Meghan was the Food Editor for Kitchn's Skills content. She's a master of everyday baking, family cooking, and harnessing good light. Meghan approaches food with an eye towards budgeting — both time and money — and having fun. Meghan has a baking and pastry degree, and spent the first 10 years of her career as part of Alton Brown's culinary team. She co-hosts a weekly podcast about food and family called Didn't I Just Feed You.
updated Nov 20, 2020
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Inspired by the Charles M. Schultz special, this snack board is a riff on the snacks Charlie Brown tried to serve his friends instead of a proper Thanksgiving meal.
Serves6Prep25 minutesCook10 minutesJump to Recipe
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Our family kicks off most holidays by watching one (or more) of the Charlie Brown seasonal specials. There’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown for Halloween and The Charlie Brown Christmas Special at Christmas, so, of course, every Thanksgiving we watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving before our holiday meal. A few years ago, we started serving Charlie’s last-minute Thanksgiving meal as a pre-dinner snack (or even midday meal), and it has easily become one of my favorite traditions.
For those who don’t remember, Charlie Brown is pressured to host a Thanksgiving dinner despite not knowing how to cook, and he and Snoopy put together a feast of buttered toast, popcorn, pretzels, and jelly beans. Peppermint Patty is absolutely appalled at the lack of mashed potatoes and gravy, but I think toast, pretzels, and jelly beans might just be the perfect feast for Thanksgiving this year. Here’s how to make your own Charlie Brown-inspired Thanksgiving “feast” that can hold off hungry kids until dinner (or maybe be dinner itself).
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving-Inspired Snack Board
I’m including three years’ worth of Charlie Brown snack board photos here to show you just how different they can be, even with the same anchor snacks. The required jelly beans always go first — the ones pictured above were descended upon by a gaggle of school kids before we even cut into the Brie — and we almost always include some cheeses and fruit to round out the board. You can choose mini pretzel twists, sticks, or even soft pretzels for the pretzel component of the board. I’ve tried many variations of toast over the years, but heavily buttered Texas toast is my favorite. Here’s my favorite formula for making your own Charlie Brown Snack Board.
- Easy homemade snacks: Texas Toast , Movie Theater-Style Popcorn
- Store-bought shortcuts: Pretzel twists, 1 to 2 cheeses, apples, grapes, nuts, or crackers
- Special treats: Jelly beans or your favorite fancy cheese
Family Snack Boardsare an easy way to minimize cooking and dishwashing and make family meals fun!This monthly series will give you snack board meal ideas that rely on just one or two simple recipes and utilize store-bought favorites to fill out the board.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Snack Board
Inspired by the Charles M. Schultz special, this snack board is a riff on the snacks Charlie Brown tried to serve his friends instead of a proper Thanksgiving meal.
Prep time 25 minutes
Cook time 10 minutes
Serves 6
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 1 recipe
- 1 recipe
- 1 (15-ounce) bag
mini pretzel twists
- 1 (16 ounce) bag
Jelly Beans
- 2 (8-ounce) pieces
your favorite cheese
Optional for serving: grapes, apples, nuts, or crackers
Instructions
Prepare the Texas Toast and Popcorn. While the toast broils and the popcorn pops, slice the cheeses and apples. Portion grapes using a pair of shears.
Slice the Texas Toast into pieces and arrange the cheese, pretzels, popcorn, and toast directly on a large serving platter. Add jelly beans to one or two small bowls, add to the platter. Arrange apples and grapes just before serving.
