Apple Cider Sugar Cookies #Halloween #CanadianThanksgiving #giveaway Kim Davis

 

KIM DAVIS: First, on behalf of the crew here at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen, we'd like to wish our dear Canadian friends a wonderful Thanksgiving today!

While Canadians may be focused on feasting and gathering with friends and family to celebrate their Thanksgiving day, here in the U.S. October means Halloween. In fact, it seems like Halloween preparations start right after our 4th of July holiday! A bit too early for my tastes, but I know for some it can't come soon enough. 

I never thought I was a big fan of Halloween until my granddaughters were born. Then I had a complete change of mind with their adorable costumes (pictured below), and their excitement of trick-or-treating as they got a bit older. Once they started pre-school I discovered that I loved making sugar cookies for any and all occasions and decorating them for the kids in their class. I even had the fun task of providing decorating cookie and cupcake crafts for their elementary school class parties... a bit daunting with 30 young kids hyped up on sugar and excitement, lol. 

When it came to making the actual sugar cookie dough, I experimented with a variety of flavors. The one that I made most often for spring and summer cutout cookies was simply flavored with King Arthur Flour's Fiori di Sicilia, a delicious combination of vanilla and citrus flavors. Fall had me looking at more warming spices for the cookie dough and these Apple Cider Sugar Cookies quickly became a favorite with my granddaughters and their friends! Whether you brush a light icing glaze and decorate with holiday sprinkles or jimmies, or go the more elaborate route with tinted royal icing piped onto the cookie, I hope you and your ghouls and goblins enjoy these special treats!

I've included several of the photos I've taken of my cookie designs over the years after the recipe. The photo at the top of this page is this year's special design. 

Be sure to scroll through to see the giveaway which is open to both US and Canadian residents 

Apple Cider Sugar Cookies

 
Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 (0.74 oz.) packets spiced apple cider mix (e.g. Alpine brand)
3 cups (14.4 oz.) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt

Icing for brushing on before adding sprinkles:

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 teaspoons water

Instructions

Using an electric or stand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until fluffy.

 
Beat in the egg, vanilla, and the spiced apple cider packets until thoroughly combined.

 
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

 
Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar and butter mixture and mix until incorporated.

 
Divide the dough in half and wrap each portion in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

 
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F).
 
Lightly sprinkle a work surface with flour and roll out the dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. If the dough is too hard, allow it to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Cut out into desired shapes and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

 
Refrigerate cut-out shapes for 10 minutes.
 
Bake cookies at 375 degrees (F) for 9 to 11 minutes, just until the edges turn golden brown.

Icing:
 
Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and water until completely smooth. If the icing is too thick, add additional water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.

 

 
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely before spreading the icing over the cookies and decorating with your favorite sprinkles.

If you'd like to forego the time of decorating the cutouts, you can sprinkle the tops of the cookies with turbinado sugar before baking, for extra sweetness and crunch.

 

 

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF of the recipe!💕

What it's about:

Hollywood has descended on Oak Creek Valley to film a murder mystery. Carissa Carmichael, owner of the Aromatherapy Apothecary, has a front-row seat to the bad-boy leading man’s escapades as she works with the production to bring soothing essential elements to the stressed-out crew.

When the movie set becomes a true crime scene, Carissa’s best friend becomes the star suspect. Instead of enjoying the thrills of lights, camera, and action, she’s thrust into untangling the secrets of the glamorous actors who all seem to hide something. While working behind the scenes to sniff out clues and clear her best friend’s name, Carissa must apply pressure and find the killer before someone else is written out for good.

Includes a recipe, plus essential oil and reflexology tips.

Purchase links:

AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE

OTHER RETAILERS

Books available at most online retailers

 

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo * Apple

 

Cupcake Catering Mysteries * Essentials of Murder* Essentials of Death

 

About the Author:

Kim Davis writes the Aromatherapy Apothecary cozy mystery series, and the award-winning Cupcake Catering cozy mystery series. She has also written several children’s nature articles published in a variety of magazines. Kim Davis is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

She lives in Southern California with her husband and rambunctious mini Goldendoodle, Missy, who has become an inspiration for several plotlines. When she’s not spending time with her granddaughters or chasing Missy around, she can be found either writing on her next book, working on blogs, or in the kitchen baking up yummy treats to share.

Click here to sign up here for Kim’s newsletter: Newsletter

Connect with Kim: Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Bluesky, Bookbub, Goodreads, TikTok, and website

 

AND NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY

I'm giving away a copy of Catering to the Dead just in time for Halloween and Día de los Meurtos, Day of the Dead!

Comment below and include your email (yourname at yourserver dot com) for a chance to win a copy of Catering to the Dead. (Print contest is open to US and Canadian residents, and all others will receive an ebook copy). Contest ends 11:59pm on Wednesday, October 14, 2026. Winner's choice of either print or an ebook copy.

Readers, what's your favorite Halloween treat?

Guest Debra Sennefelder, Apple Cider Donut Holes, Recipe, and a Giveaway

Darci Hannah: Today it's my turn to host a guest, and I'd love to introduce you to my dear friend and fellow cozy mystery writer, Debra Sennefelder! Debra is no stranger to whipping up delicious treats to include in the backs of her books, especially her Food Blogger Mysteries. Not only are her books a delight to read, but she's also a great cook and has shared her recipes on Mystery Lovers' Kitchen before. I know that fall is her favorite season, and she has a special treat for us today. Please give a warm welcome to Debra Sennefelder!

Debra Sennefelder: It’s great to be back at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen for another visit. It’s been too long! When I first visited in 2018, I was promoting my debut novel, The Uninvited Corpse, the first book in my Food Blogger Mysteries. Today, I’m eighteen books into this wild ride of a career, and I’m still excited to see what comes next. But today, I’m here to talk about one of my favorite things: delicious fall recipes!

Hands up if you love cooking and baking this time of year! Shorter days, cooler temperatures, and changing leaves make the perfect backdrop for spending time in the kitchen. I love anything pumpkin or apple once October rolls around, and I’m also a fan of a good Halloween story. In fact, that’s what inspired A Corpse at the Witching Hour, a Food Blogger Mystery featuring Halloween, a cursed house with a rumored ghost, and a family secret that turns the world of someone close to Hope Early, food blogger turned amateur sleuth, upside down. For me, one of the best things about fall is whipping up a tasty treat, grabbing a blanket, and settling in with a cozy mystery. Today, I’m sharing a recipe that’s perfect for pairing with a spooky cozy: Apple Cider Donut Holes!

Apple Cider Donut Holes

Makes: about 24–30 mini donut holes

Bake: 10–12 minutes

Ingredients

For the donut holes

1 cup apple cider 

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

½ teaspoon baking soda 

½ teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg 

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled 

½ cup granulated sugar 

1 large egg 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

For the cinnamon-sugar coating

½ cup granulated sugar 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 

Instructions:

Reduce the cider. Pour the apple cider into a small saucepan and bring it to a gentle simmer. Cook until reduced to ½ cup, about 10–15 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly. 

Prepare the pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously grease a mini muffin pan. 

Combine the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. 

Combine the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and cooled apple cider. 

Make the batter. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Don't overmix. 

Fill the pan. Spoon the batter into the prepared mini muffin cups, filling each about ¾ full. 

Bake for 10–12 minutes, or until the tops spring back lightly when touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Make the coating. While the donut holes are baking, combine the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. 

Coat the donut holes. Let the baked donut holes cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove them. While they're still slightly warm, brush each one with melted butter and roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. 

Serve. They're best served warm or at room temperature.

Now all that's left to do is grab a cup of coffee or tea, pick up a good mystery, and enjoy a little taste of fall. Happy baking and happy reading!

If you enjoy a little paranormal activity with your cozy mysteries, I have a new book coming this winter that I’d love to tell you about! Spirits and Suspicions, the first book in my Spirits in the Library Mystery series, is written under my pen name, Lexie Cooper, and releases on February 2, 2027. It features a runaway bride, a historic library, a ghost, and a murder that refuses to stay buried. It’s a perfect read for the spooky season and beyond!

Spirits and Suspicions

Preorder your copy today!

A Corpse at the Witching Hour

book six in the Food Blogger Mystery series

Buy your copy today!

Hope Early has to contend with ghosts, a fatal curse, and a decades-old family secret to catch a killer in the new Food Blogger Mystery . . .

When her best friend’s Aunt Issy falls ill, food blogger Hope Early agrees to help him hand out Halloween candy at his aunt’s house, which is rumored to be cursed. A murder-suicide took place there a century ago, and legend has it that a woman has died there every twenty years since—on Halloween. Hope doesn’t really believe in curses or ghosts, but when all the trick-or-treaters are gone and she discovers a woman’s dead body on the front lawn, she wonders if the curse might be real after all.

Then Hope and her friend discover a cache of love letters linking the dead woman to Aunt Issy’s husband years ago, and Hope is certain they’ve uncovered the motive for murder—and the police are certain Aunt Issy is their main suspect. Determined to prove Issy’s innocence and nab the real culprit, Hope starts shaking other branches of the family tree. But she forgets that Halloween isn’t the only day people hide behind masks, and if she’s not careful, Hope will come face-to-face with a ghoulish fiend who’s not afraid to kill again . . . 

Recipes included!

A Little Giveaway!

To celebrate my visit, I’m giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to one lucky reader.

I'd love to know: What's your favorite fall treat to enjoy while reading a cozy mystery? Is it apple cider donuts, pumpkin bread, a slice of apple pie, or something else entirely? Leave a comment below for a chance to win!

                                                              About Debra Sennefelder

Debra Sennefelder is the author of the Food Blogger Mysteries, the Resale Boutique Mysteries, and other cozy mysteries filled with murder, mayhem, and plenty of small-town charm. A former food blogger, Debra loves creating stories that combine her passion for food with her love of mysteries. She lives in Connecticut, where she enjoys reading, baking, and embracing all things autumn. She also writes paranormal cozies as Lexie Cooper.

Visit Debra online at debrasennefelder.com.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DebraSennefelderAuthor/

Instagram: Debra Sennefelder 

Curried Sweet Potato Pasties from Molly MacRae

 

I ate my first pasty (pronounced with a short a as in cat) in Cornwall in 1975. So good! Pasties are sturdy meat and potato hand pies and the traditional lunch for Cornish miners. They’re now considered the national dish of Cornwall and, since 2011, the name is fiercely guarded. To earn the name Cornish pasty, it must be made in Cornwall, and made of beef, potato, rutabaga, onion, salt, and pepper. No other meat allowed and no other vegetables or seasonings. The ingredients must be raw when tucked into their shortcrust pastry and the pasty baked slowly to develop the traditional flavor and flaky crust. Again, so good!

My recipe for curried sweet potato pasties breaks all the rules. I should probably call them hand pies but I came up with the recipe to fill a hole in our lives when my family became vegetarian, and well before 2011. By no stretch do these pasties taste like Cornish pasties. But, with apologies to Cornwall, they are so, so, so good.

Notes:

Because vegetables vary so much in size, my proportions are somewhat approximate. I often end up with more filling than will fit into my crusts. In that case I freeze the extra for another time.

If you don’t like the flavor of curry, leave it out. 

You’ll find a free, downloadable, printable pdf of the recipe below the cooking directions.

 

Curried Sweet Potato Pasties

 

Ingredients

Pie crust for 3 single shell pies

1/4 cup minced onion

2 tablespoons oil or butter

2 tablespoons flour

1/4  tsp black pepper

1/4  tsp dry mustard

1/8 tsp white pepper

1 Tb curry powder

1/2 to 3/4 cup water

vegetable bouillon concentrate or a cube for making 1 cup bouillon (but keep it as concentrate or cube)

1 medium sweet potato cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 parsnips cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 medium white potato cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup raisins

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small saucepan, sauté the minced onion in oil (or butter) until beginning to brown. Mix in the seasonings, including the bouillon concentrate or cube. Stir in the flour. Gradually add the water to make a thick sauce. Remove from heat.

Add the chopped vegetables and raisins to the sauce and stir to coat.

Divide the crust into 6 or 8 balls (I make 8 so each of us can have a leftover pasty for lunch the next day). Roll each ball into a circle about 1/8 inch thick. Divide the filling between the circles, placing in a line down the center of the circle. Bring the dough up over the filling and crimp the edges together to seal.

Bake the pasties on a rimmed cookie sheet for 30 to 45 minutes, until the crust is beginning to turn golden.

Cool slightly before eating.

 

click here for a free, downloadable, printable pdf of this recipe

 

 Out now!

All Shell Breaks Loose

Book 3 in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries!

 

On North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island, Maureen Nash sells exquisite seashells to locals and tourists—with Bonny the shop cat and the ghost of a Welsh pirate for company. And when needed, she steps in to help the police solve a murder . . .

Dr. Irving Allred is boasting around town that he’s about to get his hands on an authentic haunted sword. But minutes after Maureen hears the story, a woman walks into the Moon Shell, sword in hand. She found it while walking her bulldog on the beach—and its blade is stained with what looks like blood. Looks like it’s time to call the sheriff’s department.

Allred is furious that his prize is now in police custody—and even more agitated that an unknown buyer was trying to outbid him. He’s convinced the sword will lead him straight to the ghosts he’s been hunting. He’s not the only one on the Outer Banks who’s been searching for spirits, though. An odd visitor also showed up at Maureen’s shop claiming the ability to sense them . . . though somehow she didn’t seem to notice Maureen’s spectral friend hanging about.

When a man who’d been camping nearby is found cut down along the shore, Maureen starts providing some unofficial assistance to Captain Rob Tate by digging into the island’s maritime history. But it’s not the only mystery she’s facing—because the shop’s resident ghost is seeing ghosts himself . . .

 

Writing as Margaret Welch

 Happy reading!

 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries, and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Instagram or Bluesky.