Baking Recipes,  Collaborations,  Cookies

A spooky to sweet Halloween transformation with #loveSnR

Ahh tis the season for fake fangs and candies! When I was a kid I always wondered what it was like to experience Halloween doing the whole shebang. The whole dressing up thing just to go trick or treating seemed so appealing at the time. While I eventually outgrew those fantasies there’s something I never quite outgrew– confections! In particular? Chocolate. Make that dark and deep, please!

These days when I do have the chance to partake in these kinds of Halloween celebrations, I’m one of the people behind the door who doles out candy to trick or treaters. (And okay, maybe I’m sneaking away a few pieces of chocolate too but who doesn’t do that!) It’s not that I want people to think of me as generous; I just think the smiles that come from the children afterwards are worth the effort. They fill up my heart with happy energy. So really, that makes me selfish doesn’t it? I want to bask in all those happy smiles! 🙂

The last time I did this whole candy-giving thing, it was a really small event for the children. Instead of houses, we just had tables as stations, and the kids would walk from one station to another as they filled up their pumpkin baskets. I have to say it was one fun exercise seeing all the little kiddies dressed up and excited for candy. It makes you want to make sure you’re giving them the best candy there is!

I admit I can be ridiculously eager when it comes to preparing for things like these, so it comes as no surprise that one of the best parts for me when prepping for a Halloween party is buying the candies. And the exercise is made more fun when you have so many candies to choose from as you do your shopping!

When Halloween season swings around at S&R, it’s easy to lose track of the things you buy because you kind of want to hoard everything. The Halloween treats are everywhere! And they’re packed in all these eye-catching bags that make you want to just keep hauling.

And actually, if you find yourself buying a little too much candy, you can even chop them up to make the Candy Bar Brownie Cookies Recipe I’m sharing in a little bit!

So what Halloween treats does S&R actually have this year? There’s the yellow 135-piece pack of Mars Chocolate Favorites (Php 879.95) which contains M&M’s, Three Musketeers chocolate, Milky Way’s, Twix bars, and Snickers.

The truly gigantic Tootsie Roll Child’s Playtime pack (Php 649.95) also caught my attention. Oh and that Family Pack of M&M’s mix (Php 229.95) is great for some tabletop party-snacking. It can also be used to make these M&M Cookies, if you want. 🙂

Now this 100-piece pack of Assorted Hershey’s Chocolate (Php 699.95) is definitely something that goes right into my cart. You get Heath Bars, malted milk Whoppers, and of course cult favourites Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The highlight of this pack for me are the Almond Joys, which would be perfect if only it was made with dark chocolate since milk chocolate is just not my thing, but as it is, this candy is one of the few times I make an exception for milk chocolate. I love it that much!

These Fruit-Flavoured Ring Pops (Php Php 699.95 for 560 grams) brought a wave of nostalgia over me. I remember eating these as a kid, wearing them on my ring finger because not doing so would make the ring pop look like a baby’s pacifier… 😀

Ahh another of my faves. This yellow box of 100-piece Assorted Tootsie Pops (Php 599.95) brought back so many childhood memories! I had a thing for lollipops in my youth but when I discovered tootsie pops a new love affair was born. Lollipops WITH chocolate inside? That was just genius to me!

These last two packs are what I feel most children will absolutely LOVE: The 205-piece Nestle Wonka Assorted Halloween candies (Php 849.95), and the 150-piece Nestle Assorted Chocolate (Php 899.95) containing all the classic Nestle treats. You’ve got those addictive little Nerds candies, plus Crunch bars and Butterfinger bars that kids always love.

But hey, you don’t have to give all this away to the kids! Say I kept a few of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for myself to use for these cookies, would anybody even notice? 😛

You don’t actually need to use Peanut Butter Cups for this recipe. Pretty much any chocolate candy bar from any of the packs I mentioned above (even the malted milk Whoppers really) would do the trick for these. Snickers or Butterfingers would be perfect as well, but I just decided to go with Reese’s in this instance.

It’s a pretty easy recipe too. We’ll need some unsweetened chocolate because this gives a nice deep chocolate flavour that will balance out the sweetness of your candy bar. We just melt that up with some butter to create the main chocolate base of the cookies.

Then after all the other ingredients are mixed through, in goes our chopped up Reese’s pieces. Don’t chop them up too finely because you want to be able to bite into that candy bar still! Once the dough is ready, shape it into cookies and just pop them into the oven!

Then out comes these gorgeous chewy brownie-like cookies with specks of your chosen candy bar. Oh so good! These cookies are nice and chewy with a deep chocolate flavour. The inside really does feel like a chewy brownie while the outside looks like a pretty chocolate boulder. The candies add a nice sweetness to the deep chocolate taste.

Whether you use candy leftovers from your Halloween party, or use that stash you’ve tucked away from the start, you will definitely not regret making this Candy Bar Brownie Cookies recipe. 😉

Leftover Candy Brownie Cookies

These cookies are nice and chewy with a deep chocolate flavour, just sweetened by the candy bar. Every bite is almost like biting into a brownie!

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

  • 128 grams 4¼ ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon espresso granules
  • 2 large eggs
  • cups sugar
  • teaspoons vanilla extract
  • teaspoons baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 340 grams 12 ounces leftover Halloween candy bars, chopped
  • ½ cup mini chocolate chips, optional

Instructions

  • 1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  • 2. In a saucepan over low heat, melt unsweetened chocolate and butter while stirring constantly. Once melted, add in espresso granules and stir to combine. Set aside to cool slightly.
  • 3. In a large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, and salt until glossy and well-combined. Fold in slightly cooled chocolate mixture. (You can use a stand mixer of hand mixer as well.)
  • 4. In a small bowl, whisk together flour and unsweetened cocoa powder. Fold dry mixture into wet mixture until combined. Then add chopped leftover candy bars (and chocolate chips, if using) to batter and fold to combine.
  • 5. Measure dough into tablespoon portions and roll between hands into rounds. Place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Before baking, flatten the cookie balls slightly.
  • 6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies are set but still soft to the touch. Cool completely on wire rack before storing in cookie jar. Cookies can be kept up to 2 to 3 days in a tightly sealed container.

Notes

To keep cookies soft, place half a slice of bread in the cookie jar. The bread piece will end up like a crouton while the cookies stay moist and soft.
Adapted from Bakers Royale blog
You know what, I think I’ll make some Snickers Brownie Cookies next. If you didn’t have enough motivation to make Halloween less about trying to scare people off and more about, well, candies and stuff, then I hope these cookies are giving you a little nudge towards the candies right now. And the candies are totally awaiting you at the aisles of S&R.

Just look at the wide array of yumminess on these shelves! Every time I come here I try to look at each and every thing on the chocolate and confections aisle because there’s always something new and interesting in here. And well, for someone who loves to bake as much as I do, that just means more new ingredients to bake with! This is just one of the reasons why I #loveSnR!

Well, what are you waiting for? Get started on your Halloween preparations and hop on over to your nearest S&R branch to stock up on these Halloween treats! Maybe bake these cookies and even share them with the trick or treaters!

Full disclosure: This post is sponsored by S&R Membership Shopping, but all opinions and thoughts stated above are my own.

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