*
44
! % { # 9 *
To make the cookie dough: Mix the softened butter and 3⁄4 cup powdered sugar together in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Beat them until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Add the salt and mix it in.
Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Beat until they’re thoroughly blended.
Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing well after each addition.
Divide the dough into 4 equal quarters. (You don’t have
to weigh it or measure it, or anything like that. It’s not
that critical.)
Roll each quarter into a log shape and then cut each log into 6 even pieces. (The easy way to do this is to cut it in
half first and then cut each half into thirds.)
Roll the pieces into balls about the size of a walnut with its shell on, or a little larger.
Flatten each ball with your impeccably clean hands.
Wrap the dough around a “treasure” of your choice. If you use jam, don’t use over a quarter-teaspoon as it will leak out if there’s too much jam inside the dough ball.
Pat the resulting “package” into a ball shape and place it on an ungreased cookie sheet, 12 balls to a standard-size
! % { # 9 *
45
! % { # 9 *
sheet. Push the dough balls down just slightly so they don’t roll off on their way to your oven.
Hannah’s 1st Note: I use baking sheets with sides and line them with parchment paper when I bake these with jam. If part of the jam leaks out, the parchment paper contains it and I don’t have sticky jam on my baking sheets or in the bottom of my oven.
Bake the Treasure Chest Cookies at 350° F. for approximately 18 minutes, or until the bottom edge is just beginning to brown when you raise it with a spatula.
Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the sheets for about 5 minutes.
Place 1⁄2 cup of powdered sugar in a small bowl.
Place wax paper or parchment paper under the wire racks.
Roll the still-warm cookies in the powdered sugar. The sugar will stick to the warm cookies. Coat them evenly and then return them to the wire racks to cool completely.
(You’ll notice that the powdered sugar will “soak” into
the warm cookie balls. That’s okay. You’re going to roll
them in powdered sugar again for a final coat when
they’re cool.)
When the cookies are completely cool, place another 1⁄2
cup powdered sugar in your bowl. Roll the cooled cookies
! % { # 9 *
46
! % { # 9 *
in the powdered sugar again. Then transfer them to a cookie jar or another container and store them in a cool, dry place.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: I tried putting a couple of miniature marshmallows or half of a regular-size marshmallow in the center of my cookies for the “treasure”. It didn’t work.
The marshmallows in the center completely melted away.
Lisa’s Note: I’m going to try my Treasure Chest Cookies with a roll of Rollo’s next time I make them. Herb just adores those chocolate covered soft caramels. He wants me to try the miniature Reese’s Pieces, too.
Yield: 2 dozen delicious cookies that both kids and adults will love to eat.
! % { # 9 *
47
Chapter
! Five #
It seemed like forever, but at last Hannah’s day was almost over. As Delores had promised, she had called after the board member luncheon to say that none of Doc Knight’s paramedics or hospital staff had recognized the man that Hannah had hit. She’d also said that, just as Hannah had suspected, the man’s neck had been broken. Doc was planning to perform an autopsy later in the afternoon to ascertain the exact cause of death.
Everyone else was gone and the shop was closed. Andrea had left when they locked the front door and Herb had come to get Lisa. Lisa’s car was ready. Herb had checked, and they were picking it up at Murphy’s Motors before they went home. Hannah and Michelle had done the prep work for the morning and, except for the two of them, The Cookie Jar was deserted.
“Are you almost ready to go, Hannah?” Michelle came out of the walk-in cooler after stashing the final batch of
44
! % { # 9 *
To make the cookie dough: Mix the softened butter and 3⁄4 cup powdered sugar together in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Beat them until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Add the salt and mix it in.
Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Beat until they’re thoroughly blended.
Add the flour in half-cup increments, mixing well after each addition.
Divide the dough into 4 equal quarters. (You don’t have
to weigh it or measure it, or anything like that. It’s not
that critical.)
Roll each quarter into a log shape and then cut each log into 6 even pieces. (The easy way to do this is to cut it in
half first and then cut each half into thirds.)
Roll the pieces into balls about the size of a walnut with its shell on, or a little larger.
Flatten each ball with your impeccably clean hands.
Wrap the dough around a “treasure” of your choice. If you use jam, don’t use over a quarter-teaspoon as it will leak out if there’s too much jam inside the dough ball.
Pat the resulting “package” into a ball shape and place it on an ungreased cookie sheet, 12 balls to a standard-size
! % { # 9 *
45
! % { # 9 *
sheet. Push the dough balls down just slightly so they don’t roll off on their way to your oven.
Hannah’s 1st Note: I use baking sheets with sides and line them with parchment paper when I bake these with jam. If part of the jam leaks out, the parchment paper contains it and I don’t have sticky jam on my baking sheets or in the bottom of my oven.
Bake the Treasure Chest Cookies at 350° F. for approximately 18 minutes, or until the bottom edge is just beginning to brown when you raise it with a spatula.
Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the sheets for about 5 minutes.
Place 1⁄2 cup of powdered sugar in a small bowl.
Place wax paper or parchment paper under the wire racks.
Roll the still-warm cookies in the powdered sugar. The sugar will stick to the warm cookies. Coat them evenly and then return them to the wire racks to cool completely.
(You’ll notice that the powdered sugar will “soak” into
the warm cookie balls. That’s okay. You’re going to roll
them in powdered sugar again for a final coat when
they’re cool.)
When the cookies are completely cool, place another 1⁄2
cup powdered sugar in your bowl. Roll the cooled cookies
! % { # 9 *
46
! % { # 9 *
in the powdered sugar again. Then transfer them to a cookie jar or another container and store them in a cool, dry place.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: I tried putting a couple of miniature marshmallows or half of a regular-size marshmallow in the center of my cookies for the “treasure”. It didn’t work.
The marshmallows in the center completely melted away.
Lisa’s Note: I’m going to try my Treasure Chest Cookies with a roll of Rollo’s next time I make them. Herb just adores those chocolate covered soft caramels. He wants me to try the miniature Reese’s Pieces, too.
Yield: 2 dozen delicious cookies that both kids and adults will love to eat.
! % { # 9 *
47
Chapter
! Five #
It seemed like forever, but at last Hannah’s day was almost over. As Delores had promised, she had called after the board member luncheon to say that none of Doc Knight’s paramedics or hospital staff had recognized the man that Hannah had hit. She’d also said that, just as Hannah had suspected, the man’s neck had been broken. Doc was planning to perform an autopsy later in the afternoon to ascertain the exact cause of death.
Everyone else was gone and the shop was closed. Andrea had left when they locked the front door and Herb had come to get Lisa. Lisa’s car was ready. Herb had checked, and they were picking it up at Murphy’s Motors before they went home. Hannah and Michelle had done the prep work for the morning and, except for the two of them, The Cookie Jar was deserted.
“Are you almost ready to go, Hannah?” Michelle came out of the walk-in cooler after stashing the final batch of
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