My daughter and I came up with these cookies when we were sick of having the Halloween candy in the house. We wanted a cookie that was different, but still classic; and most importantly – used up the last bit of candy.
❤️ Why You’ll Love Leftover Candy Cookies
Because I know if you’re reading this, you have a bowl of leftover candy sitting in your pantry. These cookies take no time to throw together. They are easy, fun, chewy, and it helps to not waste that leftover candy, while also not letting the candy sit in your pantry until next Halloween.
🍲 Ingredients
Sourdough Discard- This is just inactive sourdough starter that hasn’t been fed. It is equal parts flour and water that has already risen and fallen and now can be added to a multitude of recipes.
Leftover Candy – That Halloween candy sitting in your pantry? Yeah, those.
Flour – All-purpose flour is a kitchen pantry staple.
Sugar – This recipe uses 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar. But here’s a trick, I found myself prepping this recipe and not having any brown sugar on hand. So, in a stand mixer I mixed 4 cups of sugar with 2 tablespoons of molasses, and bam. Brown sugar.
Butter and eggs – I know I know, I hate that it has to be room temperature too. But just trust me.
Baking soda – the leavening agent for the cookies.
👩🍳 How to Make Leftover Candy Cookies
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and set aside.
In a stand mixer on medium speed, whip the butter, sugar, and brown sugar together until creamy, for about 2 minutes; don’t over mix or the butter will separate. Add the vanilla, eggs, and sourdough discard until just combined. Gradually add in the flour mixture until there are no dry bits of flour.
Chop up your leftover candy and fold into the cookie dough.
On a parchment lined baking sheet, use an ice cream scoop to scoop your cookies onto the baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 13 minutes. They might seem undercooked, but they will set up beautifully while cooling.
Transfer to a wire cooling rack until just cooled and enjoy with a big glass of milk!
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Any candy will do, but I do suggest the chocolate ones for better baking.
- Using an ice cream scoop ensures the cookies get an even bake, and even shape.
- If you know you are planning to make these cookies as an after-dinner treat, take the butter and eggs out at lunch time so they come to room temperature.
🗒 Variations
Because the cookies are made with leftover candy, it means the base of these cookies are able to hold any chocolate inclusion you like.
- White Chocolate Sourdough Discard Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Sourdough Discard Cookies
- Mint Chocolate Chip Sourdough Discard Cookies.
🗒 Substitutions
You can substitute the leftover candy for any chocolate you like best, my husband is a white chocolate guy, but sometimes I like the combination of white chocolate + semi-sweet chocolate. It would be a 1:1 ratio.
🗒 Best Served With
- A big glass of milk
👝 How to Store Leftovers
The best way to save the leftover cookies would be in an airtight container, or a Ziplock bag so they stay fresh for 3-5 days. You could also freeze half of the cookie dough in a Ziplock bag so you can have them ready for another day!
🤔 Common Questions
Scoop your cookies onto a piece of parchment paper until there is no more dough. Place half of the cookie dough in an even layer in a Ziplock bag and pop them into the freezer to enjoy on a later date.
regular chocolate chips! 🙂
Leftover Candy Sourdough Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie Scoop
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all – purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ cup sourdough discard
- 1 ½ sticks butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups leftover Halloween candy chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and set aside.
- In a stand mixer on medium speed, whip the butter and sugar together until creamy (this will take around 2 minutes, be careful not to over mix your butter or it will separate)
- Mix in your eggs, vanilla, and sourdough discard until fully combined.
- On low speed, gradually add in your flour until just combined and there are no dry bits. Chop up your leftover Halloween candy and fold it into your cookie dough.
- Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the cookies onto the baking sheet spacing them one inch apart from each other. Bake at 350 degrees for 13 – 15 minutes. If they appear to be slightly undercooked, they are perfect.
- Transfer to a wire cooling rack, where they will finish setting.
- Enjoy with a big glass of milk!
I like to think I’ve mastered chocolate chip cookies but I’ve yet to find a good discard recipe- this is it! Bonus that there’s no browned butter because, delicious as it is, it’s a bit of a pain to bake with. I’ll keep coming back to this recipe for sure!