BETTY SHIIMABUKURO / BSHIMABUKURO@STARBULLETIN.COM Snack-sized candies are the key ingredients in these cookies: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are sandwiched between oatmeal and chocolate layers in the bar cookies in the bat's wings; the other cookies have Snickers bars tucked inside.

Repeat treat

Halloween candy can be better
the second time around when
you turn the leftovers into
memorable baked treats

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By Betty Shimabukuro
betty@starbulletin.com

Today, on the eve of Halloween, that bag of Milky Way bars is looking pretty dang tasty. But give it a few days.

Extra trick-or-treat candy, plus what the kids brought home off the streets, plus what everyone brings in to share at the office ...

Can chocolate get tiring? Well, yes. Or at least a person can develop a guilty, protect-me-from-the-fat-grams complex that can take all the joy out of the Almond Joy.

But you can do something productive with the leftovers. The holiday baking season will be here in about 15 minutes, given the way time compresses at this time of year. With a little inventiveness, you can recycle your Halloween candy and feed it to friends and family, with them emerging none the wiser.

First, a few quick ideas that are too simple to qualify as actual recipes:

>> Chop up candies (soft types only, no Life Savers, but nuts are OK) and mix about 2 cups into a half-gallon of softened ice cream. Pour into a prepared pie shell, frost with whipped cream and freeze into an ice-cream pie. Mix-and-match flavors -- Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and chocolate ice cream, for example, or chocolate-nut bars with mocha ice cream. Gourmet ice cream shops charge big bucks for this, and you can do it yourself.

>> Make parfaits by layering slices of angel food cake, pound cake or brownies with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and candy pieces (Junior Mints are a good choice). Top with whipped cream.

>> Mix soft candy pieces into boxed cake mixes and/or sprinkle them on top of a frosted cake.

>> Make your own version of a McDonald's McFlurry by mixing chunks of candy into milk shakes.

>> Break up chocolate bars and use them in place of chocolate chips in your standard chocolate-chip cookie recipe. Harder bars such as Hershey's work better than, say, Three Musketeers.

>> Stick hard candies (Life Savers, Jolly Ranchers or those odd strawberry ones that someone always gives out and kids never eat) into sugar cookies. During baking they'll melt and create a stained-glass effect.

The recipes that follow were the best of several that we baked and tasted. They could be adapted to use other types of candy. Go with your favorites, or your non-favorites, if that's what you've got left over.

This recipe produces a peanut-butter cookie with a chocolate-caramel-peanut filling that would be endlessly complicated to produce from scratch, but it comes naturally when a Snickers bar melts down. The only trick with this cookie is to make sure the candy is completely covered in cookie dough. Any gaps and you'll have chocolate leaking all over your baking pan.

Snickers Cookies

www.cooksrecipes.com

1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter; softened, firmly packed
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 fun-size Snickers bars, cut in half

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; mix well. Set aside.

Cream together sugars, butter, peanut butter, egg and vanilla; beating well. Stir in flour mixture until just combined.

Shape a ball of dough around each candy bar half, making sure bar is completely covered. Roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 13 to 16 minutes or until golden brown. Cool about 10 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 20 cookies.

This is adapted from a Hershey's Kitchen recipe that replicates a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup by sandwiching peanut-butter chips in a bar cookie. Using actual Reese's chunks produces a tasty bar that's surprisingly not too sweet.

Reese's Layer Bars

2 cups pieces of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (cut each cup into 8 pieces)
>> Oatmeal layer:
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
>> Chocolate layer:
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup chopped peanuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13-by-9-inch baking pan.

To make oatmeal layer: Cream together brown sugar and eggs with a spoon, then mix in butter. Combine oats, flour and baking soda. Add to sugar mixture and stir to combine. Spread evenly in pan. Top with Reese's pieces.

To make chocolate layer: Cream together brown sugar and eggs; stir in cocoa, flour and vanilla. Add melted butter and beat with spoon until smooth. Pour evenly over peanut butter layer. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts, if desired.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until chocolate begins to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

The Milky Way Cake is legendary among recycled-candy recipes, with variations posted all over the Internet. This bundt version is adapted from several sources. One note: The candy bars will not melt smoothly, because of the nougat filling. Don't worry about the lumps. The nougat bakes into swirls or spots within the cake.

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BETTY SHIIMABUKURO / BSHIMABUKURO@STARBULLETIN.COM This bundt cake can be made with regular Milky Way bars or the dark Midnight bars.

Milky Way Bundt Cake

2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 fun-size Milky Way candy bars (regular or dark)
1 cup margarine, divided
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Powdered sugar or chocolate sauce to top cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.

Sift together flour and baking soda. Set aside.

Melt candy bars with 1/2 cup margarine over a double boiler, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly.

Cream together remaining 1/2 cup margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with buttermilk. Stir in cooled chocolate mixture and nuts.

Pour batter into tube pan. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Loosen edges of pan with a butter knife, if necessary to release cake from pan.

Drizzle cake with chocolate sauce or sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar.

ThIS one is a crowd-pleaser, sure to impress at the dessert table. The peanut-butter flavor is subtle, more an accent to the rich cheesecake taste.

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BETTY SHIIMABUKURO / BSHIMABUKURO@STARBULLETIN.COM A rich, creamy cheesecake is made with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

www.cdkitchen.com
32 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
5 eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cornstarch
8 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, chopped
>> Crust:
1-1/2 packages Graham crackers, crushed
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine crust ingredients and pat into a 10-inch springform pan.

Beat cream cheese until light. Add sugar and continue beating. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Mix in whipping cream, vanilla and cornstarch. Stir in candy. Pour into crust and bake 1 hour or until outside edge is firm and middle is still soft. Run a knife around edge of pan. Cool several hours before serving.

Nutritional information unavailable.

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