Putting All that Halloween Candy to Use

Every kid rejoices over the sight of an overflowing Trick-or-Treat bag, but what are you supposed to do when you child comes home with more candy than she can possibly eat, or at the very least more candy than you want her to eat?

Read on to learn about several ways you can turn a Halloween overabundance into a year of tasty savings.

Hard candies- With all of the candy bars and other goodies in your child’s bag, hard candies aren’t likely to get much notice. To keep these Halloween rejects from getting wasted, simply gather them up, and save them for use on this year’s gingerbread house. Extra Skittles and Tootsie Rolls can also be saved for this purpose.

Peppermints- Peppermint candies may seem ho hum in October, but they are a ho ho holiday delight in December. Save all of the peppermint candies out of your child’s Trick-or-Treat bag, then crush them up, and use the pieces in your holiday cookies or as a festive topping on your cakes. You can even use them to decorate chocolate covered pretzel rods for gift-giving.

Chocolate bars- Plain Hershey’s bars aren’t likely to make you child’s list of top picks when there are more exotic candy bars to be had. To prevent them from going to waste, just tuck them away for use in s’mores. They’re sure to get rave reviews on your next camping trip.

M&M’s- Halloween just wouldn’t be Halloween without classics like M&M’s, but what are you supposed to do with a surplus of this melt in your mouth goodness? Use them for trail mix of course. Just grab some peanuts and raisins from your pantry, and add in a few fun size packs of M&M’s for a budget-friendly trail mix.

If you still have more M&M’s to put to use, mix up a few batches of M&M cookie dough, and stick the dough logs in the freezer until you need them. This will be a great time saver when you have to make a last minute batch of cookies for a party or meeting.

Road trips- Holiday and vacation travel can really take a bite out of a budget, and while you can’t do much to dodge the expense of gas and lodging, you can cut back on your food costs by bringing along a stash of snacks from home. Peek inside your child’s overflowing Trick-or-Treat bag, and you’ll find many road-worthy snacks—candy bars, crackers, gum and more!

Look at your child’s Halloween abundance with a creative eye, and you’ll find lots of ways to put all of that extra candy to use.