What to Do With Leftover Halloween Candy

Every year, we’re faced with the same parental dilemma: what to do with the leftover Halloween candy? I know that you can ship candy to the troops overseas, or sell it back to your pediatric dentist, but I’d rather encourage The Assistant to be a little creative with it.

Creative, he is.

He has a Halloween routine. As soon as he walks in the front door, he dumps the entire evening’s stash onto the floor. He divides the candy into piles, tosses the “junk candy” (Laffy Taffy, I’m looking at you), eats two items (his limit, not mine) and then questions me about the various types of chocolates and their viability in baked goods.

Yes. We bake with our Halloween candy.

This year he chose four varieties to test. From best results to worst, the candidates are:

M&Ms (plain and peanut)
Nestle Crunch
Snickers
Baby Ruth

This is why the Baby Ruths are at the bottom of the list:

Sadly, there’s just no good way to keep the ooey-gooey caramel from escaping the confines of the cookie dough. Even if it doesn’t leak out the side, it melts out the bottom.

Live and learn.

Anyway, we chopped up the various candy bars and mixed them into Alton Brown’s The Chewy recipe for chewy chocolate chip cookies. I use a small scoop — mine has no number on it, but it’s 1.25″ diameter, pretty close to this one. At that volume, cookies take approximately 9 minutes to bake.

Please note that it’s important to chill the dough for at least 15 minutes after mixing. Otherwise they spread too much.

Basic Cookie Dough

Print recipe

Serves	60
Prep time	30 minutes
Cook time	45 minutes
Total time	1 hours, 15 minutes
Allergy	Egg, Milk, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Wheat
Meal type	Dessert
Misc	Child Friendly, Freezable, Pre-preparable
Occasion	Christmas, Halloween
Website	Food Network

Using Alton Brown's classic cookie dough, The Chewy, I've updated the recipe to use chopped up Halloween candy. Think beyond the M&Ms and use Snickers or Nestle Crunch for great results.

Ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter, melted (8 ounces)
2.25 cups bread flour (10 ounces)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
.25 cup granulated sugar
1.25 cups brown sugar
1 egg (large)
1 egg yolk (large)
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups chopped candy

Directions

Step 1
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Step 2
In the bowl of your stand mixer, blend melted butter and sugars.
Step 3
In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking soda.
Step 4
In a third bowl, combine wet ingredients: egg, yolk, milk and vanilla.
Step 5
Add wet ingredients to butter mixture. Combine.
Step 6
Gently add flour mixture to wet mixture, periodically scraping the sides of the bowl.
Step 7
Using your scraper, gently mix in your chopped candy bits.
Step 8
Chill dough for at least 15 minutes.
Step 9
Using a small scoop, space cookies at least 2 inches apart. Bake for approximately 9 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Results

The Assistant’s best friend was in the house while baking. If I’d left the kitchen unattended, he’d still be eating. This after he complained, “I don’t like nuts,” but then devoured the Baby Ruth and Snickers versions.

The Assistant said, “I’m kind of bummed about the Baby Ruth, but the Nestle Crunch is WAY better in a cookie than by itself. Everyone should do this.”

I won’t confess to how many I’ve eaten. *ahem*

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