# Ideas for using up leftover candy cane?i
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 10, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506 "2015-01-10T21:51:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/1 "2015-01-10T21:51:31Z")
I have a big ol’ candy cane I need to use up. The only ideas I’ve had so far are crushing it and adding the pieces to brownies or maybe make ice cream with it.
Anything else? The more outlandishly creative the better for entertainment purposes … Practical ideas welcome too.
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### Author:  [@Tara57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tara57)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/2 "2015-01-10T22:36:49Z")
Crush and:
roll chocolate dipped pretzel rods in the crumbs
add the crumbs to cookie dough or hot cocoa
sprinkle over frosted cupcakes
make peppermint bark
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### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/3 "2015-01-10T23:22:31Z")
Is bark basically just melting chocolate and pouring it out to spread out and re-harden in a thin layer? With stuff added to it?
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### Author:  [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/4 "2015-01-10T23:24:30Z")
Make sugar cookies, and when cutting into shapes, hollow out the middle bit. Add crushed candy cane and bake. If you do this with jolly ranchers, you can make your own little edible stained glass windows.
Knock off bits into long slivers like toothpicks and use to spear fruits as a dessert shish kebab. Or drop the speared fruit into some sort of cocktail, as you would olives in a martini.
> [@](#):
>
> Is bark basically just melting chocolate and pouring it out to spread out and re-harden in a thin layer? With stuff added to it?
Yep. Stuff like nuts, marshmallow fluff, crushed bits of candy and the like, then break it up into chunks like peanut brittle.
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### Author:  [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2015, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/5 "2015-01-10T23:30:23Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#):
>
> Is bark basically just melting chocolate and pouring it out to spread out and re-harden in a thin layer? With stuff added to it?
Yup.
Smash up the peppermint, melt chocolate, mix together, smooth into pan. cool. Voila, bark.
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### Author:  [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/6 "2015-01-10T23:40:21Z")
[Candy cane biscotti](http://blog.williams-sonoma.com/cookie-of-the-day-candy-cane-biscotti/).
That’s what I’m planning to do with mine anyway.
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### Author:  [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/7 "2015-01-10T23:43:04Z")
I saw a porn video once where they found some creative uses for very large candy canes…
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### Author:  [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2015, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/8 "2015-01-11T04:38:34Z")
I smashed mine to pieces and used them in fudge and white chocolate brittle. We also rolled some truffles in the dust left behind.
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/9 "2015-01-11T04:45:45Z")
Make a simple syrup and while
It is still hot, put the candy cane in. End up with peppermint syrup.
Can also soak in vodka to make peppermint vodka.
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### Author:  [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2015, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/10 "2015-01-11T09:33:10Z")
Save it for next year. And the year after that. And the year after that…
Candy canes are really just decorations, right?
They never tasted good as candy…even when I was a kid. _Way_ too minty to eat…they just leave an unpleasant burning sensation in your mouth.
And Candy canes are like Twinkies…they never go bad.
You can hang it on the tree every year and pass it down to your great-grandkids.
But don’t eat it. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2015, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/11 "2015-01-11T12:05:08Z")
When I was a kid, we would jam a peppermint stick into a lemon, squeeze the lemon, and suck the lemon juice through the peppermint stick like a straw. The juice would pick up the sugar from the peppermint stick so it wasn’t so sour, and lemon with peppermint is surprisingly good.
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### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/12 "2015-01-11T19:13:29Z")
I’ve never see a hollow straw made out of hard candy, peppermint or otherwise. Old-timey stick candy, yes, but not as a hollow straw.
_gets out teeny-tiny skinny drill bit_
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### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/13 "2015-01-11T19:24:07Z")
You could toss a chunk of it into your coffee in lieu of sugar.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/14 "2015-01-11T20:33:20Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#):
>
> I’ve never see a hollow straw made out of hard candy, peppermint or otherwise. Old-timey stick candy, yes, but not as a hollow straw.
Try it sometime. Peppermint candy, sticks or canes, are full of minute air channels created during the manufacturing process. It’s a hard pull at first, but as the sugar melts, the channels open up. Eventually, the stick falls apart.
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### Author:  [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/15 "2015-01-11T20:52:40Z")
Visit a horse. Break cane into chunks. Offer candy cane chunks to horse (flat palm, fingers and thumb tucked snug, not spread). Enjoy whiskery tickle, soft breath, and gentle lipping on palm.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/16 "2015-01-12T00:35:49Z")
My mom doesn’t like to eat them at all until they’re at least a year old, and get soft and gummy instead of crunchy. We buy them for her when we see them on closeout after the holidays, and save them to give to her the following year.
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2015, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/17 "2015-01-12T07:07:47Z")
> [@levdrakon](#):
>
> You could toss a chunk of it into your coffee in lieu of sugar.
Or tea. Or add a bit to hot chocolate.
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### Author:  [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/18 "2015-01-16T23:46:29Z")
Peanut butter makes everything better…I’m not sure what kind of technique. I’ll have to experiment.
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### Author:  [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideas-for-using-up-leftover-candy-cane-i/709506/19 "2015-01-17T16:27:10Z")
Could you pulverize them into a powder in a blender or food processor, and use it for peppermint sugar? Or would it turn into a sticky mass? I’d experiment but I threw out my candy canes.
I wish they sold air freshener or room smellies in Candy Cane scent. I find mint, spearmint, and mixtures, but unadulterated sweet peppermint is hard to find.