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These Leftover Candy Cookies ares soft, thick, and loaded up with caramel and chocolate! It’s truly the best way to give your leftover holiday candy a new life.
When Halloween has come and gone, you get to look forward to turning your leftover candy into the most decadently delicious cookies! They have a short chill time, can be made ahead, and are always a crowd pleaser.
Recipe Variations:
- Dairy-free – Use your favorite, trusted, dairy-free butter sticks and any dairy-free chocolates you love.
- Candy – Use any type of chocolate candy you like!
How to Make Leftover Candy Cookies :
Step 1: Chop Your Candy: The beauty of this recipe is that you can use any leftover candy – Easter, Christmas, Halloween – you name it! Just chop up some chocolate bars (caramel is delicious too!) and throw it into this super-simple, one-bowl cookie dough base.
Step 2: Make the Cookie Dough. Whisk together melted butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients and chopped candy until everything is incorporated.
Step 3: Chill Dough. Chill your dough for 1 hour in the freezer or 2 hours in the fridge – this is the perfect time to take down your decorations (wah!).
Step 4: Bake. Bake as directed in the recipe card below.
Serving + Storing:
Once they’re out of the oven, sprinkle them with a little flaky sea salt – it’s SO good paired with all the chocolate and caramel.
Your leftover candy would also be delicious in my Peanut Butter Blondies or my Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars!
Make-Ahead Tips:
Fridge: Make the cookie dough, scoop it into balls, and chill them overnight in the fridge for a day before baking.
Freezer: Scoop the dough into balls as in the first method, and then freeze them in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Bake these from frozen – no need to thaw first.
Expert Baking Tips:
- Oven Thermometer – An oven thermometer will tell you if your oven is actually running at the temperature you set it to. Your oven may not be accurate. Accurate oven temperature is crucial for most bakes, so I leave an oven thermometer in at all times to keep an eye on my oven’s calibration.
- Kitchen Scale – A food scale is the best way to make sure your flour is at the proper weight, since amounts will vary SO widely based on how you measure it, as well as the measuring cup you use, as they are not standardized.
FAQs:
Yes, you can do either!
More Cookie Recipes to Love:
- Cinnamon Roll Snickerdoodles
- Black Forest Cookies
- Blueberry Lemon Cookies
- Everything But the Kitchen Sink Cookies
- Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment & star rating!
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Leftover Candy Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup salted butter, melted & cooled slightly, 170 grams
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed, 163 grams
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 156 grams
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled, 390 grams
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups candy, roughly chopped, See notes for recommended candy
Instructions
- Make the dough: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter and the sugars until well combined. Add the eggs, and vanilla and whisk until well incorporated. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and stir, scraping the bowl, until everything is just about incorporated. Stir in your chopped candy last, reserving a few pieces for pressing on top of the dough balls.
- Optional Dough Rest: These cookies are no chill, but they will turn out thicker if you do rest or chill the dough a bit. Scoop balls about 70 grams in size, and chill in the freezer for 15 to 30 minutes or in the fridge for 30-60, if desired.
- Bake: Preheat your oven to 365° F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place 5-6 cookies on each sheet, leaving some room for spread. Bake for 11-13 minutes. The edges will appear set and the cookies will be lightly golden. Let cool on the
- Serve + Store: Enjoy these cookies while warm (the best!) or transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store cooled leftover cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Make ahead tip: Cookie dough can be made ahead a day ahead, scooped into balls, and kept in the fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days before baking. Unbaked cookie dough balls can be frozen for up to 2 months. Bake from frozen, adding 1-2 minutes of bake time as needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made these twice in two days. Best cookies ever! These are going to be my go to cookies. Thanks for the recipe.
So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, Laura!
We doubled this recipe today as we are overloaded with Halloween candy! Such a huge hit, so delicious. Will make again!!
So glad to hear they were a hit, Maria!
Easy but comes out great! It turned out like cookies from a gourmet shop. Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe, Grace!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! Absolutely delicious!
Thanks so much, Jerri!
Simple to make and tastes so good. I baked these cookies to be shared with my friends and they like it very much. I have made this recipe three times with different candy
Thank you so much!
I used bulk chocolate caramel bars and the cookies came out with a delicious buttery flavour and great texture, tasted even better on day two!
Glad to hear that, Rhonda!