Photo: TBoard/Flickr

Here’s how I got rid of my Easter candy: I ate it. And probably gained five pounds in the process.

But I know some of you probably have a lot more candy lying around today than I do – especially if you have children. You might not feel comfortable with them (or you) binging on sweets for the next week. Or maybe you’re just looking for a creative way to send the holiday off.

Here are some ideas to use up that candy. Some of them are probably healthier than just eating candy bars alone; others are just fun; and some are basically science experiments that may or may not end up tasting good.

After all, if you really wanted to abstain from those chocolate eggs and jelly beans, you’d do what half the WBUR office did: foist them onto your coworkers.

• Bake candy and other snacks into cookies, muffins, pancakes – any recipe that can withstand a good jumble of ingredients. The more variety, the better; for one of my favorite pancakes, I just mix a bunch of trail mix in with the batter, in order to provide a different taste and texture with every bite. This Momofuku Milk Bar Compost Cookie recipe follows the same basic concept, to addicting results.
• Mix jelly beans into homemade “Chex Mix” – Jelly Belly’s website has a recipe that I find alternately gross and strangely appealing.
• Make a “Peepuccino” by frothing a peep into strong, black coffee. Or, if you want to make a meal out of your Peeps – maybe a sweet potato and Peep casserole?
• And then: there’s the chocolate. Really, there’s a million ways to use chocolate, from the sweet to the savory. Here’s one idea: adding some to a Coq Au Vin. No less a source than David Lebovitz says that many Parisians make their chicken with a little chocolate to season!

Let’s hear from you guys in the comments – how do you use candy in everyday cooking? Or is it best enjoyed straight from the wrapper?