Halloween was a bit of a disappointment in my neighborhood. Not too many trick-or-treaters, even though it was a Friday and I had stocked up on candy.

As a result, we are overloaded with sugar, so on Saturday I went on a hunt for ways to use up candy in massive amounts. I figure others are in my situation, so here's what I've learned ... you're welcome.

Some hints:

» Little candies such as M&Ms and Reese's Pieces can be used in place of chocolate chips in cookies. Save them for holiday baking.

» Most chocolate candy bars can be cut up and tossed into cakes or brownies made with commercial box mixes.

» Fold any type of candy, cut in pieces, with softened ice cream, then refreeze in a pie shell.

  Those are very basic suggestions. Leftover candy also can be recycled in more elaborate desserts from cakes to pies to cheesecakes. Just consult that ultimate recipe box, the Internet.

Google “;recipes using Milky Ways,”; or whatever candy you have too much of, and you'll get all kinds of ideas. Except when it comes to Skittles. The only recipe I could find for this fruity candy was to drop two bags into a bottle of vodka, with the lime ones removed (apparently lime Skittles are not vodka-friendly). Let infuse for two days, during which time the Skittles will dissolve. Drink it in sweet, fruity shots.

Thankfully, Skittles are quickly consumed in my house, so I won't need to try that idea (if you want to, though, have at it—at your own risk). Not so popular with my family are Butterfingers, so I searched out those recipes, settling on this brownie formula that's quite widespread in the Web world.

It takes 10 of those mini-candy bars. I only had five, so I threw in five Reese's Crunch Bars (an inferior aberration of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup). I imagine it would work with any crunch-type bar, in any combination. If no one eats the Kit Kats, I'm trying those next.

This recipe is adapted from the one I got from my friend Google. It uses much less sugar—if you have more of a sweet tooth, add as much as a cup more.

Butterfinger Brownies

2-1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 (2.1-ounce) Butterfinger bars, crushed (or 10 fun-sized bars)
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Gradually stir in flour until well-combined. Fold in 1 cup of Butterfingers. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining Butterfingers on top.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool. Cut into bars.

Nutritional information unavailable.