Halloween Stash Devil's Food Cookies

These chocolaty 4 ingredient Halloween Stash Devil's Food Cookies are the perfectly delicious way to use up that leftover trick or treat candy...

Well, folks... another Halloween is done and over with and in the books! :) We enjoyed a successful Halloween weekend filled with pumpkin carving, dressing up, trick or treating, and costume party attending. 

I have to admit from our fun family traditions to the costumes and the food, Halloween definitely ranks in my top 3 of all of the holidays. 

This year Little Miss went as a princess from a very popular Disney movie (ahem, I am pretty sure we saw at least 10 other little girls dressed the same as her in the course of our 45 minutes of trick or treating). 

And I allowed my three year old daughter to choose my costume this year, and let's just say it was pretty darn magical. ;) (Trust me- you all will definitely want to click on that link and see what I dressed up as!)  

But every Halloween it seems that we are left with more candy than we know what to do with. If you happened to have found yourself in the same boat this Halloween weekend, then I have some good news for you all- these easy to make Halloween Stash Devil's Food Cookies are the perfect way to use up that leftover trick or treat loot...

Snickers Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Treats

A classic no-bake treat gets jazzed up with the addition of creamy peanut butter, Snickers, & honey roasted peanuts in these Snickers Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Treats...

Okay, let's have a little confession time here, folks- how many of you all purposely buy extra bags of candy for Halloween just to make sure you have enough to make some tasty treats with? (Raises hand.) Or maybe you are the one who waits until November 1st, and then picks up a few bags while they are on clearance. (Also guilty on that charge.) 

I mean, there is just something about having hoards of extra trick or treat candy on hand that makes me want to get into the kitchen and whip up a few goodies. If you find yourself with some extra Snickers on hand after those porch lights go off this weekend, then you will definitely want to make sure that these Snickers Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Treats happen.

The classic rice krispies treats recipe gets jazzed with up with the addition of creamy peanut butter, Snickers, and honey roasted peanuts making it a quick and delicious no-bake treat...

Trick or Treat Pumpkin Pie Dip

Your favorite candies from the kids' trick or treat bags come together with a favorite fall dessert in this creamy Trick or Treat Pumpkin Pie Dip...

This recipe post first appeared on the Kroger Inspired Gathering site.

This content was created in partnership with Kroger Family Stores using free products provided by Kroger.

Each fall around Halloween, my parents have hosted a costume party for the family. This Halloween tradition actually started with my grandparents when I was kid. They would decorate their garage like a haunted house and everyone in the family would show up dressed up in their Halloween costumes and with a fun treat in hand. 

We always did it potluck style, and there were also lots of games for the kids to play and a costume contest for all in attendance. This is a tradition that my parents decided to take over some years back, and now we have a family style Halloween celebration each October in my my parents' garage. 

Every single year, I try to bring a different sweet treat to the party.  This year I am bringing this creamy and fun Trick or Treat Pumpkin Pie Dip. I combined some of our favorite candies from the kids' trick or treat bags with one of my favorite fall desserts- pumpkin pie. :) 

You just really cannot go wrong with this easy to make dessert dip for a fall family get-together, an office or school party, or just because you end up having more Halloween candy than you know what to do with... 

Pumpkin Butterfinger Blondies

Okay, who has leftover Halloween candy in their homes?  *Raises hand*  Due to the extremely miserable weather we had here the night of trick or treat, I was left with a little more than I had hoped.  I am in one of those rare Halloween seasons where the only candy that is in my house is the candy that we bought to hand out to the costumed little ones who came knocking at our door.  My son is now 14 and trick or treating doesn't really appeal to him anymore, and my daughter isn't even 9 months old so candy isn't really something she understands or can eat anyways.  Even though I handed out HUGE handfuls of candy to the kiddos who did bundle up and brave the 30 degree sleet nasty weather, I was still left with about a third of the huge bowl of goodies I had started with.  What to do?  What to do?

Oh yes!  How about some Pumpkin Butterfinger Blondies? ;)  I adapted this recipe from one of my absolute favorite brownie recipes, Cooking Classy's Secret Ingredient Brownies.  (Psssttt... the secret ingredient is evaporated milk!)

What you will need:

1 cup of flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup (4 tbsp) butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp canola oil

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp vanilla

5 Fun Size Butterfingers, chopped

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray a 9x9 inch baking pan with cooking spray.  Over medium heat, melt the butter into the evaporated milk in a small saucepan.  Heat and mix until the butter is completely melted and incorporated into the milk.  Remove from the heat.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and cinnamon.  Set aside. 

Pour the warm butter/milk mixture into a large bowl.  Whisk in the brown sugar and oil.  Then the eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla.  With a wooden spoon, mix the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture.  

Now chop up all those fun little Butterfingers. 

And then mix them into your blondie batter.  Pour into your prepared baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes.  Let the blondies cool for about 10-15 minutes before cutting them.  Depending on how large you cut them, you will have about 9-12 blondies from this recipe.

These Pumpkin Butterfinger Blondies are thick, chewy, and fudgy and studded with crispy, chocolaty goodness from the Butterfinger bars.  

What leftover Halloween candy is your favorite to bake with?  Have a great recipe for them? Feel free to leave the links in the comments below! :)  (Come on... it isn't nice to not share!)

A Little Sunday Potluck- 9~30~12

Good Sunday morning, all!  And welcome to this week's A Little Sunday Potluck spread... :)

Who doesn't love a good potluck, right?  A little of this, a little of that, and a whole lot of awesomeness!  And that is exactly what you will find in my weekly A Little Sunday Potluck posts.  

Each Sunday I will post my top 5 blog finds for the week.  These could be a recipe, a great DIY project, a piece or two on natural parenting, some great blogging advice, a terrific money saving tip... whatever pops out at me during the week before.

So, grab your compartmentalized plate & your plastic spork and enjoy a little Sunday Potluck from me to you... ;)

Raspberry Cheesecake Shortbread Bars from Dimples and Delights

Raspberries?  Cheesecake? Shortbread?  In one bite?  Need I REALLY say more, friends? ;)

GOTCHA! from Midwestern Bite

If you need a good laugh, then reading this blog post needs to happen for you this morning.  Seriously.  Click on over and thank me in a few. :D

Thrifty Decorating With a Fall Flair from The Chronicles of Chaos via a Guest Post from Blue Skies and Apple Pies

I loved these fall decorating ideas on the cheap!  See what fabulous idea this post gave me that includes scrapbook paper.  Go on.  You know you want to. 

Chicken Imperial from Whites Lights on Wednesdays

This recipe is going on my must try ASAP list.  Yep, on my menu planning short list for sure!

How to Get New Things Without Spending a Dime: Barter and Trade from MontanaSolarCreations

Great pointers on how to bring back the long forgotten skills of bartering and trading.  This is something I have been wanting to try to do more in my own life! :)

30+ Halloween Candy Treats from {Semi} Homemade Mom

Yeah, I know this is #6.  I didn't want you guys to think that I had forgotten how to count. ;)  But, I had to include this bonus blog post.  I had to!  There are over 30 recipe ideas for all that trick or treat candy most of us will have in our houses by the end of October.  (And even if you don't have trick or treaters in your house, you may just run out to the store to but some candy just to make a few of these! ;) )

Is that one of your blog posts featured above? Awesome!  Please grab my A Little Sunday Potluck featured button below and feel free to slap it on your sidebar or wherever you keep all your nifty feature buttons on your blog. ;)

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To see my past A Little Sunday Potluck posts, CLICK HERE.

What blog posts stood out to you this week?  What would YOU bring to my Sunday Potluck? ;)