Use excess Halloween candy as cookie ingredients

Excess Halloween candy. Is there any other kind?

Jeff's hack won't exactly reduce the sugar consumption in your house, but perhaps you can bake up a few batches and freeze them for the holidays? Or foist them on your coworkers? Even better: arrange to bring treats to a local hospital, shelter or retirement home.

For the last 2 years, I have used excess Halloween candy to make cookies.  Just take your favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe, and in place of (or in addition to) the chocolate chips, use your extra Smarties, M&Ms, and mini chocolate bars (just chop up the latter beforehand).  Depending on how many kinds of treats you have to work with, each cookie may be a surprise as to exactly what's in it.

More: Halloween hacks

Comments

[Jamie]

I do this when I make "monster cookies". The kids love them!

[Neha]

Thanks for this fantastic tip!! I used milky ways just to experiment and these cookies might have been my biggest hit :-)

[Swistle]

Heh-LO, baking day.

[Monkey'sMom]

Remember that Smarties in Britain are made of chocolate, similar to M&M's. Smarties in the US are just sugar, like SweeTarts without the Tart. Cookies with British Smarties = yum, cookies with US Smarties = too much sugar!

Thank you Monkey's, I couldn't figure out why that smarties reference was supposed to sound delicious! All I could imagine were awful cookies with little chalky sweet candy bits in them -- yuck!

[ann at mommysecrets]

Many stores have their Halloween candy marked down to 75% off, so you can use this great hack idea with some great deals on chocolate.

We also bake brownie mixes with chocolate candy bars in the middle of pan - they're super yummy & gooey!

[Kelly]

What a great idea!

[Dale]

So, let me get this straight. You have too much sugar in the form of candy. So you add sugar and refined flour to double or triple the amount of empty calories for your family to consume. Nope. This gets a thumbs down.

How about just throwing it out? It's easy, and fast. And you don't have to pick through and get the wrappers and half-eaten stuff out, as you would if you donated it. And if you donate it, what you are saying is "hey, I don't want my kids to get diabetes, but I don't care about you".

Let your kids gorge for a few days, then throw the rest out. Start young and they will accept that's the way it is.

[Andy]

@Dale.

Why not go one step further and just stop your kids from trick or treating? That way you save money on the costume, you don't bother the neighbors and you don't have to throw anything out. Sounds like a win-win.

[renee]

If you are in the US (and are not putting Smarties in your cookies), recall that Halloween falls a few days before Election Day, when, at least in my town, the PTO has a huge, all-day bake sale. Thus, you can pass your candy on in the form of baked goods to childless, candy-deprived voters.