Put your leftover holiday candy to good use in this versatile, easy brownie recipe!
How was your Halloween? Did you go trick or treating or buy a bunch of candy to give out to trick or treaters? If you answered yes to either or both, I bet you have a bunch of candy lying around! I took our boys to probably 20 houses, which didn’t seem like a lot, but they both have sacks FULL of candy. I also bought too much for the few kids who stopped at our house, so that means more candy. We shouldn’t, can’t, won’t eat all this.
Halloween isn’t the only time this happens. All of the candy holidays like Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Christmas leave us with more candy than we know what to do with. Well, we used to not know what to do with it. Now we can make it into brownies! These brownies made with leftover candy are actually more like cookie bars thanks to butter. Mmm, delicious butter. The edge brownies have that crisp, buttery edge that you would expect in a cookie, but they have the soft, dense texture of a brownie.
You don’t have to add much sugar to these brownies because they are made with handfuls of sweetened chocolate bars. You can actually make them with no extra sugar at all, but the texture will be denser. (I made a note about it in the recipe.) As for the chocolate, I used Nestle Crunch and mini Hershey’s bars. Since those are both milk chocolate, the color of the brownies is light. You could use any candy that is mostly chocolate like Mr. Goodbar, Krackle, or Hershey’s Kisses. I wouldn’t try it with something like Snickers or Three Musketeers that is just chocolate coated, although you could probably chop something like that and stir it into the batter. You could do that with M&M’s too.
OK, now all this talk about different kinds of candy has made me want to go try a different version of these brownies. Or maybe I’ll just go eat out of the kids’ Halloween stash. Either way, I’ve gotta run… Enjoy your candy brownies!
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Leftover Candy Brownies
Put your leftover holiday candy to good use in this versatile, easy brownie recipe!
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter (You can use unsalted. I just like the salty flavor.)
- 8 ounces chocolate bars of your choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup sugar (optional)
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup all purpose flour
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8″ square pan with cooking spray and set aside.
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Break chocolate bars into smaller pieces, and place in a large, microwave-safe bowl with the butter. Heat in microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well. Heat another 30 seconds, and stir until all chocolate is melted. (This will take about a minute of stirring.)
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Stir in vanilla, and sugar if you would like sweeter brownies. Add one egg and quickly stir it in vigorously to make sure it doesn’t get too hot and start to cook. Next, stir in remaining two eggs.
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Stir in flour until completely smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Cool slightly before cutting and serving.
Notes
If you leave out the sugar, your brownies will be more dense and less sweet. I prefer to cut sugar where I can, but you might want to add it for a more traditional texture.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
I have more ideas for leftover candy! Look!
CakeSpy says
I love this idea so much! It makes both the candy, and brownies, better.
Andi Gleeson says
Thank you!!
Cyndi _ My Kitchen Craze says
What a genius idea!! I have so much candy and don’t know what to do with it. I need to get it out of this house soon or we’ll all have cavities. Ha!! These brownies look so moist and yummy!
Andi Gleeson says
I ended up throwing away the rest of my kids’ candy because they kept sneaking it all the time! Halloween has way too much candy! Thanks, Cyndi :)
Erin @ Texanerin Baking says
Looks like such a great use of leftover candy! I made a pizza that didn’t work out so we went out for pizza and watched horror movies. It was lovely. :D I just wish we would have had some of these brownies!
Andi Gleeson says
That sounds so nice except for the horror movies. I’m such a wimp about anything scary! :) Thanks, Erin!
Michelle | A Latte Food says
What a brilliant way to use up leftover Halloween candy! These look amazing!
Andi Gleeson says
Thanks so much, Michelle!
Michelle @ blackberry BABE says
These are genius, Andi! Great idea.
Andi Gleeson says
Thank you Michelle!
Justine | Cooking and Beer says
Wow! I LOVE how you melt down the candy for these brownies! Such a genius idea, Andi! Pinned!
Andi Gleeson says
Thanks, Justine! To be honest, they would even better with high quality dark chocolate, but I was happy to use some of the candy lying around after trick or treating!
Kelly says
Haha yes! We have so much leftover candy from our kids trick-or-treating and buying a bag to hand out as well! These brownies are the perfect way to use some up! I love how fudgy and delicious they are on the inside and crispy on the outside!
Andi Gleeson says
Thank you so much, Kelly! xo