Cherry Cheesecake Murder (38 page)

¼ teaspoon salt

½ stick melted butter (¼ cup–1/8pound)

For the Filling:

2 cups milk chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli’s)

3 cups miniature marshmallows (pack them down in the cup)

1½ cups flaked coconut (pack it down when you measure it)

1 cup chopped nuts (I use either pecans, or walnuts)

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)

*
You can find unsweetened baking cocoa in the baking aisle of your grocery store. Make sure you get an American brand—some of the others are Dutch process and they won’t work in this recipe. Also be careful not to get cocoa mix, the kind you’d use to make hot chocolate or chocolate milk. (I used

Hershey’s)

Mix the sugar, flour, cocoa, and salt together in a medium-sized bowl. Drizzle the melted butter over the top of the bowl and mix it in with a fork. When the butter is incorporated, the mixture should resemble small beads. (You can also do this in the bowl of a food processor, using chilled butter and the steel blade.)

Spray a 9 inch by 13 inch cake pan with Pam (or other nonstick cooking spray) and dump the crust mixture in the bottom. Gently shake the pan to distribute evenly and then press it down a bit with a metal spatula.

Sprinkle the chips evenly over the crust layer. Sprinkle the marshmallows over that. Sprinkle the flaked coconut on next and then sprinkle on the chopped nuts. Press it down again with the metal spatula. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top.

Bake the bars at 350 degrees. F. for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the bars are nicely browned on top.

Let the bars cool on a rack. When they’re cool, cut them in brownie-sized pieces.

WARNING: DON’T REFRIGERATE THESE COOKIE BARS WITHOUT CUTTING THEM FIRST—THEY’RE VERY DENSE AND SOLID WHEN CHILLED.

A Note From Edna Ferguson, the Queen of “Cheat” Recipes: If you want a shortcut for the crust, just buy a chocolate cake mix and use half of it, dry, mixed with the melted stick of butter. (Keep the rest of the cake mix in an airtight bag and you can use it the next time you bake them.)

Kids really love these cookie bars, especially the name.

Index of Recipes

Cocalattas

Peanut Butter and Jam Cookies (PBJs)

Fruit Pocket French Toast

Sally’s Flourless Chocolate Cake

Cherry Cheesecake

Mock Turtle Cookies

Jane’s Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

All-Nighter Cookies

Chocolate Truffles

Cream Cheese Puffs

Double Flake Cookies

Lemon Cream Torte

Angel Kisses

Ooey Gooey Chewy Cookie Bars

Baking Conversion Chart

These conversions are approximate, but they’ll work just fine for Hannah Swensen’s recipes.

VOLUME:

U.S.

Metric

½ teaspoon

2 milliliters

1 teaspoon

5 milliliters

1 tablespoon

15 milliliters

¼ cup

50 milliliters

1/3 cup

75 milliliters

½ cup

125 milliliters

¾ cup

175 milliliters

1 cup

¼ liter

WEIGHT:

U.S.

Metric

1 ounce

28 grams

1 pound

454 grams

OVEN TEMPERATURE:

Degrees

Degrees

British (Regulo)

Fahrenheit

Centigrade

Gas Mark

325 degrees F.

165 degrees C.

3

350 degrees F.

175 degrees C.

4

375 degrees F.

190 degrees C.

5