50+ Leftover Halloween Candy Recipes - Decadent Dessert Ideas! (2024)

FAQs

What can I do with a lot of candy? ›

Hard candy - hard candies can last up to a year when stored at room temperature or in a cool, dry location. Jellied candies - if the packaging has been opened, soft candies should be stored away from heat and light at room temperature of about 70 degrees. Stored in this manner, the candy should last 6-9 months.

Right after the holiday they will have sales to try to get some profit out of the leftover candy after a month or so those stores will either donate it to food pantries or sell it to discount grocery stores. Discount the price to 50% off then 70% then 90% until it's all gone.

Donations: Some stores donate unsold Halloween candy to food banks, homeless shelters, or other charitable organizations. This is a way to give back to the community and reduce waste.

Top-selling chocolates and sweets. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are the No. 1 selling candy brand in the United States, consisting of white fudge, milk, or dark chocolate cups filled with peanut butter. They were invented by H.B. Reese after he founded the H. B. Reese Candy Company in 1923.

They won't notice if you eat one or two. Or two or three. But before you dive in, remember that you shouldn't get more than 10% of your daily calories from added sugar -- that's around 200 if you typically aim for 2,000 a day -- and candy is loaded with it.

Jellied candies: Up to one year unopened. After opening, keep in a covered candy dish six to nine months. Gum: Six to nine months, as long as the packaging is sealed. Caramel: Six to nine months when stored at room temperature and away from the heat and light.

Pure chocolate can last for two years or more without presenting any acute health risks, but it's likely to change in texture and become less appetizing after about 12 months. Hard candy will eventually become sticky/gluey especially if left unwrapped, but again, this will take months and will depend on the humidity.

Directly after Halloween, bulk candy for the holiday often gets heavily marked down. So, if you've still got a sweet tooth after Halloween night, take advantage of those sales to stock up on candy for the rest of the spooky season.

What is a candy that everyone hates? ›

Another great way to reduce your overload of sweet stuff is to send your candy directly to the troops (they love care packages!). Be sure to check out their guidelines before packing it up. If you're concerned about shipping costs you could also look into donating it locally to a homeless shelter or food bank.

Basically, a kid goes out trick-or-treating on Halloween. Then, when they get home, they get to pick out five of their favorite pieces of candy. What happens to the rest of their hard-earned bounty? They leave it outside for the Switch Witch, who magically replaces it with a toy the next morning.

"Every year, Americans throw away about $400 million worth of uneaten sweets from trick-or-treating. That's a lot of food waste. But the fix is simple: stop giving away candies that kids don't like (candy corn, anyone?) and give away treats that they do enjoy.

Older children should get less than 10% of their calories from added sugar. By that logic, it would make sense to spread out a bagful of candy over several weeks. But on Halloween, it's OK for older children to eat a lot all at once—if they want, said Barnes, an assistant professor of nutrition at La Salle.

The idea is, according to Time magazine, if you go to town on your candy stash all in one sitting -- even though that's not the healthiest thing to do, considering the rest of your body -- it's still better on your teeth, instead of having that sugar in your mouth day in and day out for the next few weeks.

Do parents need to ration the candy? According to one expert, the answer is no. Let them eat candy. “The goal is to trust them to trust themselves,” says registered dietitian Emily Fonnesbeck, “It's very normal for them to eat more than necessary on Halloween night and maybe even the day after.”