What to do with Too Much Halloween Candy

by Dorothy Reinhold on November 1, 2012


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My kids will tell you there is no such thing as too much Halloween candy, but I beg to differ.

Even after we parents take our “candy tax” and the kids gorge themselves, there’s still a staggering tower of sweets staring us down. 

This year’s haul for the man-cub was 9.6 pounds. That’s for one 10-year-old, going out for 2-ish hours. I am not kidding; we weighed it.

categorized candyHere’s a quick shot of the haul after his sister categorized and organized it. Amazing what kids can do when they are motivated, eh? Wish she would apply that skill to her room.

Zombie surfer with a shark bite

Zombie surfer bitten by a shark.

What should you do with your haul after you have made yourself sick eating little candy bars?

There are loads of ideas floating around for ways to use up your leftover Halloween candy. Here are the ones that caught my eye:

1. Witch’s Brew Hot Chocolate. This is similar to my Nutella Hot Chocolate — same method — and allows for infinite personalization.

2. Magical Marvelous Cookies use at least 1 cup of chopped candy. Read the rave comments for these.

Katie and Hillary costumes

Tweedledee and Tweedledum!

3. Sweet Dreams Pie. A candy bar pie? Sounds good to me! Three cups of chopped up treats go into this sweet beauty!

4. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookies. Extra pb cups? This recipe has only two ingredients. Guess what one of them is?

5. Candy Bark. Repurpose by chopping up the Fun-Size bars and making your own candy bark to give away. This would be great for the December holidays, so consider tossing the Halloween leftovers in your freezer until it is time to make December gifts from your kitchen.

6. Freeze it. Consider portioning it in assorted bunches, packing in a zipper-top plastic bags, and tossing those in the freezer for a future candy-less week.

7. Gingerbread house. Save it for a month and use to decorate your gingerbread house. You won’t have to buy candy for it.

toothbrush and candy

In a sea of sugar loot, the dentist in our neighborhood makes a welcome statement!

{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }

bookes August 29, 2022 at 5:00 pm

Why are you eating that much candy

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Dorothy Reinhold August 29, 2022 at 5:53 pm

Bookes,
If you have kids and they trick-or-treat, invariably you get a big sack of candy in the house on Halloween night. You can repurpose some of it in other recipes, and you can donate it to whichever shelter will take it, or sell it to your dentist (many have buyback programs), etc.

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Judy P November 16, 2012 at 8:49 am

Seriously? Who has candy left?

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Diabetic Snacker Reviews November 2, 2012 at 5:56 pm

Since candy will keep for a long long time why not let them keep a lot of it, just limit to say 1 piece a day. You won’t have to buy candy for a long time. You can also put it in the food processor & make sprinkles for cookies,ice cream, sundaes,smoothies. Let them make some small blizzard’s & have some fun.

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Dorothy November 3, 2012 at 2:37 pm

Diabetic Snacker,
You’re right, candy does keep for a long time. I think for many, if not most, parents, the issue is that if the bag of candy is staring at your kids, it is extremely difficult to limit to 1 piece per day. And frankly, many of us adults have a hard time staying away from it, too. So the sooner we get it out of the house, the better for the whole family!

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Laura @ Mommy Run Fast November 2, 2012 at 12:36 pm

Great tips! I’ve also heard that some dentists will buy candy from kids, although with a 2 yo we didn’t get crazy amounts. She tired out pretty fast!

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Dorothy November 3, 2012 at 2:38 pm

Laura,
Yes, as your kid gets older and your haul gets bigger, check with dentists in your area and see if they accept your extra candy. Our elementary school also takes it, for redistribution to troops overseas.

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Arvind November 22, 2012 at 7:17 am

We live in Texas now, but when we first moved to Northern California in ’91, when took our daughter trick-or-treating on a swank sertet in Palo Alto. One house not only gave her a full-sized Snickers bar, but the owners insisted that we each take one too. Because free food is the best food (and large quantities of free food is better still), the experience left an impression.We’ve been the full-sized candy bar people for several years, and let me tell you .you get famous fast. Kids gleefully respond to the weighty thud of a big 3 Musketeers or a two-pack of Reese’s PB Cups, and that’s fun. At our previous house in Texas, we’d keep it to 50 pieces, which took care of just about everyone who showed up by about 8:30. Then it was lights out.But a few months ago, we moved to a new town and a neighborhood that reportedly gets swamped with kids. Word is that you go through 300 pieces in the first two hours here. So I trekked to Costco and bought bags of fun-size bars .455 of them all told. I guess our full-size candy bar days are over. Sigh.BTW, it’s usually just the older kids (pre-teens, etc.), who try to come back and get another piece. They’ll swap masks with a friend or something. Didn’t happen often to us, but if you suspect someone is double-dipping, ask them nicely if they’re making a second visit. Some actually admit it, believe it or not. Kind of restores your faith in humanity.Have fun! And Happy Halloween!

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Sabrina Covington, RD November 1, 2012 at 3:44 pm

You can also donate your candy to http://www.candybuyback,org

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Dorothy November 1, 2012 at 4:41 pm

Sabrina,
Thanks! Readers, candybuyback.org lists places in San Diego, Calif. that buy back your child’s excess candy and donate it for our troops overseas.

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Deena @ stay at home FOODIE November 1, 2012 at 3:17 pm

Love these ideas!! We gorge ourselves on Super Dupers (ice cream strategically studded with candy and pretzels).

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