Happy Halloween from Cookie Madness! Here's a helpful article listing the 20 Best & Worst Halloween Candy in every state, updated for 2023.
I posted this photo back in 2011 and have many happy Halloweens since. We've also come up with more ways to use leftover Halloween candy, so here are a few links to the recipes.
Halloween Kit Kat Cake
Buy plenty of Kit Kats for the kids, but save some to make a Halloween themed Kit Kat and M&Ms cake. For a Halloween party, you could fill the cake with spooky colored M&Ms or go a different route and fill the cake with Halloween Oreos or the Halloween themed Circus Animals.
Nestle Crunch Bar Malted Milk Chocolate Chunk Cookies -- My personal favorite and the reason I buy Nestle Crunch Bars even though only 2 or 3 kids come to our house.
Leftover Halloween Candy Cookies -- These are thick, soft, chocolate chip cookies with a texture that's the perfect partner for chopped up Halloween candy.
Candy Bar Bars -- An oatmeal bar cookie recipe with chopped Halloween candy in the filling.
Candy Bar Brownies -- Particularly helpful recipe if your haul included loads of Snickers. Or maybe you bought too many Snickers and the kids went elsewhere? It happens.
sue says
I always buy what I like and hope there are not many kids:)
Gloria says
I wish I could have gone trick or treating in Brooklyn, Melissa! I agree with the list, but Milky Way and 3 Musketeers were not on it and I LOVE those! Unfortunately I have 3 bags of candy left...and I don't know where I bought it! I think it's time for the freezer before it's gone. Or maybe bake them into brownies...
melissa says
That list pretty much mirrors Jamie's and Denis' tastes! lol. I only like the chocolates, and then usually only Reese's, Snickers, Kisses, and M and Ms. I was surprised Kisses and M and Ms weren't on the list!
These crazy (in a good way) people in our neighborhood had this Dean and Deluca style assortment on their stoop (in Brooklyn you go stoop to stoop -- no ringing of doorbells -- people stand outside to hand out candy, if they aren't there, you know they don't have any to give!)
They had a bin of bouncing balls for kids to choose with a candy. They had bins of all the good candy (like Kit Kats, Hershey's, Snickers, etc.), and then huge bowls of gourmet kettle popcorn bags, an assortment of Lindor chocolate truffle balls, among other things. We were thinking: They are seriously going to be cleaned out in 20 minutes. lol
Chewthefat says
Thanks for reposting those brownies--my goodness, they do look decadent!
I have to admit that I've never been a fan of fruity Halloween candy--except when they were very much 'in vogue' as a 'cool' thing to bring to lunch, Skittles and Starbursts never had as much appeal to me as chocolate, although I did like candy corn. And I always considered Tootsie Rolls and Sweet Tarts to be like 'candy lint'--to be consumed only when desperate, like when my stash was depleted and I and had been denied desert...
Louise says
I don't totally agree with the Best & Worst list, but then again, that's why they make vanilla and chocolate ice cream. I love handing out candy to the kids at Halloween and, hoping for a few leftovers, load up with stuff I like -- Snickers, Butterfingers, PB Cups, KitKats, Skor, and Cherry Twizzlers. We had 10" of snow on Saturday and have lots of downed trees, so it's put a bit of a damper on Halloween this year.
Sue says
No, I've never made those. I'm guessing the reason I didn't is because I don't know what I'd do with the rest of the box of cereal? I might just have to get over that don't you think!?
Adam says
I love Halloween, it's my first one in my new home but I'm not really setup for it this year so I'm not dishing out candy. Next year though I plan to be the full candy bar guy, just like my mom has become (except you know... woman).
I was telling my coworkers this morning that I would give anything to be seven years old again tonight, it's not the same now that I can buy my own candy :). And Canadian Halloweens mean an abundance of Coffee Crisps... and Canadian Smarties (better than M&Ms in my opinion :)) as well as the usual suspects :).
Anna says
Sue, I love Take 5 Bars too! Did you ever make the Peanut Butter Crunch Brownies? They're a brownie version of Take 5 Bars.
https://www.cookiemadness.net/2006/03/peanut-butter-crunch-brownies/
Sue says
Personally I LOVE Take 5 bars. Somehow I had the good sense not to buy any. The kids on my street go crazy for Skittles and Starburst. I started buying them with a neighbor kid in mind who is allergic to PB. I had no idea all the rest of the kids would be so crazy about them too.