Blog: Leftover Halloween Candy Fun Bars

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Every year, like many of you, we have a lot of leftover Halloween candy. While we keep a small amount, most of it we give away. This year, I decided to also bake with some of the leftover candy.

I often make chocolate chip cookies or turn the cookie dough into a cake form, so I used the same chocolate chip cookie cake recipe, eliminated the chocolate chips, and used an assortment of chocolate candy from this year’s stash. 

What’s fun about this recipe is that it’s sort of a mystery as to how it will taste.  You can make it 10 different ways and each time, depending on the candy you use, it will have a different flavor and consistency.  For this recipe, I used Kit Kats, plain and peanut M&M’s, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Crunch, Milky Way, and Oreos. 

Biting into it, you can feel the crunch of the Kit Kat wafers, the chewy caramel of the Milky Way, the peanut butter from the Reese’s and many other textures that are amusing to figure out.

Just be prepared before you bake this because you may get a lot of questions.  What candy are you using?  How long will it take to bake?  When will it be ready?  And the most important… when can we eat it?

Hope everyone had an enjoyable, candy and costume filled Halloween with lots of leftovers! Surprise your family today with this mysterious recipe:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 c firmly packed light-brown sugar
½ c granulated sugar
½ t salt
1 ½ t pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, room temperature
2 c all-purpose flour
½ t baking soda
2 ½ c Halloween candy

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.  Add salt and vanilla, and mix to combine. Add egg, and continue beating until well combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda. Slowly add dry ingredients to butter mixture. Mix on low speed until just combined.

Fold in two cups of candy. Refrigerate for an hour. Transfer mixture into a 9x13 parchment-lined baking dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle with remaining ½ cup of candy. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Once cooled completely, lift the entire cookie bar out of the dish and cut into squares.

Enjoy!