Sweet Victory

Super Bowl? Super delicious.

It's Superbowl Sunday, and this means good things are afoot.

Given my indifference to football, it's an event I would otherwise not have reason to acknowledge - were it not for the festive parties, wealth of beer, and heart attack-inducing snacks.

That said, I felt I had to do my part and whip something up for the shindig we'll be attending tonight. Since the chilis, chicken wings, and dips had all been claimed by other guests, I figured a dessert might be a good way to go.

Enter cupcakes, one of the universe's greatest gifts to humankind. You just cannot go wrong with them.

But Superbowl snacks are certainly no joke. Traditionally, they are artery-clogging and mouthwatering. And really, who am I to get in the way of tradition?

So, I deduced, there was no choice but to take these cupcakes up a notch and at least strive to ensure that they would be in the same league as the other decadent dishes that would be making an appearance. Simple vanilla or chocolate with mere sprinkles clearly would not do.

Cupcakes that can compete

I don't have much of a sweet tooth, to be honest, but I can get behind Oreos any day. I found a recipe on my lovely Big Oven app (Thanks, Zoe and Fernando!) and went to work.

Hence, I offer you your own personal path to happiness:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

2. Separate 12 Oreos and lovingly place one side of each cookie in the bottom of each paper liner, icing side up.

Want to score extra points?
Combine frosting with Oreos.

3. Count 18 more Oreos, place them in a large ziplock bag, and crush them with a rolling pin. (Yes, indeed, if you do the math properly, you should have a few extra Oreos to eat while you bake. Mmm.)

4. In a large mixing bowl, mix a package of white cake mix, a cup of sour cream, three eggs, a 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, and two teaspoons of vanilla extract. Once that's mixed up well, add a cup and a half of the crushed Oreos to the bowl (save the rest of the crumbs for the frosting) and stir.

5. Scoop the batter into each cup of the cupcake pan. (You'll get roughly 22-24 cupcakes total.)

Ready to tackle the oven.

6. Bake until golden, about 18-20 minutes, then cool.

7. Once they've cooled off, it's time to frost these babies. I took the lazy way out and bought a container of Betty Crocker Fluffy White frosting, mixed the remainder of the Oreo crumbs into it, and commenced frosting.

Voila! (Do football fans even use that word? Sigh.) Well, either way, pretty painless perfection. Go Pats!

Year of the wardrobe malfunction. Can you feel the love?