Have leftover Halloween candy from trick-or-treating? Chop it up and turn it into these Gooey Halloween Candy Cookie Bars that are oozing with chocolate, caramel, nougat, and nuts!
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Happy Halloween! You can’t deny that there’s a sense of playfulness in the air today! It’s going to be a fun day of Halloween parades, kids in costumes, and of course, candy! Lots and lots of candy! Man, I miss the days of coming home from school, scarfing down dinner, and heading out to trick-or-treat with my friends.
I remember ditching my cute pumpkin pal for a pillowcase. Some years, we’d even have to go home and dump out the candy we got to head out into the neighborhood again! We always knew which houses gave out full-size candy bars, extra handfuls of candy, money, and we even got some comic books in our bags! We had candy for days (more like enough to last until next Halloween) tucked away in large bowls on the top of the fridge!
These days, it seems like trunk-or-treat and organized Halloween events have taken over trick-or-treating. We probably get less than handful of trick-or-treaters each year. Instead of stocking up on bulk bags of candy, I opt for one assorted bag of mini chocolate bars. And, most of the time, we end up with leftovers!
I try to stay away from sweets as much as possible, but I ended up buying a bag of assorted chocolate candy this year with Snickers and Twix bars in it this year. Big mistake! Those are two of my favorite chocolate candies!
A tasty way to use up leftover Halloween candy!
Whether you have leftover candy or you’re stealing it from your kids (don’t deny it – you know you do it!), I figured out a sweet way to use some of it up! Gooey Halloween Candy Cookie Bars! I basically tweaked the recipe for my Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie, removed the chocolate chips and pecans, and added chopped Halloween candies, and ditched the cast iron skillet for a 9″ x 9″ baking pan.
The result is a thick, cookie-like bar. As the bars bake, the chopped up candies melt down into it. You get a gooey mixture of chocolate, caramel, nougat, and nuts in each delicious bar! If you’re like me and kind of bummed that spooky season is coming to an end, this is a delicious way to keep it going a little longer!
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 2 cups mini Halloween candy bars, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a 9" x 9" pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a mixing bowl, add softened butter and sugars. Beat until fluffy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla to the sugar mixture and beat until combined.
- In a medium bowl, add flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Gradually beat in dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
- Fold in chopped Halloween candy bars.
- Spoon cookie dough into the bottom of the prepared pan and evenly spread it out.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until edges of the cookie are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
- Optional: while the cookie bars are warm, press more chopped Halloween candy into the top of the cookie bars.
- Allow bars to cool completely before cutting and serving.
What a sweet way to end spooky season! Seriously. These have been so good with a tall glass of milk at night. I need someone to come and take these away from me! Happy Halloween, indeed!
Did you make these Gooey Halloween Candy Cookie Bars with your leftover Halloween candy? Make sure to share your pics on Instagram using the hashtag #livinglavidaeats. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!
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