Easy Peezy Halloweeny Spice Ball Cookies

Friends kid us that the only thing we really know how to make is reservations, and, with the exception of Jim’s scones, they’re probably right. However, once in a while we come across a terrific quick and easy recipe and this one, for Halloween Spice Ball Cookies, is fantastic!

It comes from one of the original BOOKED 4 MURDER club ladies in Sun City West. For those of you familiar with our Sophie Kimball Mysteries, you’ll know that BOOKED 4 MURDER was inspired by the real book club. And the credit for this recipe goes to Geri Lahti.

Here goes:

  • 1 stick butter
  • 8 oz. cream cheese (1/3 less fat)
  • 1 egg
  • ½ t. vanilla (we usually add a bit more)
  • 1 spice cake mix 25 oz. (any brand)
  • Powdered Sugar
  1. CREAM THE BUTTER AND CREAM CHEESE
  2. ADD EGG AND VANILLA
  • ADD CHOPPED PECANS IF YOU’D LIKE
  1. MIX ALL TOGETHER WITH THE SPICE CAKE MIX
  2. PUT IN REFRIGERATOR FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS
  3. AFTER THE TWO HOURS ARE UP, ROLL THE MIXTURE INTO BALLS
  4. ROLL BALLS INTO POWDERED SUGAR
  5. PUT ON UN-GREASED COOKIE SHEET OR USE PARCHMENT PAPER
  6. BAKE AT 350 DEGREES FOR 10- 12 MINUTES
  7. ENJOY!!!

Last one standing is the winner . . .

The holiday season has arrived and bookkeeper/amateur sleuth, Sophie “Phee” Kimball, would love nothing more than to enjoy the comforts of her new home with her detective boyfriend near Arizona’s Sun City West. Instead, her mother Harriet wants to showcase her chiweenie-chihuahua-dachshund Streetman in the Precious Pooches Holiday Extravaganza costume events. The festivities begin in October and end on St. Patrick’s Day—with the winner starring in the St. Pat’s Day parade. But things quickly turn an awful shade of green when Streetman uncovers a dead body under a tarp-covered grill in the neighbor’s yard.

The victim is Cameron Tully, a seafood distributor working out of Phoenix, who died from ingesting a toxic sago palm leaf. Before the police can even find a motive and suspect, another Precious Pooch owner nearly dies from the same poison. With Harriet believing someone’s targeting her and Streetman because of the costume contests, Phee will need a potful of Irish luck to sniff out a killer . . .