I had to include an exclamation point in the subject line bc truly, every time I make this dessert, my whole family lights up like I've just announced I'm taking them to Disney World.
If you make this for your family - or for just yourself - you'll be glad you did while you're eating it, and then you'll be mad you did after you've eaten the whole pan in one sitting.
Here we go! (The freeze time for this dessert takes about 5 hours or so, so allow plenty of time if you're making it for company. Your family won't care - they'll eat it soupy if they have to, which mine has been known to do.)(And don't forget to clear out a space in your freezer large enough to fit a 9 x 13 pan.)
OREO FREEZE
1 package of Oreos
1 stick of butter
1 carton of vanilla ice cream
1 jar of hot fudge sauce
1 tub of Cool Whip (I use the medium sized one)
Crush almost all of the Oreos in the package (you can eat 4 or 5 of them and it will be okay) using whichever crushing method you'd like. (I didn't feel like getting out my mini processor, so I just used a meat mallet and hammered them.) They should be nothing but crumblies when you're finished. Reserve a couple handfuls of the crumblies.
Melt the stick of butter and mix it into the crumblies.
Pat the crumbled mixture into a 9 x 13 pan, nice and flat. Put it in the freezer and freeze for about an hour. In the meantime, set out your carton of ice cream to soften.
After your ice cream has softened, remove the 9 x 13 pan from the freezer and, using a spatula, smooth all of the ice cream on top of the frozen Oreo "crust."
Place the pan back in the freezer and let the ice cream harden, for about an hour.
Heat the hot fudge sauce according the the directions on the jar. Remove the pan from the freezer and pour the fudge over the ice cream, spreading as evenly as you can over all of the ice cream.
Place the pan back in the freezer and let the hot fudge harden, for about an hour.
Make sure your Cool Whip has thawed, and then remove the pan from the freezer and spread all of the Cool Whip on top of the fudge layer.
After you've finished spreading the Cool Whip, take your reserved crumblies and sprinkle them on top of the Cool Whip later. Put it all back in the freezer and freeze for however many hours you can stand. (The more frozen the Cool Whip layer, the better!) Btw, I ALWAYS cover anything I'm putting in the freezer (or refrigerator, for that manner) so that it doesn't pick up that "frozen foods" flavor. Blech.
When you get ready to cut into the Freeze, be sure to run your spatula under very hot water to make the cutting/removing process easier. (As with anything in a 9 x 13 pan, that first piece can be a bear to remove.) You'll want to really work that spatula under the crust so you don't leave it behind!
Enjoy now. Gym later. ;)
