Published: September 29, 2025
Try these terrifyingly tasty treats
I have a theory that most kids only truly covet Halloween candy for about 48 hours. In my house, by day three, the thrill of the hunt was gone and the candy bowl sat there, untouched and unloved. I also have a second theory: leftovers become infinitely more appealing when you transform them into something new. This recipe puts theory two to work on theory one — turn that pile of Halloween loot into blondies, and watch them vanish faster than a ghost at midnight.
Ingredients
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups broken pretzels and/or potato chips (such as Cape Cod)
• 3 cups of various chocolate candies (Milky Way, Snickers, Mounds, etc.), roughly chopped (see note)
Preparation
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 8 x 12 x 2-inch baking pan.
2 In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3 In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
4 Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the vanilla, then beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed.
5 With the mixer still on low, gradually add the flour mixture until just combined.
6 Fold in the chopped chocolate candies, pretzels and potato chips with a spatula.
7 Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Bake for about 30 minutes. (A toothpick may not come out clean because of all the mix-ins.)
8 Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting into bars.
Note: If you don’t have enough chocolate candy, add some semi-sweet chocolate chips. You can try mixing in fruity or other candy, but since I am a chocolate lover through and through, I didn’t test it.