Actually, You Can Freeze Your Leftover Halloween Candy

It's easy to get excited when purchasing Halloween candy. There are so many varieties, and it's hard to resist the urge to satisfy your inner trick-or-treater by BUYING. IT. ALL. Nobody wants to be that person turning little faces away at the door with a mumbled, "Sorry, we're out." Halloween is a great opportunity to be your neighborhood hero by having the biggest and best selection of candy out there.

Only sometimes, some of us get carried away, and the next day we're stuck wondering, Talking Heads-style, "My God, what have I done?" At that point, two alternatives usually surface: A) Eat all the candy ourselves or B) donate the candy somewhere. Both of these are reasonable options. You don't have to use your candy up right away either But since Halloween only comes once a year, recycling that candy a whole year later isn't going to win you any friends on the street. That's like taking good candy from a baby — guaranteed to transform you from neighborhood hero to local heel. But there's a third way. You can put that candy in the freezer for safekeeping. Most Halloween candy freezes very nicely.

Milk and white chocolate will last a whole year in the freezer. Ditto for both gummies (who knew?!) and hard candy. Dark chocolate is pretty much a dream come true when it comes to shelf life — even without freezing, it'll last you two years (but freezing does help minimize the risk of any chocolate getting too warm, resulting in the dreaded "bloom").

Whatever candy you save should be put into an airtight container (like a Ziploc), and we'd recommend labeling it with any key information, like type (if it's not obvious) and date. If you're like us, you will see this for what it is: an opportunity to expand your candy repertoire, since you can be confident of keeping it from one year to the next. There are lots of ways you could experiment with your annual selection.

You could consider what the most popular candies are in your state (though there is surprising consistency across the country), or simply stock up on everyone's top two Halloween choices. Checking out limited editions or new offerings is always fun (and makes you feel like the cool kid adult on the block). If you play your cards right, you could end up being the only house with an assortment of fresh candies spanning two Halloween collections: True seasonal MVP status.