Leftover Halloween candy. Ugh! (Does Halloween candy expire?) Here’s how you can sell your candy, make leftover Halloween candy recipes, cookies and bars, do some candy science and crafts, learn where to donate leftover Halloween candy, and more! Whether you have leftover fun size candy bars or wondering what to do with leftover lollipops, we’ve got you covered (and it doesn’t even involve binging on it)!
What can you do with leftover Halloween candy?
Halloween is over and you’re looking at that big bag of leftover Halloween candy sitting on the table and thinking, “What are we ever going to do with all that crap?” No matter how much you love your favorite candy for Halloween, you’re probably not going to eat it all…
15 Ideas for Leftover Halloween Candy
How do you get rid of Halloween candy?
- Sell the leftover candy.
- Donate Halloween candy to local organizations.
- Freeze it.
- Bake with the candy and make leftover Halloween candy cookies!
- Keep it. (Candy has a long shelf life!)
- Cook with the candy.
- Make Halloween candy pie (or other recipes using leftover Halloween candy!).
- Save those candy corns for Thanksgiving decorating and baking.
- Use the Halloween candy for decorations.
- Donate leftover Halloween candy to our troops.
- Make theme party drinks with them.
- Bake a cake with leftover Halloween candy.
- Do candy science.
- Make candy crafts.
- Throw it out.
(See the full list and details below, including where to take leftover Halloween candy if you don’t want it!)
Can I save leftover Halloween candy for next year?
Candy can be stored in an airtight container (like a resealable plastic bag) and frozen for a up to a year. If you want to save your leftover Halloween candy to bake with or use in projects over the next year, store it in the freezer and be sure to date the bag for expiration.
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What To Do With Leftover Hard Candy
If you’re wondering what to do with leftover lollipops or hard candies, try:
- Bake stained glass cookies
- Make candy bark
- Add to teas or hot cocoa
- Decorate gingerbread houses with them
- Make candy apples with them
- Grind them up for a whipped cream topping for drinks and desserts
- Use it for stocking stuffers or in advent calendars
- Make treat bags and donate them for kids in a shelter
- Hand them out on kindness cards
- Look up a hard candy recipe and cook with them
What To Do With Old Chocolate Bars
Wondering what to do with leftover chocolate or leftover Halloween candy bars?
- Make hot chocolate
- Shave or chop and add to whipped cream for desserts or drink toppings
- Make a chocolate syrup or sauce for ice cream
- Add to icing
- Make milkshakes
- Make ice cream toppings
- Add to brownies (candy bar brownies), cookies or cookie bars
- Decorate gingerbread houses
OK!
Ready for leftover Halloween candy ideas (aside from just getting this cute pumpkin jar, filling it with the candy, and then eating it until it’s gone?)?
We’ll go into more detail on the creative ways you can whittle away at that mound of sugar starting right after Halloween.
Let’s get to those unique ways to use leftover Halloween candy!
What To Do With Leftover Halloween Candy
Tips for Using Candy Leftover from Halloween or Holidays
1. Sell your leftover Halloween candy.
Many local dental offices participate in “buy back” programs where you can get coupons to local businesses, fun items or even cash.
Check out the Halloween Candy Buy Back site to find dentists near you participating in the program.
2. Donate your leftover Halloween candy.
Yes, treat or treat candy donations are a thing!
Call your local homeless shelters, women’s shelters, or even nursing homes to see if they would like the candy.
For many staying in those places, candy will be a nice treat that they don’t often spend money on as a splurge.
Who takes leftover Halloween candy?
- Children’s hospitals
- Women’s shelters
- Homeless shelters
- Nursing homes
- Deployed soldiers and troops overseas (Check out Operation Gratitude or Soldiers’ Angels)
- Ronald McDonald House Charities
You can also search where to donate leftover Halloween candy near me and see if anything comes up! This is one of my favorite uses for leftover Halloween candy!
3. Store the Halloween candy or freeze it.
How long can you keep Halloween candy?
Did you know candy usually has a pretty long shelf life, sometimes between six months to one year. Store your candy and it will keep for many months!
How do you store leftover Halloween candy?
If you plan on keeping your Halloween candy, it should be stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place (like in the pantry) or even freeze Halloween candy leftovers!
If you’re wondering can you freeze leftover Halloween candy, the answer is YES!
Freezing Halloween candy:
That’s right, most candy will freeze just fine to keep for later dates and extend candy life well past the expiration date. Just be aware that when freezing chocolate that it often has light discoloration to it. That’s completely normal and is still fine to eat.
The freezing method will also help you to monitor candy consumption. It’s easier for kids (or you) to eat three Snickers out of a bag then to wait for the same three to thaw before you eat them. (BONUS!)
4. Cook or bake with the Halloween candy.
There are so many great recipes out there for using Halloween candy — from candy bars to Red Hots and even those traditional candy corns.
Try the Snickers Salad, turkey cookies for Thanksgiving, or search the internet for recipes using the kind of candy you have left.
Ideas on what to make with leftover Halloween candy:
- Snickers Salad with Apples
- Brownies with leftover halloween candy – almost any Halloween leftovers are good in brownies (M&Ms, Nerds, chopped up candy bars, etc.)
- Leftover Halloween candy bark
- Leftover Halloween Candy blondies (or brownies)
- Milky Way recipe ideas
- Crazy Confetti Compost Cookies (where you can use Halloween candy bars and pretzels or any other candy leftovers to bake cookies with leftover Halloween candy!)
- Candy Corn ButterFingers
…Or many other desserts using leftover Halloween candy!
5. Decorate with the candy.
With upcoming holidays, you will have plenty of opportunities to use the candy for homemade baking gifts and decorations.
- Use candy corn for Thanksgiving decorations.
- Tie candy onto Christmas presents for decoration.
- Use the candy as hot chocolate drink bar garnishes at parties.
- Decorate gingerbread houses.
- Use the candy as decorating options at cookie decorating parties.
Just sort out (or unwrap) the ones that are in traditional Halloween black and orange and go from there.
And, believe me, a box of Nerds can make an awesome cookie or gingerbread house decoration. No one will even guess they are from Halloween.
6. Make party drinks with candy.
Look, why are the kids the only ones who get to have fun?
You can use leftover candy to make or garnish yummy adult drinks (or even “virgin” drinks for kids) for your holiday parties.
Have a ton of leftover suckers?
Make the Tootsie Pop drink, unwrap a sucker and then plop it right in the drink for garnish.
(Works the same with Jolly Ranchers or Sweet Tarts.)
Or, try the Liquid Snickers drink, cut up a Snickers bar and put on the rim of the glass as a garnish.
Make Candy Corn Punch for kids.
Get some of those candy corn pumpkins? Garnish a Pumpkin Face Smoothie with them!
Get creative!
7. Do candy science or kitchen science.
Sneak in some STEM learning with your leftover candy.
(Really! These make for fun leftover Halloween candy activities!)
Start here with candy experiments:
8. Make candy crafts.
When all else fails make some candy crafts or candy art.
Check out:
9. Throw it out.
For real.
Stop feeling guilty about throwing out Halloween candy.
Better to just get rid of it now than four months from now.
PS: If you’re wondering what to do with leftover Easter candy or Christmas candy (or any other candy holiday), you can use these tips, too!
(You can donate easter candy and Christmas candy just as easy as Halloween candy!)
Do you have creative ways to get rid of leftover Halloween candy that we didn’t mention?
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