A Super Bowl Sundae

My list of favorite things about the Super Bowl goes something like this: 1. the food; 2. the half-time show (especially when it stars Beyoncé); 3. the Puppy Bowl, Kitten Bowl, Fish Bowl, or any other animal related Bowl; 4. the commercials; and at a distant 5th, the actual game. Just not much of a football fan if I'm being honest. But my lack of enthusiasm for the game itself is totally made up for by my love of 1-4, especially the food. The Super Bowl is the one occasion out of the year where it is frowned upon to eat anything remotely healthy. Watching other people run around and tackle each other really seems to bring out peoples' need for carbs.

My go-to Super Bowl dessert is both easy to prepare and a crowd-pleaser: chocolate chip cookie bars! This year, to allay any fears that a chocolate chip cookie bar on its own might not contain enough carbs, I'm kicking things up a notch by using them as the base for a Super Bowl sundae.

This cookie bar recipe comes from my sister's mother-in-law, Olive. To hear my sister tell it, everything Olive makes is delicious, and these cookie bars are no exception. 

Olive's Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of Crisco
1 stick of butter
3/4 cup of sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 1/4 cups flour

2 cups chocolate chips

Grease a 9 X 13 pan and preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cream together the Crisco, butter, sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Gradually add salt, baking soda, and flour and beat until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Spread evenly into the greased pan, and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

I originally planned to top my sundae with store-bought hot fudge, but they're always moving things around at our grocery store and I couldn't find any. As I was in a hurry, I decided to turn to the internet instead of tracking down someone in the store to help me. I learned that I could make my own hot fudge in minutes with ingredients that I already had on hand.

Hot Fudge

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 cups milk

4 tablespoons butter

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine milk, butter and vanilla until the butter has melted. Add dry ingredients to the milk mixture, constantly whisking. Boil, stirring occasionally, until thick and smooth, about 5 minutes. Cool and refrigerate the unused portion, which you can reheat in a double broiler or the microwave.

Cut your cookie bars into squares. Top with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream and, of course, a cherry.

Or if you are having a party, why not ask your guests to bring their favorite topping (or ice cream flavor) to contribute to a build-your-own sundae bar!  It'll be a welcome diversion for those who, like me, could not care less about who actually wins the game.