creation. Then Norman turned to Hannah. “You’re not going to . . .” he stopped, obviously unsure of exactly how to voice his question.
“Yes, I am,” Hannah told him. “It may not be easy, but I need to know who killed Ross and why.”
Doc nodded. “I knew you’d want to do that. As a matter of fact, that’s what I told Mike last night.”
“Last night?” Hannah was confused. “I don’t remember seeing Mike here last night.”
“You were already in bed when Mike came by,” Delores explained. “He just wanted to check on you to make sure you were all right.”
“That’s nice,” Hannah said, feeling glad that he’d cared enough to be concerned about her when he was in the middle of a murder investigation. “I suppose he’ll be here for . . .” she stopped speaking abruptly when the doorbell rang. “I should have known,” she said, turning to Michelle. “Mike and Lonnie probably smelled your incredibly delicious muffins all the way out at the sheriff’s station.”
PINEAPPLE AND WALNUT MUFFINS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
The Batter:
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained (measure AFTER draining and patting dry)
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup white (granulated) sugar
¾ cup salted butter (1 and ½ sticks, 6 ounces)
2 beaten eggs (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
½ cup whole milk
½ cup finely chopped walnuts (measure AFTER chopping)
Crumb Topping:
½ cup white (granulated) sugar
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup salted butter (½ stick, 2 ounces) softened to room temperature
Grease the bottoms only of a 12-cup muffin pan (or line the cups with double cupcake papers – that’s what I do at The Cookie Jar).
If you haven’t done so already, put the crushed pineapple in a strainer with a small bowl underneath it. Press it down with the back of a mixing spoon, trying to get out as much juice as you can.
Pour the drained juice in a refrigerator container and save it for someone who likes to drink pineapple juice.
Once you’ve completely drained your pineapple, measure out 1 cup of pineapple and place it in a small bowl.
Sprinkle the crushed, drained pineapple with 1 Tablespoon of the all-purpose flour. Then mix the flour with the pineapple. (The flour will help to soak up any moisture left in your crushed pineapple.)
Get out a medium-size mixing bowl and a wooden spoon if you intend to make this recipe by hand, but you can use an electric stand mixer or a hand-held mixer from this point on if you wish.
Place the white (granulated) sugar in the bottom of the mixing bowl.
Add the softened, salted butter and mix it with the sugar. Mix until the ingredients are light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing them in thoroughly after each addition.
Sprinkle in the baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Mix them in thoroughly.
Add HALF of the all-purpose flour to a mixing bowl and mix it in with HALF of the whole milk.
Add the remaining flour and the remaining milk. Mix until everything is thoroughly blended.
Mix in the crushed pineapple and the finely chopped walnuts by hand.
Fill the muffin cups three-quarters full and set them aside. If you have batter left over, grease the bottom of a small tea bread loaf pan and fill it with your remaining batter.
Crumb Topping:
Mix the sugar and the flour in a small bowl. Add the butter and cut it in until it’s crumbly. (You can also do this in a food processor with chilled butter and the steel blade by processing in an on-and-off motion.)
Hannah’s Note: If your topping isn’t crumbly enough, just put it in a plastic bag and stick it in the freezer of your refrigerator for 5 minutes or so. That should be enough to make it crumble in your fingers.
Fill the remaining space in the muffin cups with the crumb topping. Then bake the muffins in a 375 degree F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes. (The tea bread should bake about 10 minutes longer than the muffins.)
When your muffins are baked, set the muffin pan on a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes. (The muffins need to cool in the pan for easy removal.) Then just tip them out of the cups and enjoy.
These are wonderful when they’re slightly warm, but they’re also good cold.
Yield: 12 muffins and perhaps a tea bread.
Chapter Twenty-three
Once they got to The Cookie Jar, Michelle went