Blog Tour: A Line In the Dark by Malinda Lo – Bookish Recipe and Giveaway!

A Line in the Dark

Author: Malinda Lo

Publication Date: October 17th, 2017

Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers

Synopsis: The line between best friend and something more is a line always crossed in the dark.

Jess Wong is Angie Redmond’s best friend. And that’s the most important thing, even if Angie can’t see how Jess truly feels. Being the girl no one quite notices is OK with Jess anyway. While nobody notices her, she’s free to watch everyone else. But when Angie begins to fall for Margot Adams, a girl from the nearby boarding school, Jess can see it coming a mile away. Suddenly her powers of observation are more curse than gift.

As Angie drags Jess further into Margot’s circle, Jess discovers more than her friend’s growing crush. Secrets and cruelty lie just beneath the carefree surface of this world of wealth and privilege, and when they come out, Jess knows Angie won’t be able to handle the consequences.

When the inevitable darkness finally descends, Angie will need her best friend.

“It doesn’t even matter that she probably doesn’t understand how much she means to me. It’s purer this way. She can take whatever she wants from me, whenever she wants it, because I’m her best friend.”

A Line in the Dark is a story of love, loyalty, and murder.

Goodreads   |   Amazon   |   Barnes & Noble   |   Book Depository

Coming up with a recipe to go well with this book was a bit of a challenge, but I finally decided to make cookies because I felt like they really matched the cover (and who doesn’t love cookies, right?).  So I present to you, black and white cookies!

I will have you know that this is the very first time that I’ve made these, so bear with me here.  Also, I’m not Martha Stewart, and let’s just say there were several messy accidents with this glaze.  Yeah, baking with two kids, a husband, and cats really isn’t all that easy (maybe for some it is, and I really need to know your secrets!

Anyway…here are my fabulous cookies.

Okay, okay, maybe not all that fabulous, but still.  They were good, so that counts, right?

And they remind of the cover for A Line in the Dark.  I’m not really sure why, but these just seemed really fitting.

Here’s the recipe!

Ingredients for the cookies:

• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (the real stuff, not imitation)
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg

Ingredients for glazes:

• 1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar (more or less to taste)
• 4-5 tablespoons of milk, divided into two
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract (depends on how vanilla-y you want your glaze)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s and it was delightful!)

Make the cookies:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, and line your baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Using a stand mixer or a handheld mixer, mix the 6 tablespoons of butter and the granulated sugar until pale in color and fluffy looking.
3. Mix the egg into the butter and sugar until completely combined.
4. Mix together the 1/3 cup milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract in a small bowl or measuring cup.
5. Using a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt until combined.
6. Put the mixer on low and mix in half of the milk mixture, then half of the flour mixture, and then half the milk mixer and half the flour mixture again, beating it into the dough in increments until fully combined each time.
7. Take a cookie scoop and scoop the cookies onto the prepared baking sheet.  Depending on the size of the cookie you want to make, use one, two, or three tablespoons of dough for each cookie.  I wanted big cookies, so I used three tablespoons of dough for each.
8. Bake at 375 for 14-16 minutes.
9. Let the cookies cool completely before adding glaze.
10. To get the two toned effect, I used a pastry brush to brush the vanilla glaze on half, and then chocolate on the other half.  Allow the glaze to dry.

Make the glaze:

1. Whisk together the confectioners sugar and the 2-3 tablespoons of milk in a medium bowl.
2. Place half of the glaze into another bowl, and to the first half of the glaze, add your vanilla extract.  Mix together until combined.
3. In the second bowl of glaze, mix in the cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon of milk until combined.
4. Apply glazes to cookies

Malinda Lo is the author of the young adult novels Ash, Huntress, Adaptation, and Inheritance. Ash was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, the Andre Norton Award for YA Science Fiction and Fantasy, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and was a Kirkus Best Book for Children and Teens. She has been a three-time finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Malinda’s nonfiction has been published by The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The Huffington Post, The Toast, The Horn Book, and AfterEllen. Malinda is co-founder with Cindy Pon of Diversity in YA, a project that celebrates diversity in young adult books. She lives in Massachusetts with her partner and their dog. www.malindalo.com

Enter for a chance to be one (1) of three (3) winners to receive a hardcover copy of A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo. (ARV: $17.99 each).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on October 16, 2017 and 12:00 AM on October 27, 2017.  Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about October 30, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.