8 Recipes Inspired By Halloween Candy

Halloween is always fun, but eventually you reach an age when candy alone just isn’t exciting enough anymore. And that’s when you start getting creative.

1. Milky Way Brownies

What’s better than a candy bar? A candy bar inside a chocolate brownie.

Recipe: Recipe Girl

2. Snickers Cupcakes

The caramel, peanut-y goodness of America’s favorite candy bar, re-imagined as a cupcake.

Recipe: Annie’s Eats

3. Butterfinger Cheesecake

Our own Bakers Royale dreamed up this pretzel-butterfinger-chocolate concoction.

Recipe: Bakers Royale

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Endless Poptails: Halloween Edition

We figured since it’s candy month, it is time to get shaking and turn some candy into, what else…a poptail!

We’ve scientifically dissected the Three Musketeers bar and broken down its nugget-y component. After pouring over our notes, we got mixing and testing with one shot after another and another…and, another.

Finally passing muster in our test kitchen, may we present a Halloween candy-cocktail-on-a-stick that is most definitely not for youngsters.

Three Musketeers Poptail

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Peeps Gone Wild

OK, we’re addicted. We’ve realized that those puffy Easter candies everyone throws out around May 1st are good for more than just target practice. Turns out you can put them in everything from brownies to pizza. In hopes of never letting another peep go stale, here are our favorite peeps recipes from ES and around the web.

Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate Covered Peeps

Raspberry Eggplant blog gives the purple guys a gourmet makeover.

Recipe: salted caramel and dark chocolate covered peeps

Peeps Monkey Bread

Pull-apart buttermilk biscuits stuffed with peeps, via the Knead for Speed

Recipe: Peeps monkey Bread

Peeps’mores

Chocolate bunnies and flourescent bunnies combine to make one perfect Easter snack, courtesy of Foy Update.

Recipe: peeps s’mores

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Magic Marshmallow Peep Treats

Generally, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I do have a foodie fetish for anything marshmallow. Combine that with my love of cute and colorful things, and it should come as no surprise that my favorite cereal as a kid was Lucky Charms, and my favorite Easter candy was obviously Peeps.

Now that I am all grown up, no magical Easter fun for me anymore, right? WRONG!

As adults, I think we can all agree that there is absolutely no activity more mentally stimulating than brainstorming ways to implement Peeps into everyday recipes. This time of year my complex mind is constantly churning out ideas. The perfect storm has been brewing, and it didn’t take long for me to pair my beloved childhood cereal and beloved childhood candy into one miraculous dessert/snack/breakfast (why not? sugar provides a lot of energy for an otherwise dreary morning).

Warning: these are not for the faint of heart; they are pushing the threshold of the human body’s tolerance for both sugar and cuteness consumption. Personally, I think they are perfect for children, or those who are still children at heart, or maybe a certain subset of the population who still think that Lisa Frank‘s designs are the height of sophistication and style (myself included).

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Peeps Ceviche

At first it seemed like a challenge straight out of Chopped. With Easter fast approaching, the ES crew put our minds to the task of concocting recipes from that prototypical Easter candy: Peeps. Running through the possibilities of pureeing, broiling or melting the marshmallow-y treats, I decided to stick to a raw application so that my kitchen wouldn’t become an even bigger mess than it usually is.

So sticking with the raw idea, I settled on peeps ceviche. Typical ceviche in it’s simplest form is a dish of of raw fish marinated in citrus and spiced with chili peppers. With that as a starting point it was fairly easy to come up with a plan for a sweet Peeps “ceviche” dish.

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50 Ways to Feed Your Lover

Here at ES we know it’s not always just about what you eat — it’s how you eat it, too. And never is that more important than on Valentine’s Day. So we’re embracing our inner love child and suggesting 50 ways (some naughty, some nice) to feed your lover this V-Day.

From breakfast in bed to beer in your bosom, enjoy our most loving countdown to date — and click on the photos for fuller explanations.

50. Giant Gummy Bear on a Stick
Practicing your oral skills has never been so sweet.

49. Electric Cookie Press
With one-hand operation and consistent flow of icing every time, the possibilities are endless.

48. Bialetti Pizza Chopper
Works great for slicing thin crust, deep dish, or unfaithful lovers. “Simply grasp the handle at opposite ends and rock the blade back and forth to create portions in the desired size.”

47. Hillary Clinton Nutcracker
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is busting more than balls in Washington these days. See what she can do with a pecan.

46. Jigsaw Cookie Cutter
Sometimes love is complicated, but isn’t it great when it feels like a perfect fit?

45. Musical Cake Slice
Dream of being serenaded by your loved one? You can have your cake and eat it, too, while listening to an electronic version of “The Wedding March” or other tunes.

44. Rooster Apron
This not-so-subtle kitchen frock is sure to send the message of what’s for dessert.

43. Nun Salt & Pepper Shakers
Don’t let that Catholic guilt get you down. Shake out your sexual repression at your next meal.

42. The Ex – Unique Knife Holder
Re-enact Fatal Attraction in the comfort of your own home.

41. Rainbow Kitchen Utensils
We love our gays more than the U.S. military, and what better way to represent pride than with rainbow kitchen utensils?

40. Flask Bra
For the girl on the go.

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Top 10 Finds at the 2010 Food Fete

snackers

The younger, hipper cousin to the Fancy Food Show, the annual Food Fete is a gathering place for foodie types; a showcase of the newest products across the world of cooking, dining and drinking; and an all-around schwagfest. Obviously, we bit. Here are the coolest new products we spotted at this year’s fete.

10. Sous Vide Supreme

sous vide

Remember last year when I got high on Top Chef and bought that Thomas Keller sous vide cookbook but then realized you need a couple grand worth of equipment to sous vide food at home? Well some clever market researcher must have realized there are a lot of d-bags like me out there, because SousVide Supreme now has an at-home sous vide machine designed for the average joe. OK, at $450 maybe it’s for the slightly above-average joe, but still, getting closer! Everyone must sous vide! UPDATE: Endless Simmer tries out and reviews the SousVide Supreme.

9. Glace de Veau

glace

Ya’ll know we don’t usually hype pre-packaged sauces and such here at ES, but when the supermarket starts carrying roasted veal stock reduction, I have to digress from the norm. Yes, yes, I can hear Anthony Bourdain carping on about how every cook should have their own homemade veal stock in the freezer and how it only takes 172 hours to prepare so what’s your goddamn problem? Well you know what? I’ve had your book on my shelf for two years and still never made any damn homemade demi-glace, so I’m going with this. In stores this fall.

8. Box ‘o EVOO

olive oil keg

I think Lucini was actually there to show off the taste of their olive oil, but I was more impressed by the packaging. I don’t know about you all, but I’ve always found those tiny 6-oz. jars of oil woefully inept at keeping up with my usage, and the large bottles too heavy to lug home from the grocery store. Solution: an ungodly amount of extra-virgin olive oil, packed into a plastic bag in a cardboard box. It even comes with a spiggot, just like boxed wine! All I need now is the self-control not to drink directly from the spout.

7. Green Garlic

garlic

This is a tasty green product that I’ve never seen in stores before. California-based Christopher Ranch is expanding their garlic repertoire by harvesting the stuff while it’s still young and green, and selling it with the leafy, scallion-like stalks attached. The green part of the garlic offers a less intense garlick-y bite, and you can still use the bulb, or even fry up those little strands at the root and sprinkle them on top of a dish. Coming soon to a Fairway or Whole Foods near you. Downside: shipped across the country in plastic packaging — I’d rather see them at the far mar.

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