Turn your leftover Halloween candy into delicious cookies! These cookies are so easy to make, and the cookie dough can be easily frozen to bake when the cookie cravings strike!
When Halloween is over, you’re like to have buckets of candy sitting in your house. And if you’re not sure what to do with it, I have a few ideas for you!
- Stir into ice cream! Just chop it all up and top your ice cream with the candy, or if you’re making your own homemade ice cream then fold it all in.
- Trailmix: If you make your own trail mixes at home, chopped candy is perfect for it. And kids love it!
- Cookies: This is obviously the best idea. I’m providing you with an amazing recipe here, and you can even freeze the cookie dough to bake later.
- Freeze it! Just stash it in your freezer to consume later.
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If you’re still in the Halloween mood, and want more Halloween-themed recipes, why not try these? Halloween Haystack Cookies, Candy Corn Rice Krispies, Easy Dracula Cookies, or Halloween Pinwheel Cookies. If you love decorating cookies, try these gorgeous Caramel Apple Cookies or these easy Halloween Sugar Cookies!
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
- Butter: Softened, unsalted butter is the right choice when making cookies. Do not melt the butter, you need it to be softened to room temperature.
- Sugar: Just regular plain white granulated sugar.
- Egg: Allow the egg to come to room temperature before mixing it in. Do not use cold eggs, they don’t mix in very well.
- Vanilla Extract: I always recommend using a high-quality, pure vanilla extract and not the imitation stuff.
- Cornstarch: The secret ingredient to making soft and chewy cookies is cornstarch (or cornflour, depending on where you live).
- Flour, baking soda, salt: The basic dry ingredients in many cookie recipes are all here. These make up the bulk of the dough and give it a bit of flavor and rise.
- Candy: Use up your leftover Halloween candy! Chop them up into smaller pieces to add into the dough. Then top the cookie dough balls with even more candy just for fun!
How to Make Leftover Candy Cookies
- Dry Ingredients: In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt). And set aside.
- Cream: Then in a bowl of a stand mixer (or a bowl and a hand mixer) cream the butter with the sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat again until smooth.
- Combine: Add the dry ingredients, and beat on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix the dough.
- Add Candy: Fold in the chopped candy, and mix with a spatula to combine.
- Portion Out: Using a small cookie scoop, scoop out cookie dough balls onto a sheet. chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
- Get Ready to Bake: Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C, or 160°C fan oven, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat silicone mat. Place chilled cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet 2 inches apart. You can add some more candy on top at this stage, or after baking. Keep in mind that candy corn will melt and leak if added to the top before baking, so I top with them after baking when the cookies are still warm.
- Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and while still warm, add/decorate with even more candy if desired. Cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet then move to a wire rack to cool completely or to the desired temperature.
Recipe Tips
- Use any leftover candy you have! I used Kit-kat, M&M’s, Almond Joy, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars, Reese’s cups, and candy corn. But you can literally use any candy you have available; Rolos, Snickers, Mars, Milkyway, Hershey’s kisses, or Butterfingers.
- Chop up the candy: Make sure that you’re using a clean cutting board (that you didn’t use to cut an onion!), and chop everything up into smaller pieces.
- Candy Corn: Candy corn and marshmallows melt and seep out of the cookie if used, so make sure that it’s wrapped in the cookie dough before baking. If you want to top with candy corn, or marshmallows, add those AFTER baking when the cookie is still warm.
- IF the candy blows out, use a spatula or a round cookie cutter, or a glass to get the melted candy or marshmallow to stick to the cookie. Just make sure to do this while the cookies are still warm.
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
These cookies are perfect for freezing! It also means that you will always have treats on hand, whether you want to bake just one or two cookies or a whole batch.
Here’s how to freeze unbaked cookies: After you make the cookie dough and portion it out, place the cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat silicone mat, and freeze until solid (about 30 minutes). Then remove from the cookie sheet, place in a freezer bag, and freeze for up to 3 months. Don’t forget to label the freezer bags with the type of cookie and the freezing date! You can also add some baking instructions.
To bake, no need to thaw! Bake from frozen but you might need to add an extra minute or two to the baking time.
Don’t forget to pin this recipe so you can find it after Halloween to freeze or bake cookies with leftover candy! Everyone will love these, and you will always have some treats in your freeze that are perfect for entertaining around the holidays. If you make them, don’t forget to share your experience in the comments box below. I love hearing from you!
Halloween Leftover Candy Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick, 113g) unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (180g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup candy bars unwrapped and roughly chopped
- ¼ cup M&M's
- ¼ cup candy corn
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt). And set aside.Cream: Then in a bowl of a stand mixer (or a bowl and a hand mixer) cream the butter with the sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat again until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients, and beat on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix the dough.
- Fold in the chopped candy, and mix with a spatula to combine.
- Using a small cookie scoop, scoop out cookie dough balls onto a sheet. chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C, or 160°C fan oven, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat silicone mat. Place chilled cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet 2 inches apart. You can add some more candy on top at this stage, or after baking. Keep in mind that candy corn will melt and leak if added to the top before baking, so I top with them after baking when the cookies are still warm.
- Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and while still warm, add/decorate with even more candy if desired. Cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet then move to a wire rack to cool
Notes
- If you don’t have corn starch, you can use the same amount of arrowroot powder to get the same effect. 3 tablespoons of flour can be used in place of the corn starch also, but the cookies won’t be as soft and chewy.
- Topping with Candy: You can choose to add the decorative candy on top before or after baking. If you top with candy corn before baking, it will melt and leak so I add those after baking while the cookies are still warm.
- To Store: These cookies will stay fresh for up to three days in an airtight container.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the cookie dough on a cookie sheet until solid, then transfer to a Ziploc bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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