Book Tours. 

The Hidden Corpse 

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The Corpse Who Knew Too Much 

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