Food Recipe Collections & Favorites Easter Candy Recipes to Use Up All Those Sweet Leftovers Fold, dip, and sprinkle your holiday haul into these festive desserts. No Easter basket left behind. By Betty Gold Betty Gold Betty Gold is the former senior digital food editor at Real Simple. Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines and Grace Elkus Grace Elkus Grace Elkus is a food writer and editor with over a decade of experience in culinary media. Highlights: * Associate food editor at Real Simple, where she developed recipes, wrote food stories, and assisted with styling * Deputy food director at Kitchn, where she and her team were responsible for 100 recipes a month * Currently the content lead for JOKR Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines Updated on April 17, 2019 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos At first glance these pretty cupcakes look like any other—but peanut butter lovers will be delighted when a big bite reveals a buried treasure inside. Simple vanilla cupcakes are classic and delicious, but feel free to swap them for chocolate if you prefer. Get the recipe: Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes. Photo: Samantha Seneviratne It is possible to have too much of a good thing, but Easter candy is not one of them. Arguably the best candy holiday, Easter means major sweet treat business, and we hate to see a Peep go to waste. Instead, repurpose that basket full of marshmallow chicks, candy bars, caramels, Reese’s Eggs, and even chocolate bunnies into other delicious desserts. Some of our favorites include candy bar cheesecake, cupcakes, and ice cream sandwiches, but you'll find the complete list of sweet-and-springy treats below. Just say no to food waste! We Explain All the Easter Traditions You've Wondered About 01 of 15 Almond Shortbread Dipped in Melted Chocolate Bunnies While it’s always fun to find a chocolate bunny nestled in your basket, they’re often too large to eat in one sitting. Instead, melt them down into a creamy chocolate dip, which pairs impeccably with buttery almond shortbread. Get the recipe: Almond Shortbread Dipped in Melted Chocolate Bunnies. Grace Elkus While it’s always fun to find a chocolate bunny nestled in your basket, they’re often too large to eat in one sitting. Instead, melt them down into a creamy chocolate dip, which pairs impeccably with buttery almond shortbread.Get the recipe: Almond Shortbread Dipped in Melted Chocolate Bunnies 02 of 15 Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes At first glance these pretty cupcakes look like any other—but peanut butter lovers will be delighted when a big bite reveals a buried treasure inside. Simple vanilla cupcakes are classic and delicious, but feel free to swap them for chocolate if you prefer. Get the recipe: Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes. Samantha Seneviratne At first glance these pretty cupcakes look like any other—but peanut butter lovers will be delighted when a big bite reveals a buried treasure inside. Simple vanilla cupcakes are classic and delicious, but feel free to swap them for chocolate if you prefer.Get the recipe: Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes 03 of 15 Skillet Cookie Cake Greg DuPree This skillet cake is deliciously forgiving: you can mix in bits of candy bars, peanut butter cups, caramels, coconut chunks, and more. The chocolate will melt wonderfully, and candy-coated pieces like peanut M&M’s break up in the dough for a sweet little pop of color. Just avoid hard candy as you don’t want to chip anyone’s teeth! Get the recipe: Skillet cookie cake 04 of 15 Heath Bar Blondie Ice Cream Sandwiches Browned butter is cooked until its milk solids turn golden, giving it a nutty, delicious flavor. In this recipe, the butter adds a richness to the blondies that pairs perfectly with shards of toffee and coffee ice cream. Get the recipe: Heath Bar Blondie Ice Cream Sandwiches. Samantha Seneviratne Browned butter is cooked until its milk solids turn golden, giving it a nutty, delicious flavor. In this recipe, the butter adds a richness to the blondies that pairs perfectly with shards of toffee and coffee ice cream.Get the recipe: Heath Bar Blondie Ice Cream Sandwiches 05 of 15 Butterfinger Cheesecake Pie Butterfinger fans will go mad for this creamy cheesecake pie. In addition to the crushed candy on top, there’s a secret stash of crushed candy nestled in the graham cracker crust. Get the recipe: Butterfinger Cheesecake Pie. Samantha Seneviratne Butterfinger fans will go mad for this creamy cheesecake pie. In addition to the crushed candy on top, there’s a secret stash of crushed candy nestled in the graham cracker crust.Get the recipe: Butterfinger Cheesecake Pie 06 of 15 Frozen Candy Banana Pops Kana Okada This tasty treat combines naturally-sweet bananas and candy (we love using Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups) for a fun, kid-friendly dessert. If you don’t have popsicle sticks, this treat can also be made into bite-sized pieces. For extra peanut butter flavor, dip the banana first in peanut butter, then in chocolate. Get the recipe: Frozen Candy Banana Pops 07 of 15 Peppermint Patty Brownies Kana Okada You can make these decadent treats from scratch or with store-bought brownie mix—either way, they're a cinch to make. To make sure the Peppermint Patties are perfectly centered within each brownie, spread half the batter into your pan, top with the Patties (leaving a small space between each one), and spread the remaining batter on top. Get the recipe: Peppermint Patty Brownies 08 of 15 Jelly Bean Meringues With Whipped Cream Folding a handful of jelly beans into light and fluffy meringue is the perfect way to use any extras. Lightly sweetened whipped cream holds the sandwiches together. Get the recipe:Jelly Bean Meringues With Whipped Cream. Grace Elkus Folding a handful of jelly beans into light and fluffy meringue is the perfect way to use any extras. Lightly sweetened whipped cream holds the sandwiches together.Get the recipe: Jelly Bean Meringues With Whipped Cream 09 of 15 Snickers Brownie Cake This dense, fudgy chocolate cake needs no embellishment, but adding chopped Snickers bars take it to another level. Another plus: extra cocoa powder sprinkled on at the end gives it an elegant look and even more chocolate flavor. If it’s true decadence you’re after, serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Get the recipe: Snickers Brownie Cake. Samantha Seneviratne This dense, fudgy chocolate cake needs no embellishment, but adding chopped Snickers bars take it to another level. Another plus: extra cocoa powder sprinkled on at the end gives it an elegant look and even more chocolate flavor. If it’s true decadence you’re after, serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.Get the recipe: Snickers Brownie Cake 10 of 15 Peanut Butter Cookies With Reese’s Eggs The only thing better than a bag of Reese’s Eggs? A big batch of cookies with the candy packed inside. And don’t worry about having to measure the sticky peanut butter. These soft, mounded cookies require a full jar. Get the recipe: Peanut Butter Cookies With Reese’s Eggs. Grace Elkus The only thing better than a bag of Reese’s Eggs? A big batch of cookies with the candy packed inside. And don’t worry about having to measure the sticky peanut butter. These soft, mounded cookies require a full jar.Get the recipe: Peanut Butter Cookies With Reese’s Eggs 11 of 15 Twizzlers-Popcorn Snack Mix For a sweet and savory treat, mix caramel corn with chopped Twizzlers candy and pecans. Get the recipe. Kana Okada Sure, caramel corn is good on its own, but it’s even better when mixed with a salty component. Tossing it with chopped Twizzlers candy and chopped pecans makes for a sweet, salty treat that you won’t be able to put down. Serve it during movie night for an upgrade on microwave popcorn.Get the recipe: Twizzlers Popcorn Snack Mix 12 of 15 Brown Butter Peeps Marshmallow Treats Don’t let those pesky Peeps sit around and get stale. Melting them with sea salt and brown butter gives these treats a nutty, caramelized flavor. Use pink and blue Peeps to achieve the purple hue. Get the recipe: Brown Butter Peeps Marshmallow Treats. Grace Elkus Don’t let those precious Peeps sit around and get stale. Melting them with sea salt and brown butter gives these treats a nutty, caramelized flavor. Use pink and blue Peeps to make a perfectly purple hue.Get the recipe: Brown Butter Peeps Marshmallow Treats 13 of 15 Toasted Coconut Cadbury Egg Brownies With their crisp outer shell and solid chocolate interior, Cadbury Mini Eggs are a popular Easter treat. These brownies feature them in two delicious ways—folded into the batter and sprinkled over top. Get the recipe: Toasted Coconut Cadbury Egg Brownies. Grace Elkus With their crisp outer shell and solid chocolate interior, Cadbury Mini Eggs are a popular Easter treat. These brownies feature them in two delicious ways—folded into the batter and sprinkled over top.Get the recipe: Toasted Coconut Cadbury Egg Brownies 14 of 15 M&M Popcorn Balls These colorful popcorn balls are so simple to make that the whole family will love to help out. When shaping the balls some of the M&Ms may pop out—but you can easily push them back in. Just take care to remove all the unpopped kernels from your popped corn before proceeding with the recipe. Get the recipe:M&M Popcorn Balls. Samantha Seneviratne These colorful popcorn balls are so simple to make that the whole family will love helping out. Don't worry if some of the M&Ms pop out when you're shaping the balls—you can easily push them back in. Just take care to remove all the unpopped kernels from your popped corn before proceeding with the recipe.Get the recipe: M&M Popcorn Balls 15 of 15 Caramel-Cookie Cheesecake Pie Satisfy the kid in you with this quick version starring chopped Twix bars. Get the recipe: Caramel-Cookie Cheesecake Pie . Kana Okada Satisfy the kid in you with this quick twist on cheesecake, starring chopped Twix bars. Just five ingredients stand between you and the crunchy, creamy, chocolate-y dessert, which you can bake in a pie pan (no springform pan required). Though the recipe calls for “fun” size bars, you can substitute full-size—just keep in mind the total cup measurements listed in the recipe.Get the recipe: Caramel-Cookie Cheesecake Pie Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit