Can I eat old brownies?

July 21, 2009 3:06 PM

Can I eat two month old "special" brownies that haven't been refrigerated/frozen?

About two months ago I made a batch of brownies with a certain special ingredient. (I don't know if that makes a difference, but I include it just in case.) I used a store-bought mix that required water, butter, and eggs. The brownies turned out wonderfully fudgy and delicious (protip: saute your herb in oil for half an hour and use that in place of butter) and they certainly did the trick.

I wrapped up batches of leftover brownies tightly in foil and recently rediscovered one of the packets in a dark cupboard. The brownies do not have any mold, there's no discoloration, and they smell fine. A tiny nibble revealed that they are amazingly still moist and fudgy.

So my question is: do I eat them?

posted by anonymous to food & drink (21 answers total)

I would, if they aren't moldy. If they didn't have that one costly ingredient, I'd tell you to throw them out, but there isn't much that can grow in a brownie that's going to kill you or cause you permanent harm. Just know that you're trading the risk of maybe throwing up (doubtful, though) for throwing out something with an expensive ingredient.
posted by fiercecupcake at 3:09 PM on July 21, 2009

I'm usually in the "eat it" camp, but I'm going to have to say no here, especially because they're moist and fudgy. Things that are super-dry (crackers) or super-sugary (honey) will last a long time unrefrigerated, because they're a poor medium for bacterial growth. Moist brownies, though, may be teeming with all sorts of microbes that you don't want to ingest.

While i hate to see good brownies (or good weed) go to waste, I'd throw them away.
posted by chrisamiller at 3:11 PM on July 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yes, if there's no mold you should feel free to eat them.
posted by jessamyn at 3:12 PM on July 21, 2009

Eat it if you want, but don't expect it to taste good.
posted by oinopaponton at 3:21 PM on July 21, 2009

If you already tried a nibble and they're fine - then go for it.
posted by shrabster at 3:24 PM on July 21, 2009

Of course not.
posted by Zambrano at 3:29 PM on July 21, 2009

I would, if there was no mold, and I am usually in the "throw it out" camp.
posted by cabingirl at 3:32 PM on July 21, 2009

If you decide to throw them out, give them to me instead!
posted by Obscure Reference at 3:39 PM on July 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Still Tasty

Sadly, they don't list "special" brownies. :D
posted by zarq at 3:41 PM on July 21, 2009 [2 favorites]

If you don't feel like eating it, I feel sure you know someone who would.
posted by box at 3:43 PM on July 21, 2009

No mould, no bad smell, I would eat them. I'm thinking about traditional heavy fruit cakes which only get better with a bit of unrefrigerated aging. They're moist inside too.
posted by Catch at 4:02 PM on July 21, 2009

Heat and eat, microwave and add ice cream. Heat = kill off any vermin. The ice cream = flavor helper and then once the brownies kick in, eat more ice cream.

What I and millions of others want to know is why you have delayed at all?
posted by Freedomboy at 4:07 PM on July 21, 2009

As others have said, if there's no mold and no foul odor, chances are good that you can eat them death-free. Store bough mixes often contain various preservatives, which is why it's still moist and fudgy.
Not a brownie, but once I found a loaf of bread in my pantry that I had purchased 8 months prior to discovery. No mold, no smell, still fairly moist, and I was desperate for a sandwich, so I ate it and lived to tell you about it.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 4:23 PM on July 21, 2009

They'll be fine. The oil could go rancid (but I would expect that to be apparent from smell and that nibble, rancid oil isn't usually a subtle thing) and the weed extract (like, seriously dude, you're not fooling the NSA's supercomputers and Eric H. Holder already knows what you've done) could lose potency (but presuming the cupboard wasn't subject to excessive heat you already largely preserved them from air and light exposure, the other major factors there).

From the perspective of safety I honestly don't know what people think is going to happen in a situation like this in two months that wouldn't happen in two weeks. None of you would have ever discovered the New World (eewww, that salted fish has been in that barrel for two months!).
posted by nanojath at 4:26 PM on July 21, 2009

They might make you sick. If only there was some sort of medicine that could fight nausea.

Eat 'em. They passed the sniff test. I would considering warming them up in the oven first to kill anything on them but if they were covered & wrapped, they're probably ok.
posted by chairface at 5:05 PM on July 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Heat = kill off any vermin

Please stop this myth. Even if you kill all the bacteria on spoiled food, there are all sorts of unpleasant toxins that they can leave behind.
posted by chrisamiller at 6:16 PM on July 21, 2009

god no, lol, and I'm usually in the "Eat it" camp too. It's full of eggs and butter, and water- would you eat any of those things that had been in a cupboard for two months? (I assume you don't live somewhere extra cold.) i don't think the amount of sugar in the brownies would be enough to offset the egg/butter badness creation ratio.
posted by smoke at 6:34 PM on July 21, 2009

Dear god no, what are you crazy, you are taking your life in your hands!

Send them to me instead.
posted by ottereroticist at 7:27 PM on July 21, 2009

When I make a batch I usually put them in a ziplock bag and leave them on a pantry shelf and they are eaten over one to three month period (depending on how huge a batch I've made). So I have been in your shoes and lived to tell the tale.
posted by saucysault at 5:25 AM on July 22, 2009

A tip for the bakers and "special" bakers: Freezing baked goods immediately after they're made is a great idea. Freezing preserves the yummy qualities of baked goods (even cake!), while room temp storage leads to staling and refrigeration actually SPEEDS UP staling. If you're going to make a batch of something you're not going to eat all at once, better to portion it and freeze it immediately than to have it slowly go stale.
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:30 AM on July 22, 2009

Dude, you've never known anyone to freeze starter cookie dough? It's just eggs, sugar and flour, and it's totally fine.

Eat 'em!
posted by fujiko at 1:29 PM on July 22, 2009