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Leftover Halloween Candy

  • k

We have loads of leftover candy, and my husband and I sure don't need it. Its nothing special - mini hershey bars, reeses peanut butter cups, kit kats, etc., but we spent a lot of money on it, and I don't want to throw it away. Also, there's already way too many halloween leftovers at work already, so I don't want to drag it into the office.
So, will it last until next year? What's the best way to store it?

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  1. Take it to the food bank or to a nursing home. It will be greatly appreciated, and you'll feel good about doing it. No matter how you store it, year-old Halloween candy is not a nice trick or treat.

    1 Reply
    1. re: Nyleve

      The food pantry I gave my leftovers to last year was really thrilled -- they said it's nice to be able to give some sweets along with the more mundane things they give out.

    2. Our local middle school is collecting it to send to troops in Iraq. I bet there's something like that going on in your area too.

      4 Replies
      1. re: SharonA

        If you can't find anything locally, there is a website called operationAC.com that allows you to "adopt" a soldier in Iraq. I imagine that might be a way to donate some candy.

        1. re: danna

          A group I am involved in was sending a pre-Halloween care package to Iraq, but we were warned not to send chocolate, as it'd most likely end up a melted mess long before it got to the soldier. Chocolate and desert aren't complementary :-)

          1. re: Chris VR

            OOH, good point. Although, I AM told that it gets cold in the desert in the winter, so I'm confused by the whole thing. The website I mentioned, was originally started to send room air conditioners to the troops (thus operation a/c), but now I see they are sending space heaters.

            I just sent a box of brownies and chocolate chip cookies to a friend in Iraq. I froze them first, then packed them in a styrofoam cooler w/ those frozen gel pack things that my last shipment from Lobels came packed with. That was just last week, so I haven't heard yet what condition they were in when they arrived. I hope my friend will be willing to tell me if they were destroyed because I don't want to keep sending stuff if it is stale/melted/mutilated when it arrives.

            1. re: danna

              Well, it's 89 degrees in Basrah today, and I imagine mail and packages end up riding around in the backs of trucks in the sun for a while before they get to the soldiers, so I'd stick with non melty things.

      2. If you got it at Waldbaums, there was a sign that they would give you a refund for any unopened leftover candy, and I don't think you need the receipt (I'll find out for sure in a little while). But I like the other, more charitable ideas too.

        1 Reply
        1. re: coll

          Never mind, you need the receipt.

        2. i love everyone's ideas about donating, but if you want to keep it and not have to re-buy next year just freeze it. some of the chocolate might bloom (the whitish stuff you sometimes see on choc.) but it won't effect the taste or texture. it's nice to have on hand because you can make your own fancy "ben and Jerry" or "mix-in" want-to-be icecreams. just crush them up and stir them into your favorite slightly softened icecream. viola! also good for kids parties to crunch up different ones and let them decorate their cup cake tops or sundaes. i do this alot for kids cooking class parties.

          2 Replies
          1. re: ChefShell

            No offense but I wouldn't want my kid to have year old candy. It is darn cheap, and well, once a year. Donate it somewhere, bring to your kids school for the office, bring to your dentist office for cripe sake but PLEASE buy fresh for next year. Egads

            1. re: Ann P.

              that's the whole point, is to freeze the candy and use it way before a year passes. it won't come close to being in the freezer for a year if you get creative with it. good grief!

          2. I heard that you can keep candy bars for up to 20 years!