The day after Halloween looks like a candy store blew up around here. Having four kids means four buckets of candy. Is if me or does it seem like those trick-or-treat buckets just keep filling? They seem to be able to fit an infinite amount of candy in them. So, what is a family supposed to do with all this candy when we are also supposed to keep our children healthy and out of the realm of obesity? That seems like a tough thing after such days.
Here is what I do with all the candy after Halloween. Maybe I’m a bit OCD but I think this stuff needs to have it due diligence and a second chance at being delicious. The very first thing I do is separate all the chocolate from the non-chocolate. Chocolate candy can be easily frozen for use throughout the year. It will never go bad this way! It is also super delicious this way.
The second thing I do is separate all the chocolate candy by kind. Yes, I know, this may seem crazy but just stay with me here, it will all come together in the end. I have sandwich sized Ziploc baggies for the candy that we have fewer of and gallon sized Ziploc for the candy that we seem to get a lot of.
Once they are separated into kind, I put them in the freezer for use throughout the year. I will then find and plan recipes for the different kinds of candy. The kinds we ended up with will determine the yumminess of desserts we will enjoy in our future. Here is a list with recipes included of what we have in our freezer after this year’s adventure:
- Snickers – Caramel Apple Salad
- Hershey’s – We use these for S’mores all cold season.
- Butterfinger – Truffles
- Kit Kat – Skillet Cookie
- Almond Joy – Layer Cake
- M&Ms – Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Twix – Twix Blondies
- 3 Musketeers – Fudge Brownies
- Milky Way – Cookie Crumble Bars
- Reese’s – Mini Peanut Butter Cheesecakes
- Milk Duds – Chewy Surprise Cookies
- Whoppers – Hoppin’ Whopper Bars
- Peanut M&Ms – Pretzel Bars
Now, you may ask, what do you do with all those non-chocolate candies? Is there a use for those in a recipe? The answer is yes! Check out these that I have planned:
- Dum Dum Pops – Dessert Cakes
- Skittles or other small candies of the sort, we put in a gumball machine and the kids love doing that. It also helps us earn some money for more things to fill it with.
- Starburst – Cookies
- Laffy Taffy – Whoopie Pies
- Nerds – Milkshakes
- Dots – Christmas Gumdrop Nougat Candy
- Smarties we like to use on Ginger bread houses around Christmas time.
- Twizzlers covered in chocolate because why not?
Did I miss anything? What do you think of the recipes I listed? They sound awfully enticing, don’t they? Which ones sound the best to you? Do you have any other recipes you have tried and would share? If so, comment below and let me know what you like!