What to Do With the Halloween Candy Nobody Wants

We’ve Discovered Alternate Uses for These Halloween Candies No One Wants to Eat.

Written By: Susan Krupa What to Do With the Halloween Candy Nobody Wants

Halloween candy makes its appearance in stores earlier and earlier each year, and everyone has their favorites: Reeses, M&Ms, Take Five—if you haven’t tried this one, buy some, stat! But then, there are always items that are dropped in your bag while trick-or-treating or in the candy bowl at the office that are still sitting there when it’s time to break out the Christmas candy. Here’s our list of the Halloween candy losers and how they can be repurposed into something more useful.

Necco: Use as Poker Chips
These pale, chalky discs are a cheap candy that always make their appearance this time of year. But before you throw them out, consider the following scenario and suggested use. Don’t you just hate it when you sit down to play poker with your friends and no one brought poker chips? To be honest, I’ve never experienced this personally, but can imagine this would be quite a conundrum. This is where Necco wafers come to the rescue and why you should always keep some on hand. They come in various colors so they can easily be used for various denominations. Ante up!



Everlasting Gobstoppers: Mini Cornhole

This classic candy originated with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Perhaps Mr. Wonka was unfamiliar with the definition of “everlasting” as these gobstoppers can be eaten in about 10 seconds flat and the chewy variety take even less time to eat. In any case, gobstoppers are great for your own office’s desktop version of cornhole. Empty two boxes, cut small holes in each and place them on opposite sides of your desk. Take turns with up to five players (there are five colors) to see who is able to sink the most gobstoppers. Then clear the desk, throw them away, and get back to work!

Bit-O-Honey: Hot Tea Sweetener
Just as the name states, a bit ungrammatically, it’s a bit of honey. It’s really bits of almond in honey taffy but I guess Bit-O-Almond didn’t have as nice a ring to it. This candy is a long-lasting bit o’ candy, certainly more so than the “everlasting” gobstoppers. But another rather overlooked potential use is as a sweetener for hot tea. Let’s say you like honey in your tea but you are all out. Oh no! Never fear, drop a Bit-O-Honey into your hot tea and let it dissolve (best to use boiling water so the candy dissolves quickly). Your tea will be pleasantly sweetened and you have the added delight of having an almond snack to eat when you get to the bottom.

Circus Peanuts: Arts and Crafts
These bright fluffy oblong candies are really bizarre. Peanuts are brown and crunchy, yet Circus Peanuts are orange and chewy. I don’t get it, but I do get how you can put these to creative use! As a cheap candy you can make great use of them by making a Halloween garland. For Christmas, tradition dictates popcorn and cranberry garland; in the same spirit, for Halloween, string together Circus Peanuts and black licorice disks (yet another use for black licorice). The orange and black motif goes perfectly with the season and should you be desperate for a sugar fix, you can always eat it!

Charleston Chew: Freeze ‘Em
The Charleston Chew was so named for the dance that was popular in the ’20s when this candy was created. What the dance has to do with the candy is beyond me. What I can confirm is that this candy is not one to be eating if you have any loose fillings unless you want them removed. However, a great tip to make them easier to eat is to throw them in the freezer, then they break easily and won’t cost you a trip to the dentist. What scientists have yet to determine is whether chewing on Charleston Chews will make you a better Charleston dancer. Further serious research is needed in this area.

Candy Buttons: Replacement Register Tape
I’m not sure what these are really supposed to be but this what they actually are: very brightly colored drops of sugar glued to strips of paper. What’s so charming about them is when you peel the sugar off, a little bit of paper always comes off so you get to eat this along with your candy, too! Wait, paper isn’t food… In any case, candy buttons still have a useful function. Let’s say you own a store or restaurant and have run out of register tape. No problem, just eat a bunch of candy buttons and then feed the paper into your register and voila! You can print receipts again.

Black Licorice: X Marks the Spot
This is one of those candies you either love or hate. And if you hate black licorice, you really hate it. And yet candy companies make licorice in all different shapes and forms for some unbeknownst reason. The best version to avoid eating are the licorice nibs. I’m not sure what a nib is supposed to be, exactly, but I do know what you can do with them. Set them in a dotted line pattern in a remote location like an old treasure map and then mark the destination with an ‘X’ (using black licorice twists). Underground, bury some real Halloween candy in a treasure chest for the treasure-hunter to find!

Caramel Apple: Lint Roller
Caramel apples taunt every kid with braces; they want to eat them only because they can’t have them. In reality, this is a candy trying to pass as a healthy snack and that’s just fine. But should one of these end up in your possession and you would never dream of eating it, the alternative use is as a lint roller. With sticky caramel on the outside, the apple shape, and the stick, it’s easy to use to remove all that pesky black cat hair from your favorite shirt. And there’s nothing wrong with caramel by itself so should a little end up on your clothing, consider it a snack to go!

Candy Corn: Creative Baking
The typical colors of candy corn—orange, yellow, and white—are meant to resemble a kernel of corn. Yet this candy is much larger and not at all similar in color to the actual vegetable. That’s confusing. But no mind, there’s still plenty that can be done with this fall candy. Candy corn can be used in place of chocolate chips in chocolate chip cookies for a fun festive treat (it’s best to chop the candy pieces up first). Or you can make Halloween bark. Melt white chocolate, then mix in pretzels, Oreo bits and candy corn. Spread the mixture on wax paper and cool. Or you can add candy corn to Rice Krispies Treats to make a shareable Halloween snack.

Popcorn: Organic Packing Material
Popcorn goes stale very quickly. Unless it just came from the movie theater, microwave or stove within the last five minutes, it’s pretty much inedible. Yet throwing it out is such a waste. Instead, save all the popcorn for when you need to pack and ship boxes as an environmentally conscious packing material. Plus if the recipient is really hungry when they get it, it’s a free snack for them!

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An Ohio native, Susan drove out to California on a whim and never left. A surfer, diver, tri-athlete, and general lover of all outdoor sports, Susan’s passion lies in adventure travel. Never one to miss an opportunity, she has sailed around the world twice, worked at a teppanyaki restaurant in Japan, rollerbladed through wine country in Spain, rode camels in the Sahara, crashed a Bollywood set in India, and even did some work in the White House. Now a Huntington Beach local, when she is not out and about, she can be found in her kitchen cooking food to feed her friends.

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