Ring in the New Year With This Chic & Easy Black-and-White Snack Tray

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This New Year’s Eve appetizer spread, from the new cookbook Everyday Snack Tray by Frances Largeman-Roth, RDN, is simple but also swank. It’s a fun thing to put out before (and after) an at-home New Year’s Eve dinner or as a kick-off for a night out on the town. 

“A little glam goes a long way with this elegant but easy black-and-white tray,” Largeman-Roth promises. Her make-ahead five-ingredient cheese twists anchor the platter. The black sesame seeds on top are a nod to the snack tray’s chic black-and-white theme. 

Related: 10 Easy New Year’s Eve Drinks and Bites

The rest of the tray is an array of store-bought goodies, which also go with the color scheme. Shopping by color can be a fun grocery store challenge. Here, Largeman-Roth picked up black licorice wheels, blackberries and dark chocolate cookies, as well as vanilla wafer cookies, star-shaped meringue cookies, popcorn and small mozzarella cheese balls for the pops of white. A platter of black-and-white cookies is a nod to New York and combines the theme in one sweet. If you wanted to gild the lily, baked brie would be a great addition to the party, too.

The great thing about this snack tray is that all of it can be prepped in advance, including the twists. “Make the cheese twists a day ahead so all you’ll have to do is arrange everything on a board and pop open a bottle of your favorite bubbly,” says Largeman-Roth 

Related: You Need to Make This Latke Snack Tray ASAP

Adapted by permission from Everyday Snack Tray by Frances Largeman-Roth, R.D.N. © 2023. Published by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. Photographs by Lauren Volo.

Prices are accurate and items in stock at time of publishing.

Black & White New Year’s Eve Party Platter

Ingredients

• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
• 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp black sesame seeds
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese 

1. To make Parmesan Twists: Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Unfold pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, lightly roll into a 14 x 10-inch rectangle.

3. Brush entire surface of pastry with oil. Sprinkle half with sesame seeds, salt and Parmesan, and fold over. Gently press to seal. Roll pastry lightly again until rectangle is about 13 x 7 inches.

4. Using a pizza cutter, slice into about 26 half-inch strips. Twist and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes or until golden. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

5. Serve Parmesan Twists with blackberries, chocolate sandwich cookies, chocolate wafer cookies, black-and-white cookies, chocolate-drizzled popcorn, fresh or dried figs, black olive and baby mozzarella mini-skewers, vanilla meringues, crostini with plain goat cheese and fig-cocoa jam, black-andwhite bow-tie pasta (such as Borgo de’Medici).