7 Sweet, Vegan Ways To Use Halloween Candy (Besides Stuffing Them In Your Mouth)

There is such a thing as too much vegan Halloween candy, if only for the fact that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right on the heels of this dreadful holiday. When you’ve hit the Halloween maternal load, it’s only a short time before you move on to pumpkin pies and candy canes. Giving candy is a noble option if you literally have bags of it left (try Operation Gratitude to give back to the military, veterans, and first responders), but if you only have that amount in between (too much doing alone for now a pitifully small amount to donate), it’s time to start baking (and sharing those baked goods). From reimagined candy bark to amazing vegan brownies, here are seven sweet ways to use up your leftover Halloween candy.

Black Tap Tavern

1 Crazy vegan shake

Maybe you’ve seen these extravagant milkshake creations at a Black Tap Tavern store, or maybe you’ve come across these architecturally solid desserts via Instagram. As wild and complex as a crazy shake may sound, you can certainly make one at home. We used New Leaf’s Choc ‘Rockin’ Vegan Freakshake recipe as a starting point and added some additional candy from there. This particular sweet monstrosity features a deep chocolate milkshake topped with a store-bought vegan brownie, chocolate sandwich cookies, chocolate chips, whipped cream, and cups of nut butter. Got extra vegan gummy worms? Throw them in to balance the chocolate with a fruity punch. Get creative and let your leftover candy dictate your masterpiece. Note: you’ll want someone to share this with… and two extra large straws.
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Dreena Burton

2 Caramel apples

Have you bought too many Cocomels toffees? Melt them with a little coconut milk to make caramel apples. You can use plain caramel or use the sticky caramel coating as an adhesive for other Halloween candy. Vegan chocolate drops, mugs of crushed nut butter, mini marshmallows, and even crushed cookies are great additions to otherwise basic butterscotch apples.
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Shru’s kitchen

3 Vegan dirt cake

Often referred to as Dirt and Worms or Dirt Pudding, this super simple dessert is the perfect canvas for all your leftover Halloween candy. This particular recipe features a creamy vanilla base, but you can always replace the homemade pudding layer with a trusty can of vanilla or chocolate instant mix (try Simply Delish). Whether you’re five or 50, there’s something so enticing about this pudding-in-between crushed cookie treat. Note: Although gummy worms are the traditional garnish, any gum will do.
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namely Marly

4 Vegan M&M cookies

Swap chocolate chips for chocolate chips in your next batch of cookies. These easy M&M-based vegan treats will take care of any lingering candy coated chocolates, and if you’re not quite ready for more candy, go ahead and make the dough and freeze it until. that envy calls you. This solid recipe can also be a container for other chocolate candies – from cups of chopped nut butter to coconut bars, it all works when folded into this buttery batter.
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Radiant baker

5 Peanut Butter Brownies

Vegan Nut Butter Cups are a perfectly crafted food product, but even perfection can be perfected. The magic happens when you take tender, gooey brownies and top them with chunks of chocolate-coated nut butter. Pro tip: Besides swirling the nut butter chunks inside the dough, you’ll also want to put a generous amount on top for those mouth-watering pools of melt-in-the-mouth nut butter and chocolate. These are baked goods, no, products sold in the farmers’ market.
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The kitchen of conscious plants

6 Cupcakes stuffed with chocolate bars

Cupcakes are great, but have you noticed in every baking TV show there’s always a topping? This surprise touch of flavor and texture elevates the humble cupcake into a divine dessert. Here’s how to hack it: Use your favorite vanilla or chocolate cupcake recipe and fill in the paper liners as usual. Before baking, lay a half-inch piece of any caramel or chocolate candy on top (no need to push it down, the dough will rise and cover the candy as it bakes). Let the cupcakes cool completely, frost them with your favorite buttercream or dip them in vegan ganache and garnish with finely chopped candies.
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Alter Eco

7 candy bark

When it comes to chocolate bark, anything goes. Pretzels, popcorn, gummy candies, dried fruits, chopped candy bars… whatever you have left, throw it on. Note: The recipe below calls for a drizzle of white chocolate. Make sure to use vegan white chocolate or omit it altogether. To make the base of the bark, melt plain or salted chocolate bars, smooth them out on baking paper, then add your leftover candy. Let the bark cool in the fridge for 30 minutes, then break it into delicious shards to share.
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For more sweet vegan baking ideas, read:
OMG Oreo Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies
Vegan Chocolate Pecan Cheesecake with Toasted Meringue
Apple pie and caramel pecan cookies

Tanya Flink is a digital editor at VegNews as well as a writer and runner living in Orange County, California.