How To Use Up Your Leftover Halloween Candy
With costume makeup smudged, pillow cases filled to the brim and exhaustion seeping in: it’s officially over. You’ve survived another year of trick-or-treating, and in just one short hour, your kids have managed to loot the neighborhood of (what seems like) every last candy bar. How will you ever get through the piles of candy on your dining room table? Don’t worry, we’ve laid out some ways & recipes to use it all up!
Option 1: Eat it All
Unless you enjoy stomachaches and cavities, eating all the Halloween candy is probably not your best option. But, you could take a page out of Jimmy Kimmel’s book and pretend to eat it all. For years, TV personality Jimmy Kimmel has challenged parents to hide their children’s proudly-acquired Halloween candy and confess to eating every last bite. The challenge has taken the YouTube world by storm, with some pretty hilarious reactions caught on camera. See for yourself.
Option 2: Use it in Baking
For those of you that don’t have the heart to fool your little trick-or-treaters, opt for option 2: baking with candy. There’s plenty of cookie, brownie and cake recipes out there that call for some classic Halloween candy bars. Our oober-recent recipe for a Giant Halloween Cookie is a great example. It’s essentially a cookie cake topped with all sorts of classic candy. Have lots of Heath bars leftover? Use them in our recipe for Butterscotch Cookies! Just substitute the butterscotch chips for crushed Heath. (Our recipe for Toffee Cheesecake Bars is another great way to use leftover Heath bars). And to use up a whole slew of candy bars, try this recipe for Candy Bar Brownies.
Option 3: Dip Dip Hooray
If baking isn’t your strong suit, then whipping up some candy bar dips might be an easier alternative. Try this recipe for Caramel Covered Candy Bar Dip. It’s filled with Snickers, Reese’s cups and topped with caramel (yep, extra sweet). Served with waffle cones, pretzels or apple slices, this dip is a great treat to bring to upcoming holiday parties. Or try this recipe for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Dip. It’s another great way to use up some extra Reese’s cups lying around.
Option 4: Candy + Fruit = Healthy Eating?
Our math might be a little off… but these recipes definitely aren’t. And if you’ve never tried a dessert that combines fruit and candy, you’re 100% missing out. Sweet and healthy worlds collide to make recipes like Butterfinger Grape Salad. In this dessert, juicy grapes are mixed with tangy cream cheese and topped with crunchy Butterfinger pieces. Sounds fantastic, right? Another great recipe is this one for Snickers and Caramel Apple Dip. Tart apples and sweet caramel candy = tastebud nirvana.
This year, don’t let your Halloween candy recycle into Easter basket treasures. Instead, head to your local Sparkle Market and grab the ingredients you need to transform your candy surplus into decadent desserts.
