What to Do with Leftover Halloween Candy Instead of Throwing Away?

It's easy to wind up with TONS of extra candy between trick-or-treating, spooky movie nights, and more come October. 

In fact, we’re all about that sugar rush in October, but as the holiday passes, we get less and less interested in our cache of candies. So what to do with leftover Halloween candy?

With that in mind, we've put together a list of solutions that you can do with your candies instead of just tossing them out or pawning them off on friends and coworkers.

What do I do with leftover Halloween candy?

Parent or not, Halloween candy is inescapable this time of year. 

So before jumping to some things you can do with leftover Halloween candy, let’s head over to some products that are available as Halloween party food on a budget on Amazon.

Freeze Them For Later

Candy preserves its shelf life longer when it is frozen and is tucked out of sight, which reduces the temptation to consume it constantly. When you need goodies for goodie bags for birthday parties or snacks for a movie night or car ride, thaw it out. 

Another way to "recycle" it is to store it in the deep freeze until the next Halloween or use it to make birthday piñatas or Easter baskets.

Donate Them

Donation options for Halloween sweets have skyrocketed in the last several years. But where to donate leftover Halloween candy? Below are the organizations that will gladly accept candy donations — for a good cause!

Where can I donate leftover Halloween candy?

• Treats for Troops: You may send candy to military service thanks to this program. Children can win prizes via buyback, and you can get a tax-deductible receipt for your donation.

• Operation Shoebox: This organization will accept your donations of candy; regardless of their station, they provide sweets to troops who are unable to celebrate Halloween, Christmas, and Easter because they are stationed away. 

• Halloween Candy Buy Back: This organization exchanges healthy products like toothbrushes, hygiene kits, and coupons for excess sweets that your kids might be holding onto by partnering with companies like dental offices. 

Halloween Candy Buy Back

• Ronald McDonald House Charities: To find out if you may donate your unopened Halloween candy for seriously ill children and their families to enjoy, give your local chapter a call. These families will enjoy having a taste of the holiday sent to them when they are in need, while your children are out trick-or-treating.

Bake Them Into Cookies

There are a ton of creative ways to use Halloween candy in baked goods and other sweets for the upcoming holidays.

When you're preparing chocolate chip cookies, for instance, consider using your leftover chocolate candies in place of the chips. Your cookies will have a lot more flavor. 

Use Halloween candy in your baking

Related:

• Halloween appetizer ideas

• Easy Halloween dessert ideas

• Best Halloween cocktails

Stir Them Into Ice Cream

Take a pint of your favorite flavor of ice cream, whether it is vanilla, chocolate, caramel, or something else entirely, and let it soften for 20 to 30 minutes, or until it becomes soft enough to stir. 

Cut up your Twix bars, chocolate bars, or peanut butter candies, and fold them in. Now put your spooky surprise back in the freezer in a loaf pan or covered plastic container.

Fold Into Your Granola

Fold candy into your granola

Mix in chopped peanut butter cups (or little ones), Hershey's kisses, or any other melty mini chocolate candy while the granola is still warm after baking your favorite granola recipe. It will melt and then firm up once your granola cools.

Stuff Your Christmas Stockings

Your candy leftovers make the ideal complement to fill those stockings for Christmas. Store them in an airtight container and keep them secure. 

Then, choose everyone's favorite candy kind and stuff it into their stockings for the holidays. Your December self will be appreciative.

Filled your Christmas stockings with candies

Invite the Switch Witch to Your House

Do you know the Switch Witch? It is like the Halloween version of Elf on the Shelf. 

Each year at the start of October, a large number of young Switch Witches say goodbye to their parents, hop their flying cauldrons, and head to the children for an extended stay and playdate.

You get to play the kind host to your very own Switch Witch in the weeks before Halloween. In return for an amazing visit, your Switch Witch will turn some of your remaining candies into an unexpected gift.

Invite the Switch Witch to your house

Add Them to Gifts

Fun-sized chocolate bars are the ideal addition to any gift, especially with the holidays quickly approaching. So you may add some bite-sized chocolates to any scented candle or generic soap gift. The receiver will be very happy.

Use Them for a Fun Family Game Night

Play some entertaining games with your family and use the candies as rewards or poker chips!  After they go to bed, you may always sneak in the cupboard and eat their winnings.

Need some game ideas for a spooky Halloween night? Check out the best board games for Halloween!

Use candies for a fun family game night