So if you’re like me and Matt, it’s the week after Halloween and you are left with copious amounts of chocolate in your home. We over-bought candy in ratio to the amount of trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood and as a result….were left with the majority of the candy we had purchased.

At first, picking up and eating a piece here and there is fine. Yet after a week of nothing but candy….I’m ready to scream!

But it’s alright, over-buying of Halloween candy seems to be a yearly tradition that all of us appear to go through. (And there’s only so many days in a row that one can grab for a Kit-Kat or Snickers without getting bored.) It reminded me of Thanksgiving, and how at Thanksgiving after we stuff our faces silly, the leftovers need to be “re-invented” in a way so that food is not wasted.

So with our large plastic bowl filled with all the candy that one can imagine, and as the baker in our house, I got to thinking about ways to make the candy move in more creative ventures….and that’s when I decided to make Halloween Candy Cookies.

Using the same recipe that we have to make Chocolate Chip cookies, Matt and I substituted the chocolate chips for M&Ms with chopped up pieces of Snickers and Milky Ways.

And the results? Absolutely delicious!

The caramel oozed out of the cookie just perfectly. And the nougat proved to melt just right into the batter, coupled with that crunch of peanut and candy shell. What we were left with was cookies….as Emeril would say….kicked up a notch!

So if you’re like me and you find that Halloween has left you with more chocolate than Willy Wonka….don’t be afraid to put that candy to good use and bake with it! Cookies, brownies, cupcakes, cheesecake–you name it, I’m sure you can (and will) find a great use for that candy!

And if you’re like me, already planning what to do with your children’s candy. (Or in my case: future children’s….when we’re ready. I sense bargaining in future years.)

Enjoy! (And happy baking!)

~Jenny V