12 Ways to Use Up Leftover Halloween Candy!

Halloween might be over, but it is not forgotten at the Frugal Upstate household. Despite the fact that we get over 200 trick or treaters a year, we still somehow wound up with leftover candy and the perennial question: “What do we do with leftover Halloween Candy?!”

I asked my friends on Twitter and we came up with 12 great ideas for using up leftover Halloween candy:

1. Save it for your holiday gingerbread houses (via VisitFingerLake)

2. Freeze it for later.

3. Add a cup at a time to rice crispy squares (via Jeremy Wright). If it’s chocolate or easily meltable let the mix cool a bit first

4. Chop and roll candy apples into crushed candy.

5.  Chop and use as icecream topping or as a decorative/tasty topping for an iced cake.

6.  Toss into homemade trail mix.

7. Chop and mix into brownies. Peppermint Patties or any chocolates/candy bars are especially good.

8. Make Molten Candy Cookies. Just take chocolate chip cookie or sugar cookie dough and wrap a ball around a mini chocolate bar.

9.  Make Leftover Candy Cake.

10. Make Chocolate Candy Corn Cookies (via Feels Like Home)

11. Donate the extra candy to a rehab center (via MommyBlogExpert) a nursing home (via backhomeagain) or a shelter (via luciagia)

12. Sell it to your dentist (via KingdomFirstMom and jodirotondo). Really! There is a program called “Halloween Candy Buy Back” that many dentists participate in.

So what do you do with your leftover candy. . . besides eat it!

Quick & Easy Halloween Treat~Halloween Hands!

Need something for a classroom full of kids, but don’t want to spend a fortune?  Why not try making Halloween Hands?  All you need is some popcorn, candy corn, plastic disposable gloves & bag ties:

Need some more last minute ideas? How about these!

Witches Hat Cookies (super easy & cute-no baking!)

Eyeball Cupcakes

Spider Cupcakes

Spider Ring Cupcakes (I used this idea last year w/skull rings!)

Halloween Traditions-Trick ‘o Treating and Pumpkin Carving

I’m one of those people who just loves traditions. We have traditions for Christmas, Birthdays, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Labor Day and yes, Halloween*!

For Halloween, it’s all about the trick ‘o treating (of course) and the Jack ‘o Lantern.

For Trick O Treating, we go simple. We set a pattern the first Halloween in this town 4 years ago that has turned into a tradition. Here is how we do it:

The area of town we live in is EXTREMELY popular for trick ‘o treating-we are talking HUNDREDS of kids. If we tried to buy candy for all those kids (really, we are the area of town other neighboring towns drive their kids to) So we buy 3 bags, Yankee Bill mans the door and gives it away till it runs out. I take the kiddos, swing by my MIL’s house to show off the costumes, then go to our friends smaller, quieter neighborhood to pound the pavement.

Yankee Bill locks up the house and heads up to our friends house to drink a couple of brews with the guys till us moms return with the kiddos. Then we all hang out, try to get the kiddos to eat something not made of solid sugar, and enjoy the rest of the evening family party style.

For the Jack ‘o Lanterns, well we carve our pumpkins (we usually do at least 2) a few days before Halloween. In our house, the tradition is that the kids get to be the designers-we have them draw a face on paper and then Yankee Bill replicates it on the pumpkin with a sharpie.

Yankee Bill is in charge of the knife and sharp pointy things but the kiddos are required to help scoop out all the guts-which I clean and roast with some soy sauce in the oven. Yum!

We tend to go with the classic-triangle eyes and nose, a toothy grin. If you are a little more adventurous you could try using a Jack O Lantern template for something more original. Or you could try this fabulous idea from Martha Stewart-paint your pumpkin BLACK before carving. Check out the link-it really looks cool!

So what are YOUR Halloween traditions? Whatever they are, I hope you and your family have a happy, safe Halloween this year.

Photos by Therapycatgaurdian and GoneMissing

*Note: I realize that some readers may not celebrate Halloween. We do, and this article simply reflects our family traditions. If you don’t-I respect that. Let’s just agree to disagree.

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