Candy Jar Cookies

Do you keep a candy jar in your kitchen? I fill small bottles for every season and holiday with colorful candies. For me it is a decoration and an experiment in self control. My kids look at it as rewards for those special times I’ll let them pick something “from my jar” and my husband just likes that I’ve actually bought some candy and not just a bunch of ingredients to make things. I actually think he’s the one who gets into the jars the most frequently, especially when I put the gummy candy in…those are his favorites.

How do I use the leftover candy?

We really don’t eat a lot of the candy throughout the season and when it is time to change my jars, I end up with a lot of leftover candy. Instead of throwing the candy away, we like to make our favorite Candy Jar Cookies with the leftovers. These cookies can be made using any candy but I think they are best with a chocolate, caramel or peanut butter type candy. Do you still have Easter candy lying around? What about Valentines or even Christmas or dare I say Halloween? Any candy will work. You could also substitute chocolate chips or any of your favorite “chips” that you have lying around. That is one of the big perks of these cookies–use what you have so you don’t have to make an extra trip to the store.

These cookies are chewy, soft on the inside and have crispy edges. The addition of oatmeal gives them a yummy texture and the base of the cookie is so good that you can customize these to be whatever flavor you like. They are also quick and easy to make. You can double the recipe easily if you have a lot of candy to use up or neighbor kids to feed. One of my other tips in making these is whatever candy you choose, give them a quick whirl in the blender or chop them up a bit so they are about the size of chocolate chips. This will help the candy be more uniform and you get a delicious bite in every cookie.

These Cookies are so simple to make

One of the best parts of these cookies, is how simple they are to make. My eight year old son made these for us the other day and they were delicious. They check all the boxes: using up food from my pantry–check! Quick and easy–check! Have your kids make them for you–check, check, check! I hope you will be enjoying one of these cookies ASAP, whether you make them or give the recipe to one of your kids to make as a homework assignment…you’ll want to check for quality control purposes of course 🙂

Candy Jar Cookies

Yield: About 1 1/2 – 2 dozen cookies

Time: 15 minute mix, 10 minute bake

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter (1 stick), softened
• ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• ½  teaspoon vanilla
• ½  teaspoon baking soda
• ½  teaspoon baking powder
• ½  teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (about 5 oz) all purpose flour
• 1 ¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup candy (chocolate, caramel, peanut butter candies work the best, you can also use chocolate chips or a combination of favorite “chips”)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, regular bake or 325 degrees convection bake. If your oven has a convection setting, do yourself and your cookies a favor and use it (I’ll explain why below)!
2. Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, mix the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar into the butter and mix again until creamy.
3. Add the eggs and mix again. Add the vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl combine the flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add this dry mixture to the butter mixture and mix together. Alternatively, if you don’t want to dirty another bowl (I almost always do it this with a large family and lots of dishes to wash), add the baking soda, baking powder and salt to the wet mixture and then add the oats and flour. Mix to combine.
5. Crush up your candy of choice until it’s about the size of chocolate chips. I throw the candy in my blender and give it a couple of pulses for the larger pieces of candy. If you are using chocolate chips, you don’t need to do this step. 
6. Pour the candy into the cookie dough and mix to combine.
7. Scoop the cookie dough into balls (about 2 Tablespoons per ball) and place a couple inches apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. 12 cookies should fit on a half sheet cookie sheet.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. If you are using the convection setting, bake at 325 degrees for 7 ½ minutes. Let cookies cool on the pan about 5 minutes before cooling. 

Recipe Notes: If your oven has convection bake, do yourself a favor and use it when baking cookies. It will give you a crispier crust, chewier middle and better overall cookie. Typically when you bake using convection you will decrease the oven temperature by 25 degrees what most typical recipes recommend. You will also decrease the baking time a bit. However, be careful, because some ovens try to “help” you by subtracting the 25 degrees for you. For example, when I bake these cookies I have to type in 350 degrees to my convection setting and my oven will set it at 325 degrees convection. If I set my oven at 325 convection setting, my oven will set itself at 300 degrees. Double check your settings when you are first learning about convection baking.

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