Leftover Halloween Candy Cookies

With holidays, sometimes a learning process has to be involved. In 2013, it was our very first year in our house during Halloween. I was excited to finally get some trick-or-treaters at our door. To prepare, I purchased a few bags of candy to have on hand. We didn’t have an overwhelming number of visitors, but there was a somewhat steady stream throughout the evening. This year, I repeated the same process – I filled a big bowl with candy and had it on hand by our door. And we got three…yes…three trick-or-treaters. Not three separate visits. Three kids total. So as you can imagine, I now have an insanely huge amount of leftover candy. So what should a girl do? Make leftover Halloween candy cookies, that’s what!

They aren’t anything fancy – I took my classic chocolate chip cookie dough recipe and instead of adding chocolate chips, I chopped up Crunch bars and Baby Ruth candy bars to serve as the chips instead. But oh boy, do I love how they transformed what is your everyday chocolate chip cookie and made it something different than what I’m used to. I like both varieties, but I have to say I think the Baby Ruth version is my favorite. When the candy bar pieces melt down as the dough bakes, it creates a chewy, delicious bite.

I definitely needed some sweets on hand this past week. I usually don’t have a lot in the house, but I admit that I was glad to have them in reach these past few days. Last Monday, I was brushing the dogs’ teeth and realized that my poor Lucia had cracked yet another tooth. This one was a front tooth (the previous two she had to have removed a few months ago were back teeth). I have no idea how it happened, and I felt terrible that it probably took me a few days to realize what happened. Of course, a trip to the vet ensued on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I had to bring her back in to have it removed. Poor girl! So, I wasn’t feeling too happy with myself about that; the guilt was making me feel kind of cruddy. And on top of it I was just having one of those weeks when nothing I did seemed to go right! I couldn’t get on top of things; laundry piled up, emails stockpiled, and I was feeling pretty run down in general. Oh cookies – how I needed you!

The funny thing is, even though I made a regular sized batch of these leftover Halloween candy cookies, there is still a HUGE bowl full of candies left. Perhaps another batch is necessary? Perhaps, perhaps. I mean…I need to make my way through that candy bowl, right???

Have you been baking with your Halloween leftovers?

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 2 large eggs
• 20-30 mini candy bars (amount depends on bar size! Mix in to taste), chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Add the butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and almond extract in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until creamed.
3. Continue beating as you add the eggs one at a time, until they are fully incorporated. Gradually add scoops of the flour mixture until it is fully mixed in and a dough has formed.
4. Use a spatula to fold in the chopped pieces of candy bar. If you would like to make separate types of cookies with different candy bars, divide the dough before folding in the pieces.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then scoop rounded tablespoon sized balls of dough onto the sheet.
6. Bake for 9-11 minutes until cookies are golden brown. Remove from oven and let rest for 2-3 minutes. Then, place cookies on a wire rack to completely cool. Enjoy!

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