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25 Things to Do With Leftover Halloween Candy
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Use It in the Kitchen:
Throughout the year, add it to milkshakes, sundaes, ice cream and plain cookie dough. (For a quick milkshake, add mini Butterfinger or Snickers bars to ice cream or frozen yogurt and milk—maybe even throw a banana in there, too!)
Bake it into cakes
Try peanut butter cup cookies or brownies with fun size candy bars inside. Or just put it on top of cakes and cupcakes, or stir it into icing. (For more great recipes see Recipe Goldmine.)
DIY trail mix
Open bags of little candies like M&Ms and make your own trail mix by adding pretzels, nuts and dried fruit.
Bring it to the Thanksgiving table
Remember how your mom used to make yams with marshmallows? Try using leftover candy corn.
Pair it with wine
The chocolate, caramel, nuttiness of Snickers go great with tawny ports and the cookie-like Twix goes well with a smooth Scotch, suggests StarChefs.com, among other ideas.
Make homemade flavored vodka
Just drop it in a bottle and let it soak for awhile to make your own homemade, creatively flavored alcohol.
Put chocolates into your coffee
This makes for a quick and easy mocha.
Keep some in your purse
Save it for when you need a sugar fix—or your kid needs to be bribed (we won’t tell!).
Use it to wrap gifts
Save pretty wrappers to decorate boxes, or garnish boxes with candies. Try stuffing it in gift bags in lieu of tissue paper, or put it inside coffee mugs or any other gifts that could use some filling.
Make an advent calendar for November
Put candy in Dixie cups and cover with tissue. On the tissue, write numbers 1-30, and place the cups sideways on a large poster board to form a calendar. Let kids punch through the tissue to get their treat each day. For more detailed instructions and photos, check out Alphamom.com.
Use it as a learning tool
Let kids practice counting or do their math homework with little Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or Hershey’s Kisses.
Turn it into a science experiment
Kimberly Crandell, a mom of three with an aeronautical engineering degree, came up with 10 ways to turn leftover candy into a learning experience. Check out her super-smart ideas on science20.com.
Use it for holiday décor.
- Save and use next year for a Halloween wreath.
- Use it to make super-sweet Christmas ornaments.
- Save it for decorating a gingerbread house.
- Use the wrappers for Christmas cards or decoupage.
Use it for your kid's birthday party.
- Make a board game and use the candy as playing pieces.
- Create DIY candy necklaces.
- Stuff it into a piñata.
Give It Away:
Bring it into the office.
It will disappear in no time.
Send it overseas
Groups like Operation Shoebox, which supports our troops, will gladly take donations.
Let your kids make a care package and send it to their grandparents
Your parents (most likely) were not running around the neighborhood begging for treats in a witch hat, like your kids were.
- Hallie Burton