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Save money using these creative tips for using leftover candy! Lots of tips and recipes including Candy Bar Milkshakes and Chocolate Chip Candy Bar Cookies!
Leftover Halloween Candy Tips
Here are some tips for using all of that extra Halloween Candy!
- To prevent sugar shock, have a big bag of popcorn waiting when everyone comes back from Trick or Treating. It’s easy to fix and will counteract some of the sweet stuff.
- You can freeze candy up to a year in the freezer. Make sure it is sealed well and when you thaw it thaw in the refrigerator to prevent condensation.
- Don’t forget to buy discounted Halloween candy for Christmas stockings and parties. Most kids don’t care if their Christmas candy is orange and black or if it has silver and gold wrappers instead of red and green.
- Use leftover Halloween candy in Christmas baking and for making gingerbread houses.
- Use grated or chopped chocolate in place of chocolate chips in cookies.
- It is easier to cut candy into pieces if you freeze it first.
- Break Butterfinger candy bars into peanut butter cookie dough.
- Sprinkle chopped chocolates on a white or chocolate frosted cake or use them to top ice cream and cheesecake.
- Mix leftover chopped chocolates into cake mixes.
- When making cupcakes, decorate the tops with one Hershey’s kiss or a mini candy bar.
- Pour some leftover candy into a basket or pretty bowl to give to someone for a special gift.
- Even a Christmas bag full of an assortment of candies would be a gift that would delight anyone – kids, adults, co-workers or neighbors.
- When making apple butter, instead of your usual spices use 1/2 cup red cinnamon candies and 1 Tbsp. cinnamon for every 10 cups apples and your regular amount of sugar.
- Cut a hole in the center of rolled out sugar cookie dough. Place a hard colored candy into the center. Bake as usual. The candies will create a stained glass look.
We talk a lot about what to do with leftover candy but don’t forget you can also do nothing with it but eat it! :) :) …my favorite thing! Stockpile bags of candy to use for school parties, birthday parties and so on. In my case, I have a huge candy jar I keep full for when the grandkids come to visit. I can go through pounds of it that way. It keeps forever so don’t feel that you have to hurry and use it.
-Jill
Candy Countdown
From Karen:
After the kids are done Halloweening, I grab 24 candies for each child (I have 4) to save for a countdown to Christmas instead of buying the calendars in the stores. I usually keep them in a bag but you can get the kids to decorate shoe boxes or stick the candy to a calendar with tape.
Here are some leftover candy recipes for you to try:
Stained Glass Cookies
Cut a hole in the center of rolled out sugar cookie dough. Place a hard colored candy into the center. Bake as usual. The candies will create a stained glass look.
Easy Candy Bar Milkshakes Recipe
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5 from 1 review
- Yield: 2 milkshakes
Ingredients
1 cup mini candy bars, chopped
2 cups (1 pint) ice cream (chocolate or vanilla)
1/2 cup chocolate syrup
1 1/4 cups milk
whipped cream or whipped topping (optional)
Instructions
- Chop candies in a food processor. They are easier to chop if they are partially frozen.
- Add the rest of the ingredients.
- Mix until blended.
- Top with whipped cream or whipped topping if you like!
This recipe makes a thick milkshake. Add 1/4 cup milk for a thinner shake or adjust milk as desired. Makes 2 milkshakes.
Notes
- If you prefer a more lively milkshake, you can use any flavor of ice cream you like. Berry ice creams often compliment chocolate well, so feel free to experiment!
- If you like, you can add fruit like cherries, strawberries or bananas.
- This milkshake recipe calls for chopped mini candy bars, but you can use larger bars and cut them into smaller pieces. You can also use chocolate chips.
- This recipe works great with all kinds of candy bars, not just plain chocolate. You can use milk chocolate, dark chocolate, chocolate with almonds, chocolate with rice krispies, chocolate with peanuts and more!
Chocolate Chip Candy Bar Cookies Recipe
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No reviews
This easy chocolate chip candy bar cookies recipe is a tasty cookie recipe perfect for using leftover holiday candy or candy bought at clearance sales!
- Author: Jill Cooper
- Yield: 2-3 dozen
Ingredients
Units
45 mini Hershey’s candy bars
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 cups all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°.
- Chop the candy bars into chunks a little bigger than chocolate chips.
- Cream butter and sugars in a bowl.
- Beat in eggs and vanilla.
- Add the rest of the ingredients.
- Blend well.
- Fold in candy bar pieces.
- Scoop batter onto a greased cookie sheet with a teaspoon.
- Bake 9-11 minutes until golden.
- Let rest on cookie sheet 2 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Cool completely.
You can make EASY and delicious meals at home in less time than eating out! You’ll save a ton of money on food and your family will thank you!
Click here to get our Dining On A Dime Cookbooks 25% Off NOW! They’re filled with tasty recipes and tips to make your life easier!
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Reader Interactions
Comments
- bindu
Hi
I love to read your newsletters and subscibed to it. The use of Halloween candies is very good.
i just have to remind you the importance of cleaning teeth after eating candies. They can cause cavities on teeth. So it is important for the kids to eat some crunchy fruits like apple, or veggies like celery after having the candies to clean the teeth from the left over sugar on teeth. Eating cheese just before brushing at night is very effective also. Since dental treatments are very expensive, it is nice take preventive measures. Brushing and flossing everyday can save a lot of money in my opinion.Reply
- Rebecca
I am sending a portion of the kids’ haul to my son’s 1st grade teacher to use in her “prize” box. You can also donate those happy meal toys. I can attest to the fact that teachers always appreciate the help.
Reply
- Tawra
Yes, we send a lot of stuff like that too! Usually I can find small toys for the teachers at yard sales for new for pennies. I grab them up when I find a good batch!
Reply
- Denise
a (very slightly) healthier way to use up some mini candy bars (HEY — there’s fruit in there!)
Candy Apple Salad
Freeze mini snickers or other mixed chocolate covered type bars (mars, milky-way, etc.) Break into small pieces.
Cut up apples (peeled or unpeeled, whichever way your kids will eat them) into small cubes.
Fold apples and candy into a container of whipped topping (e.g. cool-whip)You can “flavor” 4-6 apples with just one or two candy bars. Or you can “flavor” a dozen candy bars with one or two apples :-).
Reply
- Jill
Denise,I love caramel and apples so I bet this would be really yummy with snickers kind of like those fancy caramel apples that have been dipped in all kinds of things. Since my apple tree is over producing this year I will have to try this. Thanks.
Reply
- Mary Ann in NC
OK, who REALLY has leftover Halloween candy!! :)
Reply
- Tawra
Yep! That’s what I want to know! We never have any left to make these great recipes! :-)
Reply
- Tanya
I save some of the kids’ candy and use it to decorate gingerbread houses for Christmas.
Reply
- ginger
We keep the suckers and a few other candies in purse and car for emergency wait times. If we find ourselves stuck ‘in the waiting place’. It can help pass the time!
Reply
- Tawra
That’s a great idea on the suckers! I used one today while getting tags on our new car. I didn’t have it but they had one there. I might put them in my purse!
Reply
- grandma
I broke down and actually bought a few candies this year. We don’t get children as we live on a dark street so I just gave up on them a few years ago. We have 3 children next door so we bought some reeses peanut butter cups and a box of doritos nacho chips. Woopie we had one child.
I guess the food bank will get about 60 bags of nacho chips to put in the food hamper.
The reeses things I will keep in the fridge.
Next year anyone who shows up will get a can of co*ke.Reply
- dollyslaffn
Actually, the co*ke was a great idea…an older gentleman in our area used to give them out to the few trick or treaters he had, and my kids loved it…after all that walking they were thirsty!
Reply
- Linda
I save Halloween Candy to give out to ittle kids who dont get much during the year. I give it to them on Thanksgiving and Christmas if not before. Soem kids get very littleand are proud to get it. Candy can also be frozen to use in recipes for up to 1 year.
Reply
- Linda
Take left over candy to the nursing homes. They enjoy it very much.
Reply
- Demetria
http://www.halloweencandybuyback.com/ Check your zip code to see if dentists or orthodontists in your area will buy it from you (they do here in AZ). It gets shipped to military overseas :)
Reply
- Char
Demetria beat me to it. Several of our local dentists (CA) will “buy” your Halloween candy.
Reply
- [emailprotected]
We end up with leftover Halloween candy when we get fewer trick or treaters than expected. I have used it (especially Butterfinger bars) to make cookies that I then took to work. Got the candy used up and out of the house fast!
Reply
- Grizzly Bear Mom
My grandma would have the kids come in to show her their costumes. She gave out dimes instead of candy. YOu can’t get bad teeth or fat on dimes. Not easily anyway!
Reply
- Cindy
We live in the country and have never gotten trick or treaters except for children of friends. We must have saved a fortune in 37 years of marriage! I love the tips for saving on candy but must say that I’ve never seen the “good stuff” on sale in our area.
Reply
- Jan C
I stopped buying candy when my husband passed away. He would eat the leftovers. I now buy small packages of cookies, crackers, and goldfish. If I don’t get a lot of kids, I bring the leftovers to work. My co-workers eat everything in sight.
Reply
- Mary Jane
One year, shortly after Christmas, a local discount store was tossing out boxes and boxes of oversized candy canes. The manager asked if we wanted them for free. Since “free” is our favourite price, we accepted them all. We took them home and broke up the candy and then ground it into a kind of peppermint sugar powder, which I kept in the freezer. It probably would have kept fine on the shelf. We used the sugar to sweeten my husband’s tea and coffee. I used the rest the next Christmas when I made my own candy cane cookies and sugar cookies. Either use it in place of the sugar in the recipe, or dust cookies with a fine layer of the sugar before baking.
Reply
- LindaT
I just wanted to say I don’t have a Kenmore stove(Frigidare), but I did a survey about appliances recently and discovered all my other appliances are Kenmore. And I haven’t had any trouble with them. I had a Maytag washer that was 4-5 years old and a major part went bad. The repair man said their quality wasn’t the same. my previous Maytag lasted 14 years with no repairs. So we got a Kenmore which is going on 17 years.
Reply
- Debbie R
I buy Halloween candy the day after Halloween for next year. It freezes great and taste is great from 1 year to the next. Even the chocolate freezes well. (kit kat, almond joy, etc.) Great way to save money. Good candy is expensive.
Reply
- chocolate makers
Αwesome аrticle.
Reply
- Margaret Mary Myers
I love that idea of having popcorn on hand when the kids get down trick or treating! All sugar can cause blood sugar drops, and it’s good to off-set that with something else. Kudos for such a healthy and “safe” idea!
Reply
- Mary Jane
I love the idea of hiding 24 pieces of candy for each child (from the Hallowe’en stash) and setting it aside to use on your own version of an advent calendar to mark down the days before Christmas. That idea sparks all kinds of others for making advent calendars. Thanks.
Reply
- Mary Jane
I meant to say, that I have made a habit of putting a new toothbrush, and a personal sized tube of toothpaste in my grandkids’ Easter Candy gift bag, as I know there will be lots of candy. I usually put them in the Christmas stockings, too. If my grandkids lived closer and came to trick or treat at my house, I would probably give them toothbrushes and toothpaste in their Hallowe’en bags as well.
Reply
- Grizzly Bear Mom
I HAVE LEFTOVER CANDY! Furthermore I left a bowl of it on my porch, asking kids to take one treat. When I returned there were 20 pieces left. This is the second time this has happened in my suburban neighborhood. Next year I am only purchasing 40 pieces. All Snickers, I hate them so I won’t eat them.
Reply
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