My miniature pumpkin and Lightning McQueen brought home an entire gallon of candy before we got rained out on Halloween. Needless to say, this is more candy than I usually keep in the house and more candy than I need my kids eating. Luckily, there’s more that one can do with extra Halloween candy.
Candy Fairy. First step may be to get the candy away from your children. A fun method I’ve seen online is to have the kids leave the candy out as an offering to the “candy fairy.” After they go to bed, exchange the candy with a small toy. This way your kids still have something fun from the night but you won’t have to deal with all the sugar crashes!
Use it in Baking. M&Ms are great additions to cookies and most candies smashed or cut up add an extra spot of sweetness to brownies. My sister has won recognition for her brownies which are out of the box with the addition of bits of Reeses! Once you have the treats baked, there’s no reason to keep them in the house, as they make great ‘thinking of you’ gifts to friends or neighbors.
Donate to Child’s Class. This idea is straight from my son’s teacher, who asked for donations of extra candy to put in her rewards box. Check with your children’s teachers ahead of time, but I’m sure they also would appreciate rewards to give to students that don’t have to come out of their budgets!
Operation Shoebox. Gather your leftover candy and mail it (in a shoebox or otherwise!) to Operation Shoebox for care packages to troops overseas. Click here for directions.
Let me know what you’re doing with your overflowing candy stash, especially if you have a good recipe so I can give my sister a run for her money.