When Halloween parties give way to the Sunday scaries and the perfectly-curated costumes find their way back into storage boxes, one sweet holiday treat remains — leftover Halloween candy. From young trick-or-treaters fresh off their parade around the Lawn to University students helping themselves to an assorted fun-size mix from the Corner CVS, it seems that nearly everyone winds up with a pile of extras haunting the kitchen counter. But fear not — there are many delicious desserts you can make that will save you from the monotony of snacking on the same leftover candies you’ve had all season. Here are three of my favorites.
Halloween Candy Concrete
The first fun dish is a Halloween Candy Concrete bringing a cool twist to leftover treats. Combining the timeless crowd favorites of vanilla ice cream and chocolate candy, this dessert is perfect for anything from a chill night with friends to a post-Halloween study session. Since it takes fewer than 20 minutes to make, this dish is also my go-to after I’ve had a long day of class or meetings around Grounds and need a low-effort sweet treat.
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Yields: 6-8 servings
Ingredients:
- ½ gallon tub of your preferred vanilla ice cream (I prefer Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla or Breyer’s French Vanilla)
- Leftover chocolate halloween candy — Twix bars, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and M&Ms, to name a few.
- Optional: caramel or chocolate sauce
Instructions:
- Remove the ice cream from the freezer, and let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes to soften.
- While the ice cream sits, cut the leftover chocolate halloween candy into smaller pieces (1.5-2 inches long) if they are not already “fun size.”
- Put the pieces of candy into a blender. Utilize the “pulse” button to blend the candy in short increments until it is to your desired topping size — usually 4-6 one-second pulses works best. If you do not have access to a blender, simply chop the candy pieces to your desired size using a knife.
- Scoop the softened ice cream into a large mixing bowl. Pour the blended or chopped candy pieces into the mixing bowl, and fold them into the ice cream with a spoon.
- If including caramel or chocolate sauce, drizzle the sauce over the top of the ice cream mixture, and fold it in along with the candy.
- Scoop ice cream mixture into smaller bowls and serve. Place any leftovers in the freezer.
Boo Bark
The next dessert sure to spice up your leftover candy stash is a sweet-and-salty “Boo” Bark complete with pretzels, Halloween candy and plenty of extra chocolate. This dish is an ideal on-the-go snack for when you’re catching up on all the work you procrastinated during Halloweekend or to satisfy your sweet tooth while you get some post-holiday rest.
Prep time: 50 minutes
Yields: 15-20 servings
Ingredients:
- 12-oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Leftover chocolate Halloween candy, ideally with a “crunch” for texture — KitKats, Peanut or Crispy M&Ms, Twix Bars, Butterfingers and more.
- 12-oz bag of pretzels or pretzel sticks
- Optional: Halloween-colored sprinkles (green, purple, orange) to make the candy bark more colorful.
Instructions:
- Place a sheet of parchment paper on a medium-large rimmed baking sheet (approximately 13x18 inches to 15x21 inches).
- Cut the leftover Halloween candies into smaller 1/2-2 inch pieces with a knife if they are not already “fun-sized.” Place the chopped Halloween candy into a bowl.
- Break the pretzels or pretzel sticks into halves or thirds, and add them into the bowl with the Halloween candy.
- Pour the chocolate chips into a separate microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second increments until the chocolate is completely melted and able to be stirred as a liquid. Check after each 30-second increment to ensure that the chocolate doesn’t burn.
- Pour the melted chocolate chips onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and spread with a spatula. The melted chocolate layer should be roughly a quarter-inch thick and evenly spread throughout the pan.
- Quickly scatter the pretzel and candy mixture onto the melted chocolate before it solidifies. Any leftover pretzel and candy mixture that doesn’t fit on the candy bark, depending on baking sheet size, can be stored in the pantry as a snack for another time.
- If using sprinkles, scatter them throughout the empty spaces of melted chocolate to add pops of color to the candy bark.
- Place the baking sheet in the fridge until the melted chocolate solidifies, roughly 30-35 minutes.
- Remove the hardened candy bark and cut it into jagged pieces of varying sizes. The candy bark can also be cut into evenly-sized squares, but I think the irregular shapes make the dish more interesting and better reflect the spooky energy of Halloween.
- Place on a plate or platter and serve.
Monster Cookies
Last but certainly not least, monster cookies are a catch-all dessert for your leftover candy that you simply can’t miss. While they are the most complicated treats to bake in this list, these monster cookies combine classic Halloween candies, chewy-textured oats and rich notes of peanut butter in a deliciously chaotic way that makes the prep work worth it. The additions of oats and peanut butter also make this dessert a solid snack in between classes or other daily activities, closing out this lineup with a well-rounded dish.
Prep time: 45 minutes
Yields: approximately 24 large cookies
Ingredients:
- Leftover chocolate Halloween candy (but none with nougat, like Milky Way or 3 Musketeers, because it does not melt well) — Twix bars, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, M&Ms, etc.
- 2 cups softened butter
- 4 cups brown sugar
- 4 cups white sugar
- 12 eggs
- 8 teaspoons baking soda
- 6 cups peanut butter
- 18 cups quick oats
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the white sugar, brown sugar and softened butter in a large mixing bowl. Mix the three ingredients together until the mixture is smooth — no chunks of sugar or butter should remain.
- Add the eggs to the cream mixture, and beat them in with a whisk until they are fully integrated.
- Add vanilla and corn syrup to the cream and mix until they are fully integrated.
- Add peanut butter to the cream and mix until it is fully integrated — no chunks of peanut butter should remain.
- In a separate bowl, combine the baking soda and quick oats.
- Add the baking soda and quick oats to the cream mixture and stir well. This is the dough for the monster cookies.
- Cut the leftover halloween candies into smaller 1/2-1 inch pieces. Fold candy into the dough until it appears evenly distributed.
- Place a sheet of parchment paper on a large baking sheet (approximately 15x21 inches).
- Place 2.5 inch diameter balls of dough on the baking sheet. Press the balls down to make cookies that are approximately ½ inch thick.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies may appear “undercooked,” but that is how they should look.
- Let the cookies sit for 15-30 minutes on a cooling rack then serve.
Finally, if none of these desserts strike your fancy, and you prefer to ghost your leftover Halloween treats, extra candy can be donated to American troops serving abroad through Troopathon, Operation Shoebox or Soldiers’ Angels. These care packages offer a little taste of home to service members as they forego Halloween festivities at home to keep our country safe.
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