Candy Bar Cookies

After major candy-receiving holidays like Easter and Halloween, I always find myself with a surplus of treats in the house. There's absolutely no way my boys could ever eat all the candy they receive -- and I can't have it lying around for me to eat, either. No good can come of that. The solution? Chop it all up and put it in cookie batter. Then all the temptation is packed into one batch of cookies, and once they're gone, so is the temptation.

That's exactly what I did with the boys' surplus Easter candy this year (yes; I'm that far behind on posting). For this batch, I used a combination of lots of different treats to make crispy, chocolatey, decadent, perfectly textured cookies. They were pretty amazing, and I'm going to make them again this week with all the candy the boys retrieved during the Fourth of July parade (usually the parade candy isn't so great, but this time there was a lot of chocolate. Way to go, my town!).

If you're using candy that contains caramel (like the Twix bars and Snickers I used), be aware that the caramel will harden on you pretty quickly after these come out of the oven.  A few seconds in the microwave should help, or you can just make sure you chop the caramel candy finely and enjoy the crispy bits of it in the cookies, which is what we did.

This recipe uses 4 cups of chopped candy bars and yields 9 dozen cookies. Feel free to halve the recipe, or to freeze half of the dough for later.

Candy Bar Cookies

adapted from The Ultimate Cookie Collection

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups chopped candy bars

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.

3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture.

4. Stir the candy bars gently into the dough. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle. 

5. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.