Best start hiding the Halloween candy from your kids now—you’re going to need every last piece for these Candy Bar Cookies.
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In Wisconsin, there’s always the possibility that Halloween will coincide with the first (or second) snowstorm of the season.
While some kiddos will bravely don their winter parkas over their costumes and trudge through the snow (all in the name of FREE candy), a Halloween blizzard usually means excess candy (and Halloween Chex Mix with Candy Corn and Salty Maple Peanuts) left in the bowl at the end of the night.
This happened to us a few years back and rather than sit around my house alone (sipping Halloween Sangria) with a quietly expanding mount of empty candy bar wrappers, I decided to put our excess of Halloween candy to more noble use: COOKIES.
Results? Let’s just say you’re going to be hoping for a blizzard because you are going to want all of the leftover Halloween candy you can get to bake these outrageously delicious candy bar cookies.
5 Star Review
“When we didn’t get many trick or treaters this year I had a lot of candy on my hands and remembered this recipe. It is soooo good!”
— Erin —
How to Make Candy Bar Cookies
With lightly crispy edges that give way to perfectly soft and chewy centers, melting puddles of chocolate, peanut butter, caramel, and hints of flakey sea salt, these candy bar cookies are gunning for the title “Most Likely To Keep Your Hand in the Cookie Jar.”
(These Monster Cookies are in the running for second place though.)
The Ingredients
- Butter. Make the cookies tender and flavorful
- Sugar. Sweetens the dough and helps the outside of the cookies caramelize in the oven and become crisp.
- Light Brown Sugar. Thanks to molasses, brown sugar adds extra moisture which keeps the inside of the cookies chewy.
- All Purpose Flour. The tried-and-true flour for all classic cookie recipes. (Try these Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies if you’d like a recipe with whole wheat flour).
- Egg. Provides structure to the dough and helps make the cookies chewy.
- Vanilla. Balances and enhances the flavor of this perfect cookie dough base.
- Cinnamon + Cocoa Powder. Just a hint of both to add a subtle surprise of warmth and cocoa flavor to the dough. (If you like cinnamon cookies, try these Pumpkin Snickerdoodles.)
- Chocolate Chips. Even with the addition of candy bars, no cookie would be complete without at least a few melty puddles of dark chocolate chips.
- Candy Bars. I opted for a heavy amount of peanut butter cups, peanut butter Snickers, and regular Snickers. The combination was absolutely DREAMY!
The Directions
- Preheat your oven.
- Beat together the granulated sugar and brown sugar.
- Add the egg and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until the batter comes together.
- Fold in the candy and chocolate chips.
- Scoop into mounds onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake until the edges are set, then remove, let cool, and ENJOY!
TIP!
For extra chewy cookies, remove the cookies from the oven after about 8 minutes of baking and lightly tap the pan on your stovetop or the oven rack to flatten the cookies. Then return to the oven to finish baking.
Halloween blizzard? I say bring it on—and bring on the candy bar cookies!
Candy Bar Cookies
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Ingredients
For the Dough:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon Dutch process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Mix-ins:
- 1 ¼ cups diced chocolate peanut butter candy bars loosely packed, such as Reeses, Peanut Butter Snickers, or Reeses Pieces
- 1 ¼ cups additional diced leftover candy: Snickers Milky Way, M&Ms, or additional peanut butter candy bars
- ¾ cup dark chocolate chips or chunks, Mindy recommends at least 64% cocoa
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter on medium speed for 10 seconds. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar, then beat for 4 minutes, until the butter is fluffy and the mixture is pale.
- Crack the egg in a small bowl and beat lightly with the vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, and cinnamon.
- Add the egg and vanilla to the butter mixture, then mix on medium speed, just until the mixture is combined and an even texture, 20 to 30 seconds. Don’t over mix!
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients all at once, then mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, just until the batter comes together but still looks shaggy. Add the candy mix-ins and chocolate chips. Mix briefly, just until incorporated.
- Scoop the dough by 1 1/2 tablespoons into mounds on top of the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes, rotate the pan, then lightly tap the pan on your stovetop or the oven rack to flatten the cookies. Continue baking until the edges are set and the centers have fallen and are beginning to crisp and brown, about 4 additional minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
Notes
- TO STORE: Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. You may also store unbaked cookie dough in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week for freshly baked cookies on demand.
- TO FREEZE: Candy bar cookies may be frozen for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
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I had saved this recipe last year when you posted it and I never got the chance to make it. When we didn’t get many trick or treaters this year I had a lot of candy on my hands and remembered this recipe. It is soooo good! thanks for sharing it :)
YAY!!! I am so happy to hear that Erin. Thank YOU for leaving this lovely review!
These were a hit! I shared with extended family, and they raved about them and went for seconds. I used Reese’s and KitKats, but I think in the future I will double up on the Reese’s because I loved that chocolate-y peanut butter taste. These are so good and the perfect way to use up extra Halloween candy.
Yay! Thank you Amy!