If you’ve ever woke up the day after Halloween asking yourself if you can freeze Halloween candy so you don’t spend the next week eating it all then keep reading to find out which types of candy freeze the best.
Halloween, a night of spooky costumes and endless treats, often leaves us with surplus of candy. While you can eat these sweet treat your waistline might thank you if you didn’t it so much and end up in a sugar coma. Freezing your leftover Halloween candy is the perfect solution to keeping from over indulging and it extends the shelf life of your treats.
Freezing extra Halloween candy is a great idea.
Freezing not only extends the shelf life of your favorite treats but also provides a way to enjoy the Halloween spirit throughout the year. By preserving the candies properly, you can savor the sweetness without worrying about them going stale or losing their flavor once they are past their expiration date.
Not all candies are created equal when it comes to freezing.
While some candies freeze exceptionally well, others are best enjoyed fresh. Freezing changes the texture of certain candies and turns the creamy centers of others into a liquid mess.
What Types Of Candies Don’t Freeze Well?
Some types of candy just don’t stand up well to freezing. Here’s the types of candy that I would avoid freezing:
Soft Jelly Candy – these soft, fruity, jelly candies are found in lots of shapes and flavors. You’ve probably seen them in shapes of fruit slices, rings, circles and even pumpkin shapes. These types of candies don’t hold up well to freezing. Not only does the texture change but I find that the colors run.
Jelly Beans – while you can freeze jelly beans they will often stick together when freezing. As they come back to room temperature condensation forms on the surface due to the high sugar content. This makes them stick together even more and the colors run. The longer they are frozen the more grainy their texture will become.
Filled Chocolates – certain types of filled chocolates just don’t freeze well. If the filling is liquid, somewhat liquid (such as the center of a chocolate covered cherry) or has a fruit filling there’s a good chance that freezing will cause the filling to expand. This cracks the chocolate shell. When the candy thaws the center will leak out.
What Types Of Candies Freeze Well?
There are many types of candy that freeze well.
Chocolate Candy Bars: these freeze very well. You can freeze the individual bars in their wrappers. Thaw them before eating or just eat them frozen. Halloween chocolate bars are the perfect mini bite sized bars to enjoy straight from the freezer.
Some favorite candy bars that we love frozen include Snickers bars, Kit Kat bars, Reese’s cups, Twix, Butterfinger, Milky Way and more. Give them a try right from the freezer.
You can also freeze all types of other chocolate bars – milk chocolate, dark chocolate and white chocolate. Most chocolate bars will last up to a year in the freezer.
As time goes on you may notice a white discoloration form on the surface of your chocolate. It’s called bloom. This discoloration may look dusty or streaky. This is simply the cocoa butter in the chocolate.
As the room temperature chocolate begins to freeze the cocoa butter rises to the surface of the chocolate and solidifies into this white and sometimes even gray coloring on the surface of the chocolate.
Good news…..bloom is just a cosmetic issue and your chocolate is still safe to eat. It’s also still delicious and won’t affect the taste.
Chewy Candy: This can include a wide range of candies available in Halloween packaging such as Starburst, Skittles, Tootsie Rolls, Gummy Bears and other similar chewy candy. These can all be frozen.
You may find that some brightly colored candies (such as Skittles) can leave a little color behind on your fingers if they have any moisture on them after being thawed. My suggestion is to eat them while they are frozen. They are quite delicious that way.
Candy Corn: Halloween wouldn’t be complete without candy corn. Candy corn can be frozen for 6 to 8 months. Enjoy it frozen or allow it to come to room temperature before enjoying it.
Hard Candy – individually wrapped hard candies, such as Jolly Ranchers, can be frozen for up to 1 year. You may find that the surface of the candy is a bit sticky and the wrapper a little harder to remove when the candy is thawed. However, the flavor is not affected.
Caramels – individually wrapped caramels can be frozen for 6 to 9 months.
Other candies: there’s a wide range of Halloween candies available in local grocery stores. Many of them can likely be frozen. If you have lots of leftovers try placing several pieces in the freezer overnight or a day or two and then thaw them to see how their texture holds up.
How To Store Your Leftover Candy
Place all your wrapped candies into freezer storage bags or into an airtight container. Remove all much air as possible as this reduces the chance of the candy becoming freezer burned and helps to maintain the taste as well as the texture of the candy.
What about loose, unwrapped candy? Place unwrapped candy on a baking sheet and pre-freeze them. Doing this will prevent them from sticking together. Once frozen place them into a freezer bag or an air-tight container.
To reduce the number of pieces that may stick together remove the candy you wish to eat, separate them and allow to come to room temperature. Or do what my family does and just eat them frozen.
As always, don’t forget to label and date your candy.
Can You Save Your Halloween Candy Until Next Year?
While many types of candy have a freezer shelf life of a year I wouldn’t save them to pass out next year. After a year the candy will likely have some cosmetic issues and may begin to have some texture or color problems.
If you are passing out candy on Halloween night you’ll want to purchase new candy to pass out. You can still enjoy your sweet treats stored in your freezer for yourself and your family. Personally, I wouldn’t pass out the extra candy from the freezer.
What To Do With Leftover Halloween Candy
You’ve frozen your extra Halloween candy. Now what do you do with it? Here’s some great ideas:
Eat It: number one on our list of what to do with leftover, frozen Halloween candy is to eat it frozen right from the freezer.
Cookies: Add chopped or crushed up candy bars and other Halloween candies including candy corn into your cookie dough in place of chocolate chips. Try pressing peanut butter cups, Hershey’s kiss or other candy piece into the center of your cookie as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Check out these 10 recipes to make cookies with leftover Halloween Candy.
Brownies: Add chopped or crushed up candy to your favorite brownie batter or sprinkle the pieces on top.
Cupcakes and Cakes: You can also mix in chopped or crushed up candy into your cupcake or cake mix batter. Use additional candy pieces to decorate the finished desserts.
Decorations: Another good idea is to save the candy to use to decorate cupcakes, cakes and even gingerbread houses.
Ice Cream: Melt chocolate bars and drizzle over your ice cream or use chopped or crushed candy as an ice cream mix in.
Trail Mix: create your own trail mix by blending chopped up chocolate bars with a variety of nuts and dried fruits.
Freezing Halloween candy is a smart and practical way to deal with the post-Halloween abundance. It’s also a good option to take advantage of all of those good deals on discount candy after Halloween is over.
By understanding the suitable candies for freezing, following the correct freezing procedures, and exploring creative ways to use them, you can transform your surplus sweets into delightful treats year-round.
With careful storage and a dash of creativity, you can preserve the magic of Halloween and indulge in its sweetness long after the spooky season has ended.
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