Darci Hannah: When I was a kid, I was obsessed with horses. Every year I’d ask for one for Christmas, and, of course, every year Santa disappointed me. That’s mostly because my parents weren’t horse people, and because we didn’t have horse property in our suburban backyard where we lived. However, my parents let me buy books on horses as well as giving me riding lessons, which I still appreciate to this day.
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| Adult me with my friend's mini horse, Merlin! |
One of the ways my mother supported my horse obsession was by making a big to-do about the Kentucky Derby horse race. Honestly, we both loved any party or occasion that highlighted food and where big fancy hats were encouraged. Although we never went to the derby, we always enjoyed watching it on television. I remember that one year Mom made pimento cheese sandwiches, which we all found interesting, but not great. However, her Kentucky Derby Pie, which was essentially my favorite Thanksgiving pie, pecan, with chocolate chips mixed in, was a big hit. It was fun watching those gorgeous horses run while wearing fancy hats and eating pie. Really, shy of owning your own horse, what could be better?
Years later I ran into this recipe in a Paula Dean magazine and scribbled it down, saving it for my own Kentucky Derby celebration. My three sons could care less about horses or horse races, but I have to say, they do stick around for the food and the mint juleps!
Kentucky Derby Bars
Prep time: 20 minutes. Bake time: 50 minutes. Makes about two dozen.
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup butter, cut into little cubes
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
½ cup butter, melted
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons bourbon, Kentucky bourbon is always best
2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with parchment or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, and salt. Mix well. Next, add the cubed butter. Using a pastry blender, incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until nice and crumbly. Press mixture firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.
In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, dark corn syrup, eggs, melted butter, and bourbon until smooth. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips.
Pour mixture over prepared crust and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the center is set. Cool completely before cutting. Store leftover cookies in refrigerator for up to a week. Enjoy!
You can print a copy of the recipe here!
Readers, in the comments below let me know if you watch the Kentucky Derby, and if you have any traditions while watching it.
Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you.
Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com
Instagram: @authordarcihannah
Facebook: @Author Darci Hannah
Just Released!
Book #2 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases . . .
Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well.
After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .
Trade Paperback Release!
Book #1 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
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While filming at a haunted English manor, chef Bunny MacBride’s big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder in Darci Hannah’s new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series . . .
It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. For their first episode, the Food & Spirits team sets off to investigate Bramsford Manor, a historic house turned famously haunted hotel, in picturesque Hampshire, England. The sprawling estate is said to be home to the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died in the 18th century, the victim of a tragic accident on her Christmas wedding night.
Bunny leaves the spectral search to the pros and focuses on the feast, creating a traditional English holiday wedding dinner, complete with a gorgeous prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and rustic apple tarts. But Bunny’s task is made more difficult when someone steals a boning knife from her custom kit. Alas, when the blade finally turns up again—in the chest of an all-too-human dinner guest—Bunny’s woes only grow as she is named a lead suspect in the case! Now, with a haunted house full of living residents, staff, and crew, Bunny will need the help of Brett, Giff, and her clairvoyant Grandma Mac, to solve this murder before the manor gains another ghost!
Coming this July!
Book #7 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series
When Lindsey Bakewell leaves behind her lighthouse bakeshop, her boyfriend, Rory, and her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, for a glamping trip with her mother in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the bears leave them alone—but a killer doesn’t. . .
Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.
Far from roughing it, the ladies will be warm and cozy in chic vintage campers. Ellie insists Lindsey come along to win the campfire cookout contest. Campfire cooking has come a long way from bacon and beans. Soon Lindsey is making pizza, berry cobbler, and gooey Carmelita camping bars.
But the festive spirit is soon dampened when a body is found in Ellie’s camper. It seems like an accidental death until everyone’s tires are slashed and it’s clear the glampsite has become a crime scene. With no cell service to call for help, it’s up to Lindsey to smoke out the killer around the campfire . . .
Because no one is out of the woods yet.
