These super chewy leftover candy cookies are the best way to use up any candy you have around! An easy recipe that requires no time for the dough to chill!
Why This Recipe Works
This is my go-to cookie recipe! It makes the CHEWIEST cookies ever and it’s so versatile. The best part is that you don’t need to chill the dough so it allows the recipe to be super fast, too!
You can really use any type of candy and you can use seasonal holiday candy to give them a little extra flair!
I like to make a big batch and throw some in the freezer for when I want a cookie on a whim. Fun fact: my husband loves to eat frozen cookies and now I kinda do, too! Try it!
Ingredients For Candy Cookies
- Butter: Be sure that your butter is softened to room temperature! If it isn’t it won’t cream properly.
- Sugar: This recipe uses 2 types of sugars to give these cookies the perfect chewy texture!
- 1 egg + 1 yolk: The extra yolk is KEY. It helps your cookies bind and helps with the height of the cookies, plus it allows them to be so tender! You will want your eggs to be at room temperature, just like your butter. This is key!
- Flour: I used regular all purpose flour, but you can also use whole wheat flour or gluten free flour. I wouldn’t recommend alternative flours like almond flour. For those flours checkout my almond flour peanut butter cookies recipe.
- Corn starch: This. Is. KEY. I tried it on a whim after hearing about it and it is truly what allows these cookies to shine! It gives them height, which I LOVE in a cookie, I hate flat cookies! It also gives them the perfect soft texture on the inside, yet a little crisp to the outside and bottom (my husband loves the little bit of crisp!)
How To Make This Candy Cookie Recipe
First, be sure to set your butter and eggs out for 30-60 minutes to allow them to get to room temperature. This is a key step!
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with a spill mat (I love using these affordable spill mats from Amazon!) or with parchment paper, set aide.
In a medium sized bowl combine flour, corn starch, baking soda and salt. Then, set aside.
Now, cream your softened butter by itself for 1-2 minutes. You want your butter to almost warm slightly so it mixes really well when the sugar is added.
Next, add the sugar and brown sugar creaming again for ~2 minutes. Be sure to scrape the edges so it’s all incorporated and there aren’t any large butter chunks.
Add in your egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix for another 60-90 seconds until combined well.
Slowly add in your flour mixture to the butter mixture. I usually add about 1/3, mix it, add another 1/3, mix it, then add the last 1/3. Your dough should be pretty thick at this point, that is what you want!
Next, fold in your candy pieces until evenly distributed.
Take ~2 tbsp of the dough, form it into a tall ball (I like to use a cookie scoop for this!). I try to make mine almost twice as tall as they are wide, this prevents them from getting flat. Then place on your prepared cookie sheet.
Bake your cookies at 350 for ~9 minutes.
Once cookies come out of the oven allow them to cool for ~2 minutes on the sheet then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Now, grab one, sink your teeth into it and enjoy the heck out of it!
Recipe FAQs
Adding cornstarch is the best little party trick! It keeps your cookies soft and tender while also adding some height. It also allows your cookies to have a touch of a crisp on the outside, while keeping that center still soft. That is one thing my husband always looks for in a cookie- a little crisp to the bottom!
Nope! I hate the chilling of cookie dough and this recipe doesn’t need it. When I make cookies I want to make them now, not in 3 hours! Since this dough is thick, you don’t need to do that step. SCORE!
I don’t like to waste food, so I usually throw my extra egg white into a container and I just add it to my next serving of scrambled eggs! If you won’t use it within a week, I’d recommend freezing it. You can freeze uncooked egg white for up to about a month!
If you prefer to use shortening in your cookies you totally can. There are some differences between butter and shortening that may affect the texture of your cookies, though. For instance, butter has more water content. So, if you do decide to use shortening you will likely result in a slightly more firm cookie with even more height to them. But, they’ll still turn out if you sub shortening for the butter in this candy cookies recipe!
This post has some really good info on subbing shortening for butter and vice versa!
Once you get your cookies all made, here is how to store them:
On the counter: Just pop them into an air tight container. They’ll keep for about a week!
In the freezer: I recommend freezing these cookies first on a cookie sheet, then putting into a freezer bag and freezing. This helps keep them from sticking together, forming on massive cookie! These will keep for ~3 months! You can freeze both cooked cookies or uncooked cookie dough this way. The choice is yours! (My husband actually likes to eat frozen cookies, which, is actually delicious!)
Expert Tips
While you can use most candy bars there are a couple things to note about each type depending on the filling:
- Snickers: Snickers are so delicious in these candy cookies. The nuts add a nice crunch, however don’t make them too big of chunks because the caramel can make the cookie too moist in the area with the chunk.
- Butterfingers: Mmmm! Love these ones! Unless it’s a large chunk sometimes these once just kind of dissolve into the cookie for just a burst of butterfinger flavor, so it’s less of a “chunk”. I like to do a mix of smaller pieces + bigger ones, for the best of both worlds.
- Reese’s: For these, I like to keep these in slightly larger chunks and save a few to add on top of the cookies after I shape them, but before making. I think they’re really nice visually!
- M & M’s: I like to gently chop these. It helps to add more color to your cookies, but also sometimes I personally think an M & M is too big and dense of a chunk! Maybe I’m alone on that one…. A mix of chopped VS whole is nice, too!
- Kit Kats: These are pretty straight forward, ya get a kit kat chunk! Delish and a nice little added crunch from the cookie parts of the candy bar!
Related Cookie & Sweets Recipes
Leave a comment with what types of candy you use for these leftover candy cookies! Be sure to leave a star rating on the recipe card if you do love them, too!
XOXO
-Colleen
Chewy Leftover Candy Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg + 1 yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup chopped candy/candy bars
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with a silicone, non-stick baking liner or parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl combine flour, corn starch, baking soda and salt. Set this aside, too.
- Cream butter for 1-2 minutes until nice and soft.
- Add sugar and brown sugar, creaming again for ~2 minutes. Be sure to scrape the edges so it’s all incorporated and there aren’t any large butter chunks.
- Now add in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Continue to mix until combined well.
- Slowly add in your flour mixture to the butter mixture, 1/3 at a time. Your dough will be thick, this is good!
- Next, fold in your candy pieces until evenly distributed.
- Take ~2 tbsp of the dough, form it into a tall ball (I like to use a cookie scoop for this!) I try to make mine almost twice as tall as they are wide, this prevents them from getting flat. Then, place on your prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake your cookies at 350 for ~9 minutes.
- Once cookies come out of the oven allow them to cool for ~2 minutes on the sheet then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Enjoy!
Rebecca says
Fantastic cookie! Easy to make, and I love how they stayed thick. Crispy outside, soft inside. Time I’ll make my candy chunks even bigger. Yum!
Anna G, RD says
Not exaggerating when I say these are the BEST cookies I’ve ever made and tasted!! They’re delightfully chewy and moist on the inside with a slight crisp to the outside. My family devoured them in just a few days! I can’t wait to make them with just plain chocolate chips now that our Halloween candy is gone 🙂
Ali says
Turned out really great — nice and chewy with a little crunch out the edges. The dough is THICK, but makes a good texture. I used leftover toffee from the holidays, and that was a nice crunchy little extra. I can’t wait to try it with other candy!
Colleen says
These cookies are so delicious and soft! The dough isn’t TOO sweet either, which is awesome.