My kitchen counter is piled high with candy. My kids are in the process of sorting it into piles and will make painstaking decisions about which ones to keep in their personal pantry stash, and which ones to give up.
Because, trust me, I am not a “no-candy” mom. But I don’t believe that you’re comprehending the size of this pile. I’m guessing I’ve got somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 pounds. And while my kids will get plenty, they certainly don’t need that much.
But on the other side of the coin, I’m a no-waste mom. I’m not going to just toss everything into the garbage, either. So over the years I’ve found some ways to use up leftover candy in some fun and creative ways.
1. Save it for your gingerbread house at Christmas. Every year we do a fairly elaborate gingerbread house. I put away a lot of our candy to use a decorations. You can use anything, but the best ones are colorful candies: Skittles, M&Ms, Starburst, Gobstoppers, Smarties, and taffies. You can use Tootsie Rolls to make a pretty cute fire pit. Line your walkway with Twizzlers. Hard candies like Jolly Ranchers, Lifesavers, or lollipops are perfect for making sugar windows. This is my FAVORITE way to use up oodles of candy.
2. Bake with it! This is great for a lot of the chocolate-based candies. Just go onto Pinterest and do a search for cookies or bars made with whatever candy bar you have an abundance of. You can even freeze them to get a jump on your holiday baking! Just freeze them in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then stack them in a container once frozen. To defrost, lay them in a single layer on the counter. TIP: If you’ve got a ton of Almond Joy bars to use up, this is the recipe you want. It’s to die for.
3. Make hot chocolate. Have a holiday hot chocolate party or set out a hot chocolate bar on your counter with plain chocolate bars (or, if you’re really lucky, any truffles you’ve got in your candy stash). It’s pretty easy to do; basically just combine milk and melted chocolate and you’ve got a decadent treat.
What’s your favorite way to get rid of extra candy? (Besides eating it, of course.)
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