1 Spectacular thing to do with leftover Halloween candy and 1 not so spectacular

I can't buy candy any sooner than 2 days before Halloween or JR and the boy will have it all eaten before the actual trick or treaters show. This year I miss-judged the amount of ghosties and ghouls we would get so I am now left with a huge bowl full of candy. My freezer isn't very big (oh how I lust after a bigger freezer) so storing this stuff is not an option. Plus, you know how chocolate gets when you freeze it. It gets that white filmy stuff on it. Sure, it still tastes yummy but Dude the appearance. I have a hard time getting over that.

What was I to do. I couldn't let this stuff go bad (do they have a shelf-life or a half-life?) and I wasn't willing to put on the saddest movie I own, put the bowl between my legs and eat/cry my way through the movie. Though the thought did cross my mind more often than I'd like to admit. So I devised this diabolical plan; I'd bake the devil chocolates into cookies then take them into work.

My first attempt was to cut them up into chocolate chip size pieces and add said pieces to chocolate chip cookie dough. Bad idea! The cookies turned out a gooey sticky mess that were hard to scrap off the cookies sheet. (Good thing I don't do the dishes around this joint or all my cookie sheets would have ended up in the trash.) They (the melted blobs) are now going to become cookies & cream ice cream ingredients.

Next up on the hit parade was to roll the dough around the candies.

Success!

Now for a name? My first thought was Mini Chocolate Candy Surprise Cookies but dang that is just too long. Then I wanted to go with Slap That Butter on my Thighs Cookies but didn't really feel comfortable with that one. Then I thought of Halloween Candy Surprise Cookies but that seemed a little too holiday limiting. So it the interests of just getting it done. (Geez! I can be so anal).

Chocolate Candy Cookies (Hey, you got something better?)

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
30 to 40 pieces of mini chocolate candy or cut some bigger ones in half. Please don't use the full-size ones. It just wouldn't be right. They are for the really cute kids and yourself.

In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, butter, eggs, water and vanilla; mix well.

Stir in flour, soda and salt; mix. Don't over mix though you don't want your cookies to turn out flat. Beating the leavening out of your dough is never a good thing. (beating the leavening out? Why does that sound a little dirty)

Chill dough at least 2 hours. Very important step. You'll have a messy dough nightmare on your hands if you just jump right in on these things. (trust me on this one. I was licking the dough off my hands for the first hour after making this mistake. Why didn't I just wash my hands? You ask. Please and waste the dough? I don't think so!)

(look I'm not the tidiest baker, okay and unless it's before noon I have a glass of wine at the ready. Don't judge me.)

Unwrap all those candies. Eat about every other one. Place unwrapped candies on a cookies sheet and place in the freezer. I didn't discriminate on the type on candy I used but I really think you need to stick to chocolate ones. Candy corn just sounds disgusting.


Heat oven to 375 degrees. Wrap each candy completely in about 1 tablespoon of dough; place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until light golden brown.


Makes about 30 to 40, duh! That's how much candy I told you to unwrap. I'm such a dork.

Out of the 30 cookies I made last night only about 20 remain. JR asked if I would put a few in his lunch today. Whoops! I forgot. My bad :-)

Since, I am telecommuting today I plan to sit out on the patio, do some XML coding, work on my tan, and scarf down about a dozen of these things. They are obviously not going to make it to work. Probably will need to make another batch. Hmmm....

Love,
M