Things to do with leftover holiday candy

[flash]

It's that time of year...after Halloween and Christmas, and before Valentine's and Easter...but before you send off all the left over candy to work, here are a few alternatives:

The easy options:
if it doesn't LOOK like a specific holiday candy, save it for the next holiday.

Along those lines, if you like to "decorate" your home with holiday candy, a bowl of a single color makes much more impact, so consider dividing colors with the season...Halloween foils are gold and orange, the orange can be put into a separate bowl for Thanksgiving, while the gold goes nicely almost any time. Red from Christmas goes into Red for Valentines, Green is nice for spring along with the leftover pink from Valentines, etc.

Fill individual goodie bags/holiday ziplocs, etc for the next holiday parties your kids will need to bring goodies for

Toss a few foil covered chocolates into your gift baskets for a special touch.

If it has shelf life, save it for the next holiday (Halloween goes into Christmas stockings, Christmas goes into candy hearts or Easter baskets)

It's also tedious, but you can rewrap any candy in holiday foil wrapping paper.

If you like to bake:
if it's chocolate or bar, like Snickers or anything choppable, chop it up into chocolate chip size pieces and use like chocolate chips with your favorite cookie dough (oatmeal, chocolate chip, brownies, blondies).

You can also use the chopped candy bars (and it can be frozen once chopped), as the chip layer in magic bars, or other layer bars, sprinkle on muffings, use as the filling in cinnamon rolls (or just sprinkle on top of Pillsbury's, etc.), in quick breads, cakes, etc. Top of ice cream. You get the idea. Adds a special touch to almost anything.

You can also melt chocolate type items down in a double boiler (or microwave, but I tend to burn it that way), add additional chocolate or whatever, and repour into fresh candy. If you add coconut or nuts to thicken it up, make balls. Let them cool, use as is or roll in cocoa, chopped nuts, coconut...

For taffy like items, you can also melt in a double boiler, you might need to add a bit of Karo or water, depending on what it is (if you do, bring it to at least a soft ball boil), then dump in flavoring like almond or peanut extract, nuts, whatever, and either pull like taffy or pour into a greased pan and cut when cool. A bit difficult to describe, but you get the idea.


Almost anything that will melt can be chopped up and added to Rice Krispie bars, popcorn balls, melted and drizzled over popcorn, etc. (Brandy and other liquor are often used for "grown up" Rice Krispie bars, too)



Chocolate-- chop up and freeze, use as strusel or filling in muffins, bundt cakes, top cakes for school events, make cookies, etc. It will "bloom" in the freezer, but it doesn't matter if you bake with it, any way you would use chocolate chips. Truffles make make nice surprises in cupcakes and muffins, just push them into the middle. Kids will love them. Valentines day is coming, everyone will be back to eating treats!

Jelly beans, freeze them, then process them to chop into small bits than can again be used as decoration or additions.


Chocolate Chocolate can be frozen, but not for simple storage. The cocoa butter will separate out, causing the chocolate to "bloom" a gray foam solid on the exterior. The chocolate won't be as smooth, and kids will likely say ICK (yes, really). But, you can freeze it to use in baking.

Chocolate also melts nicely into plain oatmeal or other hot cereal, and adds flavor, sweetness, and is less expensive than purchase a chocolate flavor oatmeal pouch.


If all else fails, take it to a woman's shelter. There are usually children who would love the treat.

[niftyneon99]

throw it away or I'll eat it all and get really really fat!

[bluechicken]

So, I just saw candy canes on sale for $.22. Can these be saved for next Christmas? Or how about chopped up and frozen for next Christmas? I'm not sure I want to store them that long . . . so maybe chopped up and used in white choclate bark for valentines day . . . but I'm really thinking about next christmas. Any idea how long they stay good?

[hopeky94]

I think candy canes would be pretty shelf-stable for a long while, as long as you keep them in a cool place so they won't melt all over everything! As far as I know, they're basically made out of sugar, peppermint flavoring, and food coloring, so I don't see anything there that would go bad anytime soon... please correct me if I'm wrong! :)

I know I've kept some from year to year, just to use for decorating, and they still look just as good...

[collectorofbells]

as long as you keep them wrapped in the original box and keep them in a cool and dry place they are good!

we do this every year!

[flash]

I hope you got in on the deal! Our stores are just starting the deep discounts on candy canes, believe it or not!

Keep them DRY, and they will last several years. Don't freeze or refrigerate them.

You can crush them and toss them on top of chocolate cookies or brownies...yum!

[hopeky94]

Oh, and don't forget about using one to stir your hot chocolate! :) I always just leave it in the hot chocolate after stirring so it will keep giving adding of its yumminess to my cup!

Also, my family LOVES to make peppermint ice cream. We normally just crush the regular peppermint disks (35 for a small freezer, 50 for a larger one- put them in a sturdy ziploc bag and tap them with a hammer or meat tenderizer thingy), but I'd think candy canes would work just as well, once you figure out the proportions! The peppermint doesn't have to be in tiny pieces, as they dissolve pretty well if the biggest pieces are about the size of Nerds candy (sorry, couldn't think of a better comparison! LOL). Then just add those to the same stuff you'd use to make vanilla ice cream (although I'd love to try it in chocolate- LOL) and freeze as normal. It turns out a nice shade of pink, and it's pretty rich, which is great when you have a bunch of folks around who all want a bowl! :P

[TheWoman]

We never had luck keeping candy canes year to year, they always got chewy. Maybe that was because of the humid Iowa weather. Maybe I should try again where I live now.