Cooking with candy

[ipsedixit]

Ok, I'm going to start this now because I know I am going to be left with lots of Halloween Candy.

I know there's already a thread on what to do with candy corn, but how about ideas for any and all candy (e.g. chocolate bars, hard candy, taffy, twizzlers, etc.) that you prefer not to eat, throw away, or even freeze and store for next year ...

[ipsedixit]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

But since I have so much (about 100+ pounds), I'm just donating the whole lot to our troops overseas as care packages.

[betcey]

I'm just aching to find out why you have over 100 pounds of leftover Halloween candy!?!

[kattyeyes]

YESSSSSSSS! That's fantastic! But do tell how the hell you got so much candy, please! :) There HAS to be an interesting story here.

[ipsedixit]

I bought the candy to help out a charitable organization or, in other words, as a donation of sorts. Ended up with 126 pounds, 8 ounces of candy in total ... all to the troops in Afghanistan.

[bushwickgirl]

From this morning's Today Show, possible uses for Snickers (Dulce de leche ice cream terrine,)Reese's (frozen banana pops,) York Peppermint Patties (brownies,) and the dreaded candy corn leftovers (candy corn, dried cranberries and pretzel white chocolate bark:)

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/3991398...

[mamachef]

Chopped and blended into ice cream, or used in base for homemade ice cream. Melted and used to sauce ice cream. And I did hear tell that somebody (and I don't remember who it was) used melted SweeTarts to glaze a foie gras.

[Emme]

Stir chocolate based bar into hot, under-hydrated oatmeal with some egg. Make pancakes.

Use to fill Hallowe'Empanadas :)

Chop up and layer inside of rugelach dough.

[Jen76]

You could use Twizzlers as cocktail swizzle sticks (for sweeter cocktails, of course). Candy bars could be mashed and mixed into ice cream, blended into milk shakes, or chopped and put into brownies or cakes.

[todao]

I like to give thought to what the key ingredients in a type of candy might be and then adapt it to some variety of culinary art that typically uses those ingredients; albeit probably not in as sweet a form. Example:
Those little "spicy hots" or "red hots" can be used in preparing a pork loin, either in the primary cooking cycle or in a sauce.

[blue room]

Those little cinnamon dots are good cooked with baked apples too.
The OP though mentions chocolate bars (cookies and frosting?), and hard candy and taffy and Twizzlers. There is a cotton candy machine that melts any hard candy (even sugarless) and turns it into fluff. I suppose both taffy and hard candy could simply be dissolved back to their sugar beginnings and used to sweeten--anything--?
But Twizzlers if not eaten are just straws, threadable Christmas decorations ?

[maxie]

My first course of action is to give huge amounts to teenagers who show up later.

Technically it is still eating, but chocolate bars of all sorts can be chopped up and added to cookie dough, brownies, or trifle. These are particularly appreciated by teenagers and college kids. M&Ms, Reeses Pieces, Skittles and similarly shaped candy are also good in cookies, or used to decorate cakes. Hard candies like Jolly Ranchers can be ground up and used in stained glass-like cut out cookies for the holidays.

If you really mean no eating, I would call a local food bank, meal kitchen, or local community group that meets regularly and see if they could use it in their pantry.

[kattyeyes]

Along those lines, our local news has been promoting some sort of program in which dentists are collecting candy to send to our troops overseas. You're in LA, right? Try this--Operation Gratitude--Sending Care Packages to U.S. Military:
http://www.opgratitude.com/howtohelp....

From their site:
We welcome your excess Halloween Candy for our care packages!
For flyers and more details, email [e-mail]

We welcome everyone's excess Halloween candy. Please deliver or ship BY DECEMBER 3 to:

Operation Gratitude/California Army National Guard
17330 Victory Boulevard
Van Nuys, CA 91406

[bushwickgirl]

Very nice thought, missy, and great info for getting it to them.

[mollyomormon]

People go nuts over turtle Rolos...
http://www.thecookingphotographer.com...

[blue room]

"...I know I am going to be left with lots of Halloween Candy."

Just give more to each kid!