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Leftover Candy Canes?
It’s after Christmas now, and pretty soon, you’ll probably be taking down your tree. So, what do you do with all of the candy canes that looked so pretty through the holidays? Leftover Candy Cane Brownies, of course – I’ve got you! 
Leftover Candy Canes aren’t usually too much of a problem for us. My husband takes them out to his shop to enjoy while he’s working. But sometimes, even we end up with way more of them than we need, depending on the year. I’m not likely to throw things away if I can find a good use for them. These Leftover Candy Cane Brownies are a natural if you ask me.
Rich, chocolatey brownies with peppermint candy canes and a luscious cream cheese frosting? Yes, that sounds awfully good to me! So, fortunately, we had a bumper crop of candy canes to experiment with and this recipe is the result.
Leftover Candy Cane Brownies
Equipment
Ingredients
The Brownies
- 4 ounces butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup natural cocoa powder
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup crushed candy canes [divided - some will be used in the frosting]
The Frosting
- 2 ounces soft butter
- 3 ounces soft cream cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 & 1/2 cups 10X sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons cream or milk if needed
- 1 -2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate melted
Instructions
- Generously butter an 8 x8 or 7 x 10 baking dish and set aside
- Preheat oven to 350º
The Brownies
- In a medium saucepan, melt the 4 ounces of butter.
- Mix in the granulated sugar and cocoa powder until thoroughly combined. Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so.
- Mix in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and 3 tablespoons of the crushed candy canes.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, just until combined.
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking dish and place on middle rack in the oven.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with no more than a few moist crumbs.
- Cool completely.
Frosting
- Beat the butter and cream cheese together.
- Slowly beat in the sugar.
- Beat in the vanilla, and then if needed, the milk or cream until a spreadable consistency is reached.
- Stir in 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of the crushed candy canes.
Finish
- Spread the frosting over the brownies and drizzle with the melted chocolate. Sprinkle the rest of the crushed candy canes over the top. Cut into serving-size pieces. Store leftovers in the refrigerator, tightly covered.
There is so much delicious minty flavor in these brownies. Candy Canes in every part of the recipe! 
Perfect for New Year’s parties, or maybe just for you. You can share them or not – totally up to you, of course
Because of the cream cheese in the frosting, you definitely should keep these refrigerated, but for the best flavor, let them come back to room temperature before serving. I doubt you will have to worry about them getting stale though, because they will be gone in no time. You might even want to buy extra candy canes next year, to be sure you have some “leftover” to make plenty of these! And check out a couple of other brownie recipes you might like: Peanut Butter Cup Brownies, Lemon Spice Brownies, or maybe Skillet Pumpkin Fudge Brownies. There aren’t many better things in life than brownies, are there?
Cinnamon Chocolate Chunk Coffee Cake
Anadama Cinnamon Rolls
Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Potato Pull-apart Cinnamon Bread
Applesauce Quick Bread
Savory Chive Cream Cheese Scones
S’more Chocolate Pie
Almond Shortbread
Snowball Cookies
Pumpkin Raisin Yeast Bread
Hi Donalyn,
As a former Long Island girl, I have many fond memories of upstate. I use to hunt up in Bear Mountain, ever so long ago:)
I think I just grew up in a more frugal time. Not so much because of money but because things were more difficult to get and priorities were different.
I have to admit, until I put up a Pinterest board dedicated to Candy Canes, for National Candy Cane Day, yes there really is one Dec. 26th, I had no idea of their versatility. People make amazing things with them. Very cool:) As are these Candy Cane Brownies of yours. Who doesn’t love Brownies and that peppermint crunch. I am sooooo pinning these!
Thank you so much for sharing, Donalyn…
Thanks a bunch for the pin Louise – and looking at your board, I am amazed at how many uses people find for candy canes – wow!
And I agree about priorities – but then, everything changes all the time, no matter what. Have to roll with the punches 🙂
We are on a tight budget this year, so I can’t be throwing away any food either! These brownies look like a great reason to keep some extra candy canes around the house! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Monet – hope you get to give them a try 😉
This is so funny, because I just grabbed some candy canes from the discount bin at the grocery! I knew I would find something to do with them if I just looked online and then there you were in my feed reader this morning. I can’t wait to try these! -Ani
That is funny Ani – so glad that I could help!
These look so good! What a great way to use up those candy canes!
Thanks Amy!
We have a hard time throwing away food, too! And I know what you mean about reserving money for important things like camera lens! 😉 Love this recipe – I’ll bet the flavor is incredible. Good stuff – thanks.
I’m so glad you’re frugal…or else we might not have the recipe for these terrific brownies. My family thanks you!
Thanks Liz – I hope you all love them!
Thanks John – nice to see that we have our priorities straight!
oh these brownies look so good…we just want a big slice now…sure gonna make this tonight,thanks so much 🙂
Thank you Kumar – let me know how you like them, ok?
I keep wanting to bake with candy canes. I enjoy them all year round and know they would make a great brownie addition!
Thanks Laura – they have a flavor that we always enjoy as well!
Have to admit that I still suck on candy canes in the middle of summer. But now that I have this recipe….Well, that might have to change!
Thanks Abbe – I hope that you enjoy them!
I’m wondering in the frosting part of the recipe it says 10x sugar what does that mean? 1 1/2 cups sugar?
10X sugar is the same as confectioner’s sugar, the white, light powdery kind used for making frosting. Hope you figured this out long ago since I just found this recipe today LOL
10X sugar means confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar). This recipe calls for a cup and a half of it. It usually comes in a clear plastic bag and is often sold next to the brown sugar.