No trick-or-treaters because of COVID-19? Here are four recipes to use up all that Halloween candy

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The magic of Halloween is that any candy eaten on All Hallow’s Eve is calorie-free, at least in our hearts. The real problem is the leftover candy that sticks around for days or weeks. Even in houses with no trick-or-treaters, those mini chocolate bars seem to be everywhere.

Amplify: COVID-19 has spoiled a lot of things, but I won’t let it ruin our Halloween

The challenge this week was to use up those sugary temptations. To help balance both the guilt of feeding your kids too much junk and the guilt of throwing it all in the garbage, Lucy came up with some delicious baked goods that can be frozen for a time when the abundance of sweet stuff is less overwhelming.

Any mix of chocolates will do in these recipes, while harder candy and gummies can be used for decoration. The real challenge will be wrestling the candy away from the trick-or-treaters.

Monkey Bread Surprise

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We made these pull-apart buns in a small bundt pan with 16 pieces of dough, but a cast iron pan or even a rectangular oven-proof dish will do. Most purchased pizza dough is 2 pounds, so double the recipe for a standard size pan.

Servings: 8

MONKEY BREAD SURPRISE

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 lb pizza dough
• 8 mini chocolate bars, such as Mars or Aero, halved
• Butter, for greasing

METHOD

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Grease pan generously with butter.

Combine sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish. Place butter in a separate shallow dish.

Form dough into a long tube shape with your hands. Cut dough into 16 pieces and fill each piece with half a mini chocolate bar or peanut butter cup, pinching the edges together to seal in the chocolate.

Roll a piece of filled dough in butter, then in the sugar mixture until well coated. Place sugared dough into bundt pan and continue with remaining dough. Drizzle remaining butter over dough.

Bake until dough is cooked and sugar mixture is golden, about 25 minutes. Cool slightly then invert onto a platter. Serve warm or at room temperature with sprinkled sugar. For added colour sprinkle more leftover candies on top.

No-bake Coffee Crisp Cheesecake

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A delicious cheesecake with a mysterious ingredient. Very simple to make, and feel free to mix in other flavours of wafer candy or cookies.

Servings: 10

NO-BAKE COFFEE CRISP CHEESECAKE

• 3 cups Coffee Crisp crumbs (about 20 mini or 5 regular bars, ground up in a food processor)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 cups block cream cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 8 mini Halloween bars or 2 regular bars, roughly chopped
• Butter, for greasing

METHOD

Grease a 9-inch springform pan with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Pulse Coffee Crisp crumbs and butter in a food processor until fine and mixture clumps together. Firmly press crumb mixture into prepared pan and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Combine cream cheese, cream, sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Beat on high speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Stir in chopped chocolate bars. Spread over Coffee Crisp base and freeze until firm, about 3 hours.

Run a thin knife around the edges and transfer cheesecake to a serving platter. Garnish with additional chopped Coffee Crisp. Allow to soften for one hour before serving.

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Whining and Dining’s One-Pot Brownies with additions

This brownie recipe comes from the book Whining and Dining, written by Emma and Eshun Mott. It’s the best brownie recipe around and adding in some extra candy surprises in place of the chocolate chips takes it to the next level. It is easily doubled and can also be made with a gluten-free flour mix.

Servings: 16 to 32

ONE-POT BROWNIES WITH ADDITIONS

• ½ cup unsalted butter, cut in small pieces
• 2 oz dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chopped Halloween candy of any kind (or chocolate chips)

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350 F

Grease an 8-inch square cake pan and line bottom and 2 sides with parchment paper

Melt butter and chocolate in heavy pot over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and eggs until well combined. Stir in flour, cocoa powder and salt until just incorporated. Stir in vanilla and candy.

Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until brownies are set and a cake tester comes out with some crumbs clinging to it. Do not overbake.

Cool in pan over wire rack. Transfer brownies to a cutting board and cut into whatever size you prefer.

Fun Fondue

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Easy to make and a great success with kids, especially when you dip in salty potato chips.

Servings: 4 to 6

FUN FONDUE

1. 1 cup white chocolate
2. 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
3. 1 cup Halloween chocolates, chopped

METHOD

Melt white chocolate over low heat until liquefied. Take off heat and whisk in yogurt. Stir in chopped chocolates. Place in a fondue pot or small pot and reheat gently until warm.

Dip sliced apples, pretzels or other candy into the mixture.