The costumes have been put away, the pumpkins are beginning to decay, the candles have burned out and you still have a massive pile of candy splayed across your kitchen table.

Candy is, of course, a quintessential part of Halloween. Trick-or-treating is the traditional way to stock up, but plenty of grown-up parties go heavy on the sweet stuff too, taking advantage of those mixed bags of mini treats you can only seem to find once a year.

You may end up with leftovers thanks to a particularly successful evening of door-to-door stops or because you overstocked in anticipation of more visitors than actually showed up. Regardless of how it happened, you are now faced with a mountain of sugary sustenance and may have no idea what to do with it all.

Luckily, candy is a surprisingly versatile thing. From cocktails to baked goods to a re-gift no one will be mad about, check out these ideas to repurpose those leftover sweets.

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Chocolates

  • Chunky cookies or brownies are a perfect pair for almost any chocolate-based candies. When mixing up the batter, simply throw in some broken up Snickers, Reese's or plain chocolate bars to create some next-level chocolate candy chip confections.
  • Bars and barks can be made by melting that chocolate together, mix some add-ins, and bam!
  • Cakes and pies are also ripe for creative flavors and mix-ins. To make things even easier, buy a pre-made crust.
  • Trail mix doesn't even require cooking - choose your favorite bits, grab some cereal squares and pretzels and create the chocolate-heavy mix of your dreams.
  • Melt it and mix it to create fondue, chocolate-dipped fruits or ice-cream mix-ins.

Fruity and gummy candies

  • Candy-infused cocktails are an adult-friendly use for those Jolly Ranchers and Skittles. Use the age-old trick of soaking fruity candy in bottles of liquor for about 24 hours then shaking them up to make a cocktail building block that is both nostalgic and hard-hitting.
  • Ice-cream toppings speak for themselves. Who needs to wait on that broken McFlurry machine when you can mix M&Ms into your bowl of ice-cream at home.
  • Candy charcuterie may be the next crowd-pleaser to bring to your next party. Forget cheese and meats, a colorful array of every flavor in the rainbow can be just as fun.

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Any and all leftovers

  • Donate to a local organization of your choice. As it turns out, there are plenty of places to give away your excess candy for a cause. Treats for Troops, Operation Shoebox, Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America are a few options for forking over some extra sugar for the greater good.
  • Make goody bags to use at a later date. Hand them out on Thanksgiving, after a birthday party or as part of a future gift. Re-gifting can't be frowned upon when it's delicious candy, right?
  • Candy playtime repurposes sweet treats for use in kid-friendly actives. Create crafts, make candy-based science experiments or use pieces for prizes when playing games.
  • Freeze for later to make candy last longer. Most types already have a long shelf-life, but freezing can extend this even longer for future use.
  • Use as your year-round stash. Put the candy away in a designated area and pull it out as needed throughout the year. Afterall, candy isn't only tasty around Halloween.
  • Sell or exchange it as part of the Halloween buyback program, which partners with local businesses to replace turned-in candy for healthier options or even cash.

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