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25 Creative Recipes To Use Up All Your Leftover Valentine's Day Candy

Even dreaded conversation hearts 😍.

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puppy chow with chocolate and peanuts
PHOTO: JOSEPH DE LEO; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

Between classroom kids parties, Galentine’s get-togethers, spur-of-the-moment drugstore check-out purchases (relatable!), and more, come mid-February it’s pretty easy to end up with TONS of leftover Valentine’s candy. While we’re all about the sugar in the weeks leading up to V-Day, post-holiday is a different story. Rather than throwing it away or just hiding it away in the back of your cupboard (the horror!), we’ve rounded up 25 recipes that help give that candy new life—even dreaded Sweethearts conversation hearts. 😉

Candy is candy is candy, so the real trick when it comes to leftovers is to get it out of its pink and red, heart-and-Cupid-festooned packaging and into a recipe where no one will be able to tell its origins. Chocolate is easiest, especially when that chocolate is already in pieces, like m&ms or Reese’s pieces. We used those to great effect in our m&m cookie bars, our giant Reese’s stuffed cookie, our chocolate pizza, or our drunken peanut butter cups, but hot tip: by chopping up your candy bars into smaller pieces, you can pretty much sub any of them into these recipes.

It’s not all about chocolate either. If you’ve got leftover fruity candy, try turning them into our stained glass cookies, our Starburst edible slime, our Skittles vodka slushies, our geode cookies, or our Starburst Jell-O shots. Speaking of, we’ve even got a few recipes here to repurpose everyone’s favorite Valentine’s candy to hate: conversation hearts. Best part? Our conversation heart cookies and our candy heart bark are way more enjoyable than eating those chalky hearts on their own.

1

Copycat Kudos Bar

copycat kudos bars topped with chocolate and candy
PHOTO: JOSEPH DE LEO; FOOD STYLING: TAYLOR ANN SPENCER

If you were a kid in the '90s, the thought of a Kudos Bar likely brings back memories of a chocolatey, peanut buttery, crisp yet chewy, after-school treat (and maybe some lunchtime bartering). While you can’t find them in stores anymore, our no-bake copycat Kudos Bars are even better than we remember.

Get the Copycat Kudos Bar recipe.

2

Gummy Bear Cocktail

gummy bear cocktail with lemon blueberry
PHOTO: ROCKY LUTEN; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

We’re BIG fans of a good hack, recipes that save time, and using the smallest amounts of leftovers possible to create innovative treat—remember our jam jar cocktail? This is its next iteration, made extra extra cute.

Get the Gummy Bear Cocktail recipe.

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3

Chocolate Pizza

chocolate covered pizza dough topped with marshmallows, pretzels, and candy

We start with our favorite homemade pizza dough here, but you can absolutely use store-bought if that's what you prefer. Add some sliced strawberries, marshmallows, pretzels, candy, or just leave it at Nutella! The best thing about this easy dessert? You absolutely can't mess it up.

Get the Chocolate Pizza recipe.

4

Snickers Puppy Chow

puppy chow with chocolate and peanuts
PHOTO: JOSEPH DE LEO; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

We're obsessed with puppy chow (also known as muddy buddies), and we've got a little secret: they're even more amazing when you add candy to them! This recipe calls for Snickers, but anything chocolate-y goes.

Get the Snickers Puppy Chow recipe.

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5

Snickers Cheesecake

snickers cheesecake
Parker feierbach

Ever wished you could have a Snickers Bar... in cheesecake form? Well, today's your day! This outrageous cheesecake has a creamy milk chocolate center and is topped with plenty of caramel and roasted salted peanuts. Oh, and Snickers, obviously.

Get the Snickers Cheesecake recipe.

6

Stained Glass Cookies

sugar cookies with cutouts filled with melted jolly ranchers to look like stained glass
ERIK BERNSTEIN

Love sugar cookies but hate decorating them? These are for you! Simply fill cookie cut outs with hard candies like Jolly Ranchers, then bake. The candies will melt then turn soft and chewy after cooling, adding a bright pop of color to your holiday dessert table.

Get the Stained Glass Cookies recipe.

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7

Candy Heart Bark

Candy Heart Bark
Sally Quinn

This chocolate bark only takes about five seconds to make (though it does chill in the fridge to firm up after) and is the best way to eat Valentine's chocolate and candy at the same time.

Get the Candy Heart Bark recipe.

8

Reese's Chip Cookies

reese's chip cookies
Ethan Calabrese

These cookies have THREE different types of chips: semisweet, peanut butter, and Reese’s Minis. Feel free to swap in your favorite chocolate and/or peanut butter candies, just make sure to keep the proportions the same (2 1/2 cups all together).

Get the Reese's Chip Cookies recipe.

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9

S'mores Skillet Cookie

s'mores skillet cookie with hershey bars and marshmallows
PHOTO: PARKER FEIERBACH

Miniature Hershey bars are definitely one of the more bummer chocolates to get as a Valentine. What's not a bummer? Turning them into this s'mores skillet cookie that you can enjoy all year long, no fire pit required.

Get the S'mores Skillet Cookie recipe.

10

M&M Cookie Bars

mm cookie bars cut into squares
PHOTO: LUCY SCHAEFFER PHOTOGRAPHY; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON

These have all the comfort of a chocolate chip cookie, with the added crunch of M&M's and the heft of a bar shape, making for a delicious treat that’s impossible to put down.

Get the M&M Cookie Bars recipe.

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11

Jelly Bean Bellini

red, blue, and yellow layers in a drink topped with jelly beans
PHOTO: BRYAN GARDNER; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

We just found your new favorite jelly bean flavor—it’s bellini! This drink is for adults that enjoy the childlike joy of jelly beans. Sip each layer one by one or mix the cocktail together for a more tutti frutti kind of vibe.

Get the Jelly Bean Bellini recipe.

12

Monster Cookies

monster cookies with oatmeal and mm's candy
PHOTO: LUCY SCHAEFFER PHOTOGRAPHY; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

The origin of the name "monster" cookies isn't clear, but it may refer to the fact that they're like Frankenstein's monster—made up of a combination of the parts of many other cookies. We love 'em because you can really throw anything into the dough, even leftover Valentine's candy.

Get the Monster Cookies recipe.

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13

Drunken Peanut Butter Cups

drunken peanut butter cups
Parker feierbach

These martinis use Reese's Pieces to infuse the vodka so that they taste just like your favorite peanut butter cup. This takes a chocolate martini to a whole new level. The Reese's and peanut butter rim makes everything better, but you can skip if you like.

Get the Drunken Peanut Butter Cups recipe.

14

Number Cake

number cake
Parker feierbach

For this sheet cake, we traced our number on the back of an empty cereal box to used it as a stencil—trust us, it's very doable! As long as you top it with a fun assortment of candies (even the less desirable non-chocolate ones), it'll look adorable no matter what.

Get the Number Cake recipe.

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15

Graduation Caps

rolos and reese's cups with chocolate bars stacked on top and candy to resemble graduation caps
PHOTO: JOSEPH DE LEO; FOOD STYLING: TAYLOR ANN SPENCER

Candy lasts practically forever, so we won't judge if you've till got some Valentine's treats sticking around come spring. Before you put out the festive napkins or blow up balloons for the inevitable graduation parties, use your leftovers to make these quick, easy, totally no-cook sweet little candy graduation caps.

Get the Graduation Caps recipe.

16

Giant Reese's Stuffed Cookie

giant reese's stuffed cookie
LUCY SCHAEFFER PHOTOGRAPHY

When you have an excess of peanut butter cups from the classroom V-Day party, the most logical thing to do is to stuff them into a giant skillet cookie cake and top it with ice cream... right?

Get the Giant Reese's Stuffed Cookie recipe.

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17

Peanut Butter Cake

peanut butter cake

Those that love peanut butter LOVE peanut butter, and this easy cake—featuring peanut butter cake, peanut butter frosting, AND peanut butter drizzle— was made with those in mind. We love whole chopped Reese's, but for a colorful (and still peanut-buttery) twist, use chopped Reese's Pieces instead!

Get the Peanut Butter Cake recipe.

18

Easter Bunny Popcorn Bars

easter bunny popcorn bars with marshmallow sprinkles cadbury egg
PHOTO: JOEL GOLDBERG; FOOD STYLING: MICAH MORTON

These are the BEST use of leftover Easter candy like Robin's Eggs and mini Cadbury Eggs, so we thought, why not utilize this recipe for Valentine's Day candy too (it can't be just us who still have some kicking around by April?)? Swap those eggs for peanut M&Ms, Whoppers, and whatever else you've still got, and you'll be in business.

Get the Easter Bunny Popcorn Bars recipe.

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19

Reese's Stuffed Rice Krispies Treats

reese's stuffed rice krispies treats
Parker feierbach

It's not that traditional Rice Krispies Treats aren't good—they're just a little boring and safe. These are the opposite. They're surprising and delicious in a way that everyone, including purists, will love.

Get the Reese's Stuffed Rice Krispies Treats recipe.

20

Conversation Heart Cookies

conversation heart cookies
Chelsea Lupkin

Move over, chocolate chip. These cookies are insanely easy and adorable—kids flip over them. Best part? They taste infinitely better than conversation hearts do on their own. 😉

Get the Conversation Heart Cookies recipe.

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