Snack suggestions and questions!

[ErinM]

Tonight is the opening for our community theater production of "The Diary of Anne Frank". One of our "traditions" is to have a spread of food for the cast to munch on before the show and duriing intermission..call times are fairly early and some people may not have time to eat dinner before hand. So, I need help coming up with some snacks that are easy (and cheap) to make and that will make a fair number since the cast is pretty big and we have the crew to consider as well.

So far, we will be having some No bake cookies, grapes, and cheese and crackers made by my friend. I will be making peanut butter brownies since it's also our director's birthday as well. I'm trying to think of one or two other things I can make and bring. We want food that's easy to eat and will not mess up make up and costumes.

And now, for my questions...

I have some Country Crock sticks in the fridge that have been there for, um, awhile. Will they still be good for baking?

Also, the peanut butter brownie recipes is made in a 9 inch square pan, which I want to make in a 9x13. Will doubling the recipe do the trick?

Thank you!!!

[CompassRose]

The greatest munchable thing around at the last show I did was a gigantic platter of fresh fruit sent to us by the mother of one of the cast. There was the usual junk floating about (Timbits, a platter of pound cake cubes, and a giant bag of bite-size wrapped Swiss chocolates) and while I'm not saying we didn't eat the junk, when you're already in show mode, and have probably been skimping on life for the last week owing to rehearsal anyway (like, for instance, the regular meals and the sleep) it's nice to have an option that doesn't seem like more of an insult to the system. We all mowed down on the fruit like there was no tomorrow.

As for the Country Crock -- I would use it -- as long as it still looked and smelled okay when I opened it -- I mean, as long as "awhile" isn't, you know, last summer...

and the brownies -- might work, might not. Some recipes double, some don't. Given that your time's probably short, I would play it safe and make two batches.

[Peeps]

Originally posted by ErinM
Also, the peanut butter brownie recipes is made in a 9 inch square pan, which I want to make in a 9x13. Will doubling the recipe do the trick?

The most accurate thing would be to 1.5x the recipe. (1.5x a 9x9 is 121.5 and a 9x13 is 117 - pretty close.) Or double it and just cook longer and know you'll have a thicker brownie.

[ErinM]

Um, awhile, is uh, well, the, uh, date on the package is....well, let's just say some of them would celebrate their first birthday next month :o The smell/look test would be the true deciding factor, though.


As for the brownies, what could go wrong? Is it the cooking time I would need to worry about? The temp? I don't have two pans, which was why I was hoping to double it...

[ErinM]

Originally posted by Peeps


The most accurate thing would be to 1.5x the recipe. Or double it and just cook longer and know you'll have a thicker brownie.

Sorry, peeps, didn't see you! I think thicker brownies would be OK...the frosting i put on them is pretty think as well, so I think the whole thing will be rather interesting. I will think about 1.5x the recipe (ok, math idiot here...so that means if it called for, say 1/2 cup of sugar, I'd put in 3/4, right?)

[Peeps]

Originally posted by ErinM


Sorry, peeps, didn't see you! I think thicker brownies would be OK...the frosting i put on them is pretty think as well, so I think the whole thing will be rather interesting. I will think about 1.5x the recipe (ok, math idiot here...so that means if it called for, say 1/2 cup of sugar, I'd put in 3/4, right?)

Yup, you got it. ;)

If you want to post the recipe I'd be glad to post the 1.5 version for you. Actually, PB brownies sound pretty darn good - would you mind posting anyway? :)

[ErinM]

Sure! This comes from Taste of Home magazine called "Chocolate Lover's Cookbook", which I picked up in the grocery store a long time ago.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

2 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter (no subs)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour

Filling:
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter, softened
2-3 Tbsps half 'n' half cream or milk

Glaze:
1 square (1 ounce) semisweet baking chocolate
1 T butter

In a small saucepan, melt chocolate and butter over low heat, set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar until light and pale-colored. Add flour and melted chocolate; stir well. Pour into a greased 9 in square baking pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool.

For filling, beat confectioner's sugar, peanut butter and butter in a mixing bowl. Stir in crem until mixture reaches desired spreading consistency. Spread over cooled brownies; cover and chill until firm.

For glaze, melt chocolate and butter in a sauce pan, stirring until smooth. Drizzle over filling. Chill before cutting, store in refrigerator. Yield: about 5 dozen.

The only changes I make to the recipe is to add chopped miniture peanut butter cups on top of the PB frosting. I then drizzle the glaze with a fork.

[Peeps]

Thanks for posting! Those look great. I will probably 1.5x the recipe myself since I always make brownies in a 9x13. So the measurements I'll use are:

3 squares unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup butter (no subs)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour

Filling:
2 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
6 tbsp butter, softened
3-4.5 Tbsps half 'n' half cream or milk

Glaze:
1 square (1 ounce) semisweet baking chocolate
1 T butter
(this I would probably keep the same or double just so as not to have half a square of chocolate leftover.)

[Stephanie-Oh]

Just an Fyi for pan conversion charts, for future use go to following site. It has a lot of good charts..Steph

http://www.joyofbaking.com/ConversionsEquivalencies.html

[CompassRose]

Originally posted by ErinM
As for the brownies, what could go wrong? Is it the cooking time I would need to worry about? The temp? I don't have two pans, which was why I was hoping to double it...
Somethin' like this (http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=70007) -- I've occasionally had similar things happen. With brownies, though, the more common thing in a recipe I've simply doubled is that the texture doesn't come out quite right -- they're too dry at the edges or too sticky in the middle or whatever. Baking time doesn't double or halve with the recipe, it's usually a difference of more like a quarter or a third either way, so it can be a bit of a gamble.

When I make stuff like this for things like this, I usually use disposable foil pans. Makes it easier for everyone, including me.