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Hannah Swensen’s Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies: A Sweet Murder Mystery Treat

Hannah Swensen’s Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies have become a staple at The Cookie Jar bakery in the fictional town of Lake Eden, Minnesota. These classic cookies strike the perfect balance between simplicity and indulgence, featuring a delicate sweetness enhanced by a hint of vanilla and optional lemon zest. As with many of Hannah’s recipes, these cookies have helped her solve more than one mystery while running her beloved bakery. The versatile dough can be dressed up for special occasions or enjoyed in its pure, sugar-coated form, making it one of Hannah’s most requested recipes among Lake Eden’s residents.

Recipe Summary

Hannah’s recipes typically serve large groups, and true to the books, a crowd always appears whenever a fresh batch comes out of the oven!

These scrumptious recipes from The Cookie Jar have caught my eye, and I’ll be testing several in the coming weeks. I’ve scaled down each recipe to serve one or two people and adjusted some ingredients to match my taste. Let me know what you think!

• Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookies
• Regency Ginger Crisps
• Black and Whites
• Chocolate-Covered Cherry Delights
• Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies
• Lovely Lemon Bar Cookies

You can find the original recipes in Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Joanne Fluke’s bestselling culinary capers, a deluxe collector’s edition was released February 25, 2025.

Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Do not preheat oven yet–dough must chill before baking.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup powdered (confectioners’) sugar (not sifted)
• 1/4 cup white (granulated) sugar
• 1/2 egg (beat egg and use half)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup + 1 tablespoon flour (not sifted)
• 2 tablespoons white (granulated) sugar in a small bowl (for later)

Directions

1. Do not preheat oven yet–dough must chill before baking.
2. Melt butter. Add sugars and mix. Let cool to room temperature and mix in the egg. Then add the vanilla, lemon zest, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix well. Add flour in increments, mixing after each addition.
3. Chill dough for at least one hour. (Overnight is fine.)
4. When you’re ready to bake, preheat oven to 325°F and place rack in the middle of the oven.
5. Use hands to roll dough in walnut-sized balls. Roll dough balls in a bowl of white sugar. (Mix white sugar 2 to 1 with colored sugar for holidays—green for St. Pat’s Day, red and green for Christmas, multicolored for birthdays.) Place on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. Flatten dough balls with a greased spatula.
6. Bake at 325°F. for 10 to 15 minutes. (They should have a tinge of gold on the top.) Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a rack to finish cooling. They can be decorated with frosting piped from a pastry bag for special occasions or left just as they are.

Yield: 2 to 2 1/2 dozen, depending on cookie size.

Trivia

• Used these for the chorale’s fund-raiser decorated with music notes in fudge frosting–rave reviews!

Baking Tips

For the best results, remember to:

• Make sure butter is completely cooled before adding eggs
• Don’t skip the chilling step – it helps prevent cookies from spreading too much during baking
• For perfectly round cookies, roll dough balls between your palms until smooth before coating in sugar

Recipe Review

These Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies achieve the perfect balance between crispy edges and soft centers. The blend of powdered and granulated sugar creates a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth texture that’s impossible to resist. They’re wonderfully versatile—perfect as simple sugar-coated treats or decorated holiday cookies—and always a crowd favorite.

Whether you’re a mystery fan, a baking enthusiast, or both, these cookies make the perfect accompaniment to your cozy mystery reading sessions!

Happy baking, mystery lovers! Stay tuned for next week’s Well-Read Wednesday, where we’ll explore another literary-inspired – Lovely Lemon Bar Cookies.

Let me know what you think about the book and these Old-fashioned Sugar Cookies in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you!

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Down Home at Dee’s

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