Leftover Candy

Okay, okay…I’ll just come right out and admit it: we have a problem in our house. A big one. It involves copious amounts of candy and two confirmed candyaholics. (Another confession: I’m not really a big fan of Halloween. Gasp!) 

In our neighborhood, all the little ones assemble at a prescribed time and go door-to-door as one group. This works out perfectly as our doorbell only rings once, which means I only have to tackle the dog once. So, we grab the bowl that contains the candy that we’ve identified as “not good” and pass it out to the eager trick-or-treaters. (Oh, c’mon…you know you keep the good stuff for yourself.) And that’s that. Halloween is over quickly and fairly painlessly, except for the many pounds of leftover candy.

Yes, we purchase Costco-sized bags (plural) of candy knowing that we will have less than ten trick-or-treaters. We’ve been eating Halloween candy happily since September and we’ll probably be eating it through Christmas. And I’m fine with that. 

The alternative to this is to not buy any candy so that we don’t eat any (which doesn’t sound as tasty). That’s what my parents do. Then they hide in the back room and don’t answer the door to the trick-or-treaters. I kind of wanted to do that just to avoid the trick-or-treaters, but then who would I pawn the Dots off on? 

So…when faced with a mountain of leftover miniature candy bars, what should one do? Make a Butterfinger cheesecake, of course! 

Chocolate Covered Butterfinger Cheesecake

Crust:
1 package graham crackers (9 crackers)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 

Filling: 

16 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
12.5 ounce bag Butterfinger candy bars

Chocolate topping:
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 ounces 60% bittersweet chocolate chips (or other dark chocolate)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place graham crackers in a food processor and run until crackers are a fine crumb. In a bowl, combine cracker crumbs, sugar, cocoa powder and butter. Press into a 9” springform pan. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Remove and let cool while you prepare the filling.

Place Butterfingers in the food processor and pulse until all the candy bars are broken into very small pieces. Reserve a heaping 1/4 cup for topping.

With an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar. Mix in eggs, one at a time, until completely incorporated. Last, add in Butterfinger crumbs and mix until just combined.

Pour filling on top of crust and spread out evenly. Bake for 40-45 minutes until center is just set.

When cheesecake is done, let cool on a wire rack for about an hour, then transfer to the refrigerator.

When cheesecake is cool to the touch, run a knife around the edge and remove springform band. Place cheesecake on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. Prepare the topping by combining chocolate and cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Whisk until completely smooth. Immediately pour chocolate mixture over cheesecake, spreading it over the top and pushing over the edge to coat sides. (You may have a little left over, depending on how thick you want the chocolate on top of the cheesecake.) Sprinkle the remaining Butterfinger crumbs over the top of the chocolate.

Refrigerate until cheesecake is completely cool, at least 3 hours. 

I was incredibly worried that an entire bag of perfectly good Butterfingers would be wasted if this recipe didn’t work out, but my worry was for naught. This is one rich, decadent, Butterfinger-y cheesecake. Even though I was stuffed from dinner, I managed to scarf down my own slice and finish off Andy’s. Because there’s always room for dessert, especially when it’s made with Butterfingers.