Char Reviews ‘Killer Donuts’ And Makes Cookies

Nothing says fall like a trip to a local donut shop for apple cider donuts. Emily and her friends start their day at Killer Donuts by Ginger Bolton with treats in hand, then head into a corn maze before everything hits the fan.

Emily and her friends, Izzy and Monique, travel the Donut Trail in style in Deputy Donut’s vintage, donut-topped car. Along for the ride are Emily’s cat, Dep, and Monique’s tiny dog, Gigi. Amid spectacular fall foliage, they stop at an orchard with a bistro and a vast corn maze. While sampling some apple cider, they meet a cranky tourist who scolds them for bringing their pets and says she hates dogs—with cats a close second. They head into the maze, but soon boisterous teens barge in, wreaking havoc, tossing pumpkins, uprooting cornstalks—and attempting a dog-snatching. As everyone scrambles to regroup, the dog-hating woman turns out to be missing. When her dead body is finally discovered—with Gigi’s hair ribbon in her pocket—Emily and her friends are the top suspects. To clear their names, they’ll have to throw a killer off their trail while diving even deeper into a dangerous labyrinth of clues.

I love fall. It’s my favorite time of year, not just because of the weather and fun activities, but also because fall-themed books scream cozy to me. I enjoy a good cozy mystery or cute fall romance. This book caught my eye because it’s fall-themed, and there’s a girl who loves cats! This book had everything I was looking for. At first, I thought the book moved really fast, but honestly, it pulled me in. I couldn’t put it down for fear that I would miss something. I loved each character’s quirks. The spider prank was so funny, and I laughed so hard. I’d say that when you read this, you should have a donut and some coffee. I craved them the whole time I was reading. I will definitely read more of these books!

I love it when books include recipes, and of course I have to try them. This one has a recipe for both apple cider donuts and apple and pumpkin spice cookies. I don’t like deep-frying at home, so I decided to make the cookies. I will say, from the first read-through, I am a little skeptical about how the cookies will turn out. The recipe says apple and pumpkin spice, but there’s no actual pumpkin—just the pie seasonings. I had a thought: try one batch with applesauce and another with pumpkin puree. I am also a little worried about the baking temperature. It seems a little high, but I will follow the recipe.

Here’s what I learned from this recipe….. The cookies aren’t so much like cookies as they are cake-like. The flavor and smell are great! I tried to bake them at the directed temperature, but the cookies came out very dark on the bottom and not fully cooked in the middle, so I ended up changing the temp to 350 degrees farenheight. I also cooked them for 12 minutes instead of 10. The cookies came out much better, and I really enjoyed them with some tea! So I would make them again. My kids even liked them.