Fantasy Football Desserts

It's time for the SUPER BOOOOOOOWL! Deflate-gate? Who cares. It's time to make desserts you can eat with your HANDS! A giant cookie cake? Brownie bites shaped like footballs? Haven't decided? Whatever you do, maybe these will take you towards the endzone! *Insert eye roll here. Stupid joke.*

Including all of the important Super Bowl flavors...

Chocolate Chip-Pretzel Bars

Grace Parisi

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• One 12-ounce bag bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups mini pretzels, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9-by-13-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper, allowing overhang on the 2 long ends.
2. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter with both sugars at medium speed until light, 1 minute. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients. Stir in the chips and pretzels.
3. Spread the batter in the pan and top with the sprinkles. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden; the center will still be a little gooey. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool completely.
4. Run the tip of a knife around the side of the pan and lift the bar out using the parchment paper. Cut into 24 squares and serve.

Blatantly Football...

Football Party Cupcakes

Food Network Kitchen

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 3 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Frosting:

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar

Assembly and Decorating:

• 2 1/2 cups dark green jimmies
• 15 large marshmallows
• 2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips
• 8 chocolate cream covered cookie sticks, such as Pocky sticks
• One 4.25-ounce tube white decorators' icing
• 2 small chocolate chewy candies, such as midgie-size Tootsie Rolls, unwrapped
• 22 fruit-flavored gummy candies in 2 different colors, or 11 chocolate-covered raisins or peanuts and 11 yogurt-covered raisins or peanuts

Special Equipment: metallic green, metallic gold and/or dark brown cupcake liner

Directions

1. For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup standard muffin tins with cupcake liners. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Combine the butter, granulated sugar, sour cream, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl and whisk until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 21 to 23 minutes, rotating the pans once about halfway through baking. Cool the cupcakes in the pans for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
3. For the frosting: Beat the butter, peanut butter, vanilla and salt using an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar and continue to beat until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes more.
4. For the assembly and decorating: Put 1 cup of frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and set aside. Put the jimmies in a shallow bowl. Frost a cupcake, using about 2 tablespoons of the remaining frosting per cupcake, and then gently dipping the top into the jimmies, turning the cupcake until the top is coated. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes. Arrange the cupcakes in 4 rows on a large serving plate or cutting board. Fit a marshmallow between each cupcake, 5 marshmallows per row, to fill in the gaps between the cupcakes in the rows. Using the frosting in the piping bag, pipe thick cross shapes between where the cupcakes meet one another and over the marshmallows so there are no visible gaps between the cupcakes. Sprinkle with jimmies to coat.
5. To make goal posts for the cupcake "field," microwave the chocolate chips in a small microwave-safe bowl until just melted, 30 to 45 seconds. Keep 2 cookie sticks whole for the bases of the posts. Cut off and discard (or eat!) the bottom third of the remaining cookie sticks. Dip the top of one of the longest cookie sticks into the melted chocolate and adhere it to the middle of one of the cut cookie sticks so that they form a capital T shape. Next, dip the cut ends of two short sticks into chocolate and adhere them to either side of the cross on the T. Lay the goal post on a flat surface and repeat with the remaining 4 cookie sticks to make the second goal. Allow goals to fully harden, 15 to 20 minutes, or place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
6. Using the decorators' icing, pipe 10 lines across the cupcake field to represent yard lines. Pipe out the number 50 in the middle for the 50-yard line. Heat the Tootsie Rolls in the microwave on high in 5-second intervals until they are soft and pliable. Mash them together and form into a football. Use the icing to pipe the lacing on the football; use a toothpick if necessary to help define the lacing. Place the football on the field. Place the gummy candies on the field to represent players and then stick the goal posts into cupcakes at each end of the field.

For those guests feeling nostalgic...

Homemade Yodels

Sue McCown

Ingredients

• 5 large eggs, separated
• 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa, plus more for dusting
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• Pinch of salt
• 12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Lightly butter two 10 1/2-by-15 1/2-inch jelly roll pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter the paper. Dust the pans with flour, tapping out any excess.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with 1/2 teaspoon of the cream of tartar at high speed until soft peaks form. Add 1/2 cup of the confectioners' sugar and beat at high speed until stiff and glossy.
3. In another large bowl, beat the egg yolks until pale, about 2 minutes. Add the flour, 3 tablespoons of cocoa, 1/2 cup of the confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla and beat at low speed until combined. Beat in one fourth of the egg whites, then fold in the remaining whites until no streaks remain. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and spread in a thin, even layer. Bake the cakes for 6 minutes, until firm and slightly puffed. Transfer the pans to a rack and let cool for 5 minutes.
4. Run the tip of a knife around the edge of the cakes. Dust the cakes with cocoa and cover each one with a sheet of wax paper slightly larger than the pan. Invert the cakes onto the wax paper and remove the pans. Cover the cakes with plastic wrap to keep moist.
5. In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of very hot water with 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let the sugar syrup cool to room temperature.
6. In a small saucepan, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar with 3 tablespoons of water and cook over moderately high heat, washing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush and gently swirling the pan, until a deep amber caramel forms, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the heavy cream and the butter and stir just until combined. Cook over high heat for 1 minute. Transfer the caramel sauce to a heatproof bowl and let cool completely.
7. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, combine the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream with 1/4 cup of the confectioners' sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla. Beat in the sour cream and salt, then beat until firm peaks form. Fold in the cooled caramel sauce and refrigerate.
8. Peel the parchment paper off both cakes and brush the surfaces with the sugar syrup. Spread the caramel cream over each cake in a thin even layer. Working with the long side nearest you, roll up each cake, using the wax paper to help you form a tight roll. Wrap the rolls in the wax paper, transfer to a baking sheet and freeze until very firm, about 2 hours.
9. Melt the chopped chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Whisk in the oil. Let the glaze cool slightly. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Unwrap the rolls and cut each one into 5 pieces. Working quickly, dip both ends of each roll into the chocolate glaze, then dip the tops and bottoms, letting any excess glaze drip back into the bowl. Place the rolls on the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate just until the glaze is completely set. Serve the yodels cold or at room temperature.

Happy (Super Bowl) baking!