I have a love/hate relationship with trick-or-treating. I love passing out candy and also seeing how excited my 4-year-old gets about wearing her costume and visiting our neighbors’ homes (and I’m so grateful for the neighbors who turn their lights on). I hate the candy aftermath– the begging for “one more piece” of candy and how the candy seems to last until at least Christmas. (Is it OK to recycle Halloween candy by placing it in Christmas stockings?)
Here are some of my favorite suggestions for what to do with all that candy.
- Donate your candy to members of the military serving overseas. There are several groups that do this, including Operation Gratitude or Operation Stars & Stripes. Some dentist offices also collect Halloween candy to send overseas.
- Bake it into brownies, blondies or cookies. Check out these recipes from one of my favorite sites, for candy bar blondies or oatmeal Milky way cookies. These candy bar brownies also look fantastic.
- Freeze the candy and pull it out for special treats.
- Snickers and Champagne? Twix and Syrah? When the kids go to bed, try some candy and wine pairings.
- Try some science experiments with candy. There are some pretty cool ideas, including a Mentos geyser and estimating the number of licks to the center of a Tootsie pop, on this list.
Sarah balances life as a reporter for The Times-Tribune and as the mom of two little girls. A graduate of Ithaca College, Sarah started covering education in 2006. She has received awards for her reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, Pennsylvania Newsmedia Association, Inland Press Association and Pennsylvania Women’s Press Association. She lives in Clarks Summit with her husband, their daughters and their sweet pug, Sadie. Reach her at shofius@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9133 or @HofiusHallTT.
