We often find ourselves with more Halloween sweets than we know what to do with, resulting in a sugar overload and the need for some creative ideas on how to use them. But don’t fear, we’ve pulled together a list of some of our favourite recipes for you to try, helping you to reduce waste and tackle the mountain of Halloween treats that you’ve been left with.
Leftover pumpkins? Try this delicious recipe…
The number of pumpkins wasted at Halloween is frightening: Of the 39.9 million pumpkins that were bought in 2022, 22.2 million of them were left wasted and uneaten. This savoury scone recipe is a tasty way to use up unwanted pumpkin…
Easy Serves 8 25 minutes to prep 20 minutes to cook
Ingredients:
- 40g butter, plus extra for greasing
- 200g pumpkin flesh, cut into small pieces
- 225g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Handful grated Cheddar
- Small handful chopped fresh coriander or flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 3-4 tbsp milk, plus extra for brushing
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark 6 and grease a baking tray with a little butter.
Put the pumpkin pieces into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes until the pumpkin is tender. Drain the water and mash the pumpkin with a fork, leave to cool.
Sift flour and baking powder into a big bowl. Add the butter and using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until it looks like breadcrumbs.
Use a butter knife to mix the mashed pumpkin into the flour mix. Add the cheese and herbs, plus the milk to make a dough.
Sprinkle flour onto the work surface and lightly knead the dough for 30 seconds.
Form the dough into a ball and lightly pat it down until it’s about 3cm thick. Cut out scones using a cutter coated in flour and place these onto the baking tray, evenly spaced apart.
Brush the tops with milk and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack and serve with plenty of butter!
Use your pumpkin seeds!
Carving pumpkins is great fun, but how often do you use the seeds found inside? The insides of the pumpkins are scraped out, binned, and put into landfills, creating gases which are harmful to the environment. However, you can use the seeds in a few ways.
Roast them and create a delicious snack…
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6.
Wash the seeds thoroughly and remove the stringy bits of pumpkin flesh. Dry them well using kitchen roll.
Toss the seeds with 2 tsp of olive oil and spread them out onto a baking tray. Roast them for 10 minutes.
Serve with a little seasoning as a snack or use as garnish for salads and soups.
Use them in a bird feeder…
Birds also can eat the pumpkin seeds. Try putting some in a bird feeder and place it in your garden for the birds to enjoy!
Repurpose your Halloween sweets into this cookie dough recipe…
Create some cookie dough using your stash of Halloween chocolate that can be easily frozen and baked at any time for a delicious treat.
Easy Makes 20 15 minutes to prep 10 minutes to cook
Ingredients:
- 158g butter, softened
- 100g granulated sugar
- 105g light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 268g all-purpose flour
- Chocolate-based Halloween sweets, chopped
Method:
Chill the chocolates in the fridge for an hour before you begin making the cookies. Once chilled, chop into chunks.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a mixer, combine the butter and sugars, mixing until smooth. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
Mix in the dry ingredients until a dough forms. Toss in the Halloween chocolates (if you’re using caramel-based chocolates leave these out of the dough and press in later) and mix until combined. Make the dough into 1.5 to 2 tbsp-sized balls.
To freeze the cookie dough for baking later, line a baking tray with parchment paper and even space the dough out on the tray. Press a few extra pieces of chopped chocolate (or your caramel-based chocolates) and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
Transfer to a freezer-safe plastic container or bag and return to the freezer until ready to bake. The dough can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To cook the cookie dough, preheat the oven to 180C and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper. Evenly space the cookie dough balls on the trays and press in a few extra pieces of chopped chocolate (or your caramel-based chocolates).
Bake the cookies one tray at a time for 8 – 10 minutes, remove from the oven when the edges look set. Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Need something quick and easy? Try this chocolate bark…
Looking for something quick and easy to make with your leftovers? Then this is for you, a super-simple slab of swirled milk and white chocolate stubbed with chopped Halloween sweet treats…
Easy Makes 1 slab 15 minutes to prep
Ingredients:
- 200g milk chocolate
- 100g white chocolate
- Chopped Halloween sweets and chocolates
- 1/4 tsp sea salt flakes (optional)
Method:
Melt the milk and white chocolate in separate bowls suspended over pans of gently simmering water, stirring every now and then. Meanwhile, line a large baking tray with baking parchment.
Pour the milk chocolate onto the tray and spread it into a rectangle, roughly 20 x 25 cm. Drizzle over the white chocolate and create a swirled pattern by dragging a cocktail stick back and forth.
Scatter the chopped sweets and chocolate. Sprinkle with sea salt and leave somewhere cool to set.
Once fully set, break into shards and enjoy!
Looking for more spooktacular Halloween activities? Check out our blog on ‘How to make Halloween decorations out of Empty Toilet Rolls’ for creative ways to add some eerie charm to your Halloween decor.
