Fruit platter?

If the doughnuts were such a hit then I’d at least include them again, even if you want to add more to the mix. Other sweets like danishes and cinnamon buns might be nice.

Actually, a fruit platter and a bakery stop would probably be perfect. FOAS, I got some glazed doughnuts for the one who loves them, then I got whatever filled or gooey-topped things they had left. I don't remember now what they were all called, but I do remember a long debate where several people disagreed about what a "bear claw" actually was. lol!

I've found that anything with nuts - like mixed ones and/or flavored - are good snacks and grapes are perfect with them - easy to eat, not that messy. Don't know how many you have riding with you but it works out $-wise to be the same as donuts here.

I'm at a blank for new snack ideas but I agree that PAM is not the be all end all for pan greasing. My first thought was muffin pan liners and/or ghee,which has a high smoke point and is good for that...

For years had a 4th of July brunch....I made cinnamon rolls, and another friend, who sadly, died yesterday always brought a watermelon, carved like a basket, with the watermelon fruit cubed and filled also with other fruit assortment...green grapes strawberries, blue berries and cantaloupe cubes. The watermelon could be hollowed out, the fruit prepared and bagged, refrigerated and assembled at your destination....transport the melon and the prepared fruit in coolers..

While I can appreciate a doughnut, it's not something I'd actually eat. You have two sugars with those and fruit. I don't know what everyone else is making, but devilled eggs might be a nice alternative. I have a couple of these inexpensive, small but mighty devilled egg holders which make transporting them dead easy. In my experience, a protein snack is always welcome. If you think it's too early for "devilled", scallion makes a nice alternate flavor.

But, yeah, if the doughnuts/pastries went so fast last year, you can't go wrong repeating them. Except ... remember that twice is coincidence and three is a pattern. You don't want to set them up to expect the bakery box next year unless it's something you yourself want to have for your tradition.

I have a few savory favorites. A dozen or so containers from the past dozen years from holiday gifts, bbq's, bridal/wedding showers, bake sales...

Another good one and more appropriate for the time of day is a cluster granola. I add extra nuts and dried fruit and dark chocolate, lightly sweet/savory. Similar to a gorp. Used the small Chinese food containers...

And a better fun one is party mix but undated with a trip to the health food store for more interesting ingredients than the Chex cereal original....Annie's brand cheddar bunnies, chocolate bunnies, Wasabi mix, lots of different combos do oddly go together.

I'm making parm, pesto, garlic knots with everything bagel spice for the 4th. Ribs and chicken instead of burger/dog so a perfect carb side. Maybe some with sun-dried toms and olives and Korean chili oil.

My crowd would not touch donuts. Fruit salad or anything veg/dip gets complicated needing platters, utensils, bowls, napkins/wet naps for sticky. Fruit attracts bees and flies.

Just my thoughts sitting park side maybe on a few blankets or folding chairs for a parade. Snacks.

Muffin liners was my first thought as well.

Pam-- Someone here posted a recipe for Better Than Pam. and it really is better. Using the electric mixer, combine equal parts of cooking oil, flour, and solid shortening like Crisco. Jasdip, was this your recommendation originally?

I just realized the pecan pie mini muffin recipe came from a different cooking forum. It was well-known that these little muffins were BAD about coming out of tins after baking... butter stuck, margarine stuck, crisco stuck, olive oil stuck, non-stick pans stuck with or without anything, some tried using muffin liners / paper cups but then they stuck horribly to the muffin. lol! Everyone said the muffins came out of the tins easiest if you used PAM, but I won't. :O)

nancyofnc, I'm bringing for a group gathering and you never know who will show up for this because it's been a long-running annual thing.

gardengal, see my comments above re PAM/muffin liner alternatives. lol! Your comment about doughnuts jogged my memory! I remember now that I was jokingly instructed by more than one person last year to "bring those again next year". They're out in the boonies and don't often bake so a good pastry is a treat. I love to bake and usually bake my own everything, but since I was traveling early in the AM I decided to splurge and see what the bakery had. It's a really good bakery. :)

amylou, see my comments above re PAM, muffin liners, etc.... but I never tried ghee and don't recall anyone else trying it. hmmmmm.....

lindac, I'm sorry you've lost your friend. Her watermelon arrangement sounds wonderful.

plllog, as I said above, I just remembered that some people did kid around and tell me to bring them again this year. I think they were different from what they'd usually have and the variety of choices was fun!

sleevendog, omg, the container idea is so cute! I'll need to see if anything like those is available in stores around here. The front lawn of the house has ideal viewing for the parade, so there's no problem if any food needs to remain inside the house (i.e., to keep cold, warm, or away from bugs). And muffin liners definitely don't work with these muffins. lol!

sheilajoyce, I'll have to make a gluten-free version of BTP to try.

Thanks, everyone, for the replies and ideas!

I'm guessing that if the muffins stick to everything that badly, the culprit may be sugar. If it's melted sugar that's doing the sticking, BTP might indeed work because of the flour/starch being in the fat. The one thing I know that releases stuck sugar is cold, so putting the muffin tin in an ice water bath after the muffins are cooled just might work. Might.

Care to share the recipe?

LindaC, I'm sorry to hear about your friend. There seems to be a lot more funerals than weddings, even in my age group, and it's hard to lose a friend in any case. Hugs to you.

PM, it sounds like fun to me. If the doughnuts were a hit, I'd do that again, although I do like sleevendog's idea of flavored popcorn. Of course, I used to go to the theater lobby and just buy the popcorn and leave, never even buy a ticket to the movie, LOL.

A big hit with my group of friends is homemade pretzel "bites", with various coatings like Trader Joe's "Everything but the bagel" seasoning, Parmesan cheese and the traditional "salted".

Have a good time!

Annie

Party_music50, can I ask why you won't use Pam? (I don't use it, either, but for no particular reason.)

and you can use coffee filters as serving plates ... easy peasy

plllog, it took me a while to find the recipe because I haven't thought to make them in years. While searching I noticed some versions of the recipe use melted butter and some use softened butter. Not sure if that would make a difference in whether or not they stick to the pans.

Annie, that's too funny about going into a theater just to buy popcorn. lol! I do have a good recipe for caramel corn, so may decide to make that. :)

Feathers, it has chemicals in it for propellants and anti-foaming and I choose not to use it. I've also seen my sister's pans looking pretty weird from using it. :p

bragu, good idea on coffee filters!

Pecan Pie Muffins

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix dry ingredients; add wet ingredients. Prepare a mini-muffin pan with cooking spray. Spoon batter into muffin pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Start testing after about 15 minutes; if firm to touch and slightly brown, remove from oven.

MY NOTES:

Makes 2 dozen mini-muffins.

This is a recipe is SO good (and easy!). I've never found anyone who didn't love them and unlike most muffins they're good fresh or days old (if they last :)

I never use cooking spray, so I butter my non-stick muffin pans. These can stick hard and break apart as a result when removing from the pan and it seems to work best if I let them cool completely in the pan and then pry them out w/ a butter knife. lol!

That does look good. Pecan-pie-ish. Maybe a thin pastry round would help.

(I could never use pam for the same reasons)

I just googled 'party mix ideas' and wow, so many ideas. (the pre-made ones always taste like chemicals)... Because they use chemical powder mixes.

My 4th is open house at the farm. Always anytime after noon. Friends with kids come early so they can get home by sunset for various fireworks. Foods come off the grill around 2-3 and sides come out. Why I have a few snacks.

Annie's muffins look good....she just posted a blueberry and a savory.

And if you are in communication with your group, let them know you will be baking. Then someone else can pick-up the donuts. ; )

I use the webstaurauntstore.com for packaging because it is wholesale prices and they sell small amounts like 50 Chinese containers for 6 bucks. Amazon is twice that. The wax paper checkerboard sheet are 13 bucks for 1000. (the ones used for fish-n-chips. etc.)

sleeve, they're in the booooonies. Not a bakery around for many miles. Those that drive up from around NYC may occasionally bring really good bagels! :O)

little smokies wrapped in a wedge of crescent dough and baked are always popular

PM, thanks for the recipe. It does look like the muffin might just be turning itself into toffee for the sticking. :) I have half a cup of flour that I need to use up so I can wash the canister. That's why I have to make these. Really. I swear...

lol! plllog, I hope you like them!

BTW, these work fine if you substitute a gluten-free flour mix for the regular flour. No xanthan or anything else required.

sounds like they were made for zip bags ... if they last that long ...

I like apple fritters better than doughnuts, but the ones I made

If I were to make something to take, I would make cinnamon rolls. I make them with bread dough that I layer with butter (similar to croissants), and then I sprinkle the rectangle of dough with cinnamon sugar and chopped walnuts and roll into a log to cut into rounds. Sometimes I make them fairly small and bake them in muffin tins. Because they have to much butter in them, they do not stick.

If everyone liked the donuts, bring donuts. Sounds like they are a rare treat for your group. Make it your thing! “Oh, party-music always brings the donuts. YUM!”

The pecan muffin recipe comes close to our Canadian Butter Tarts. They would be a fun treat and a curiosity because I don't think they are regularly served in the States.

Mom's Butter Tarts

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cream or half and half

1/2 cup butter, melted

raisins or nuts

Make pastry and cut with a large biscuit cutter and put into muffin cups.

Put some raisins or chopped nuts in each unbaked shell. Spoon mixture over top.

Bake at 425 degrees 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350 until

done, another 8-10 minutes.

Pam really mucks up non-stick muffin tins. That baked on goo won't come off. I don't use spray propellants, I use the Better Than Pam coating.

equal parts flour, shortening and vegetable oil.

e.g. 1/4 cup shortening, 1/4 cup vegetable oil and 1/4 cup flour. Beat with a mixer until very light and fluffy. It stores in the cupboard. It will separate in hot weather but a simple stir fixes that.

Chase, that's my mom's recipe that I shared (and you've used) for years. You and I both love it because it doesn't use icky corn syrup.

Lars, your fritters look good, but I agree that they wouldn't travel well. Re cinnamon rolls, my 'go to' would be my mom's pecan rolls... they're like a cinnamon roll with raisins but they have a topping of caramelized butter & brown sugar with pecans. I might make those, but it would have to be a non-gf version... I haven't yet found or created a gf version of sweet yeast dough that would work.

Thanks for posting the Butter Tarts recipe, chase. Do you use regular size muffin cups or minis, and how many tarts should the recipe make? and should pastry amount be sufficient for a single or double crust pie? I may try that because my gf pastry crust should work fine.

jasdip, I'll have to try the mix with gf flour...

Party, the recipe makes enough for a standard 12-cup muffin tin.

I usually make enough dough for several crusts in the freezer, frozen in separate bags. So a single crust recipe should do. To be safe, you can certainly make a double pie crust, use half and if you need a bit more you have it, and freeze the rest.

Thanks, jasdip.

Jasdip , appologies for not attributing it to you...I've used it so long I guess I think it's my Mom's !

Actually, I do recall when you shared it years ago because it is the recipe that comes closest to my Mom's which I never did record.

My daughter makes them now and guess what she calls them.......Moms Butter Tarts!!!