Loving the Leftovers

Same problem, different chocolate holiday. If your house is anything like ours, the Easter Bunny left way too much chocolate behind (even too much for the mom stash). Solutions for what to do with all of the leftovers were one of the topics for discussion at the Savvy HQ Monday morning meeting. Suggestions from around the table included everything from throwing it out, to melting it for fondue, to coming up with a chocolate management plan, much like the Halloween Candy Plan.
After reviewing suggestions, I have put together some of our favourite tips and tricks to reinvent leftover Easter candy and turn into a post-Easter treat.

Chocolate Bunnies or Eggs

Melt It: Make a chocolate fondue for a special dessert, make some s’mores on the BBQ or melt it in a double boiler or glass bowl over simmering hot water and drizzle it over ice cream. Add a couple of chunks to a mug of hot chocolate or use it as a dip for fresh fruit or chocolate dipped pretzels.

Chop It: Use leftover Easter chocolate in place of baking chips or squares in all of your favourite chocolate recipes. If you haven’t had the chance, now is your opportunity to try Sarah’s Chocolate Nests, Leslie’s Chocolate Skor Bars, Minnow’s Toffee Bits Triangles, Maggie’s Fantasy Fudge or Rising Chefs’ Healthy Chocolate Brownies. In your favourite chocolate chunk cookie, chocolate cake or chocolate frosting recipe, substitute chocolate chunks with chopped up hollow or solid chocolate bunnies or eggs. Insert one solid chocolate egg into the batter of each individual muffin or cupcake.

Candies

Store jelly beans, gummies and M&Ms in an airtight container and use for cupcake/cake/cookie décor for your next bake sale or birthday party. Create mini-bags of candy to hand out when watching movies or on car trips. Crumble malt eggs and M&Ms and sprinkle them over ice cream.

Freezing leftover chocolate for baking is quite acceptable, but be sure to wrap it well and store it in an airtight bag or container. Bring it to room temperate very slowly, because drastic temperature changes can cause the chocolate to bloom (turn white or grey, grainy), which can change the flavour and consistency.

What is your favourite tip or trick for using up leftover chocolate treats?