16 Ways To Use Hot Fudge That Aren't On Ice Cream

Close your eyes for a moment and think about your dream sundae. We don't necessarily want to know about what type of ice cream you would pick or how you feel about maraschino cherries, though, because the real crème de la crème of sundae making is the sauce on top of it. And no sauce better stands out on ice cream than hot fudge.

This sweet concoction is sold in the ice cream toppings section of most grocery stores or can be made at home with two ingredients: condensed milk and chocolate chips. It's not the same as chocolate syrup or chocolate sauce because it needs to be heated in order to be poured onto your dessert. Its texture and flavor is divine, as it has the perfect mashup of butteriness, chocolatey depth, and sweetness.

Yet despite its merits, its utility is often reserved for ice cream. In an effort to help you branch out and better utilize this delicious dessert condiment, we've curated a list of some of our favorite ways to use it outside of ice cream. In no time flat, you'll learn how to harness the texture and flavor of this dessert condiment and find out how to use it to elevate even the most unexpected of desserts.

Brownies are already a rich, chocolatey treat. But, if you want to give your dessert an edge, you're going to want to break out that jar of hot fudge. Its rich and sticky texture is just what your brownies need to stay moist and flavorful.

In order to make this recipe, you're going to want to make your brownies according to the directions on the box mix or the homemade recipe that you're following. Once the brownies have cooled off from the oven for a few minutes, they are ready to be coated in the warmed hot fudge mixture. Prick small holes in the top of the brownie with a fork or a chopstick before pouring the hot fudge mix over it. The fudge will seep down into the center of the brownie and yield a super moist bite. You can also turn your brownie into a sundae with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and an extra drizzle of the hot fudge on top.

Cheesecake can be topped with many different things, but hot fudge might just be the richest of them all. Cheesecakes, especially New York-style ones, can really benefit from the decadent mouthfeel and punchy chocolate notes that a jar of hot fudge can offer. You can use this upgrade for several different styles and flavors of cheesecake besides plain, including Oreo, salted caramel, and strawberry cheesecake.

You're going to want heat your hot fudge until it can be easily poured over the cheesecake. This is best done right before serving because hot fudge will thicken as it cools. If you don't work fast enough, you may notice that the fudge pools and hardens at the bottom of your slice, which not only makes it difficult to serve, but also hard to eat.

Churros are a fun dessert to order out at a Mexican restaurant, but they may also be easier to make at home than you'd think. All you need to do is cook down the dough mixture over a stovetop, then pipe the pieces with a star tip onto a sheet pan. When you're ready to fry, drop in the churros in the oil before pulling them out and coating them in a cinnamon-sugar mixture.

While churros are satisfying to eat just with this cinnamon sugar coating, you could also take it a step further and serve them with warmed hot fudge. Traditionally, churros are served with a chocolate ganache made with heavy cream and melted chocolate, but using jarred hot fudge is a simpler way to do it. Plus, you'll get a better depth of flavor than if you used a thin and comparatively less rich chocolate ganache instead of the fudge.

There are no real "rules" as to what you can or cannot top your waffles and pancakes with. If you're considering something a little heavier (or dessert-inspired) for breakfast, you may want to try drizzling a layer of hot fudge onto your short stack. The hot fudge will seep into all of the pores and crevasses of your breakfast and infuse it with the perfect level of chocolatey flavor. Plus, you don't just have to stick to a plain pancake or waffle mix for this; you can also one studded with strawberries, blueberries, or chocolate chips.

Hot fudge is admittedly heavy, so you don't want to drench your pancakes or waffles with too much of it. A light drizzle should suffice, as its chocolatey flavor is certainly strong enough to go a long way.

A big part of baking anything is making it look as good as it tastes. If you're struggling for inspiration on how to improve the design and look of your homemade cookies, consider reaching for a jar of hot fudge. It's a great accent for shortbread cookies, for example, as it can add a striking bit of color and a pop of rich flavor. You can either heat up the fudge until it easy to drizzle on your cookies, or dip half of your shortbread into the mixture and set it on a sheet of parchment paper. The hot fudge will settle as it cools, so you'll want or make sure that you can easily pry the cookies off the sheet.

Another cookie that could benefit from a hot fudge addition are coconut macaroons. The hot fudge is a great contrast to the toasted coconut flavor, and you can either drizzle the cookies in it, or just dip the bottoms into the hot fudge mixture instead.

Hot fudge can also come in handy for donuts — whether you're looking to upgrade a batch of store-bought ones or have a homemade batch straight out of the fryer. The flavor of the chocolate will cut through the grease and make for a bite that is nothing short of a sweet tooth's paradise.

The key to frosting donuts with anything — hot fudge or not — is to make sure that they're fully cooled before you frost them. Otherwise, your topping won't set as easily. You can easily dip your donut into the melty hot fudge, or scoop it up with an offset spatula and schmear it on your donut. This hack can be used for glazed or cake donuts, and you have the option of sticking to just the fudge or adding a layer of sprinkles on it as well. It's a simple donut topping that will elevate this breakfast classic.

Indulging in a cinnamon roll is one of life's simple pleasures. The layers of cinnamon and sugar, intertwined with the fluffy, soft dough is delicious. But instead of using a standard vanilla glaze on your rolls, try a schmear of hot fudge instead. The chocolate notes will mesh well with the spicy cinnamon notes in the filling, elevating every single bite. It's easier than making your own chocolate sauce too, as all you need to do is pop open the jar, heat the mixture up, and then place it atop your rolls.

Hot fudge tends to be about as thick as a standard cinnamon roll icing. An easy way to spread it is to dollop a little bit atop every roll, then smooth it with an offset spatula so that it dribbles into every crevasse. You could also use it for other types of cinnamon roll fillings besides just the classic cinnamon-sugar duo, including bacon, peanut butter, and pumpkin.

If you want to spice up your next date night in, consider DIYing your own dessert fondue board. While many people will opt for a standard chocolate sauce, using a warm hot fudge instead will give you a richer flavor and more satisfying texture. It will also easily stick to your dipping utensils of choice.

There are tons of different dipping items you can eat with your hot fudge. Fruit like strawberries, sliced bananas, and raspberries offer some floral notes and a reprieve from the dense chocolate. Though, you could also play with savory flavors by serving the fudge with salted pretzel rods or kettle chips. As the night goes on, just make sure that you're stirring and keeping the hot fudge warm as much as possible, as letting its temperature drop will only cause it to harden — which is definitely not conducive to dipping. You can try keeping the fudge warm in a slow cooker to prevent this from happening.

Bananas Foster is far from the easiest dessert that you can make at home. For one, it requires you to cook your bananas in a caramel sauce, then set them aflame with the help of an alcohol, like rum. But, once you are able to master it, you will never be able to eat plain bananas again.

This NOLA favorite is often served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, though you may want to garnish it with hot fudge as well. The hot fudge is sweet, but it has enough depth to cut through the sweetness of the caramel and make this dessert's flavor profile a little more well-rounded and complex. Like some of the other suggestions on this list, though, you'll want to make sure that you go light and easy with the hot fudge, since it's easy to overpower the subtleties of the banana with it.

We'd be hard-pressed to say "no" to a chocolate milkshake. But it would be even harder to resist one knowing that it was infused with hot fudge.

Adding a drizzle of hot fudge as a milkshake garnish is normal, but have you ever considered adding the sauce directly into the shake itself? The fudge will blend together with the milk and the ice cream, which will help to lighten the mouthfeel of the fudge. You'll want to let the sauce cool slightly for this recipe, as adding it hot to the blender would cause it to melt the ice cream and turn it into a soupy mess. Though, it should still be liquidy enough that it blends with the rest of the ingredients. You can also chill your glasses down in the freezer before serving to ensure that this mixture stays as cool as possible, rather than just turning into a glorified chocolate milk.

If you want the fudge flavor to stand out, let it be the only "flavor" in your milkshake. But, you may also want to consider switching up the ice cream, like using a mint, coffee, or peanut butter ice cream, to change the flavor profile of your drink and better complement the flavor of the fudge.

Layer cakes and hot fudge are a match made in heaven, although it might not look like it at first glance. While you can just layer on the sauce after your slice has been cut, the better way to add this spread would be to use it as a layer inside of your cake. The sauce will mimic a chocolate ganache — only it will be richer and sweeter.

The sauce will need to be slightly cooled before it can be poured onto the cake. Not only does this prevent it from spreading too far to the edge, but it will also prevent warming the cake up so much that the frosting melts when you pipe it on. Once your first cake layer has been placed down, you can pipe a small dam of icing around the circumference of the cake before pour in a light coating of chocolate fudge into the center. Don't go too overboard here and pour out the whole jar though; you want enough so there's a little bit of fudge in every bite. Continue layering your cake upwards and finish with frosting and your desired garnish; may we suggest a drizzle of hot fudge?

Crepes are one food that can easily become sweet or savory depending on what ingredients you want to add to it. If you're a fiend for all things sweet, you can layer in the bananas, honey, and peanut butter, whereas folks who like things savory can appreciate a crepe stuffed with cheese, ham, and arugula.

As you can probably guess, we're going the sweet route here, courtesy of a layer of hot fudge. The fudge is sweet, gooey, and will make for a great mouthfeel with the eggy crepe base. The sauce should be pourable enough to dribble into the crepe. A little will go a long way here, so be sure to be mindful of your pour.

The hot fudge will provide more than enough sweetness to the otherwise neutral crepe. But if you're after something more balanced, you may want to try to layer in some sliced strawberries or bananas to help counteract some of the heaviness of the fudge.

We love all things s'mores, and that is especially true when there are fun and creative twists to this campfire classic. Instead of opting for a piece of chocolate for your s'more, add a layer of hot fudge to the inside of the graham cracker.

While the chocolate bar is a classic, it tends not to melt all the way, which will leave you with a mouthful that's half melty and half cold and hard. The hot fudge is liquid enough to create a gooey bite, and you won't have to worry about missing out on the familiar chocolate notes. It's rich, flavorful, and will certainly make you rethink how you enjoy your s'mores going forward. The one important thing we will note about this suggestion is that hot fudge is messy and can drip easily, so be sure to plan accordingly and pack lots of napkins.

A trifle is essentially the lovechild of a deconstructed cake and pudding. You have your cake layers, joined with whipped topping, pudding, and whatever creative spin your can conjure up. It can be as simple or as whimsical as you want to make it.

One easy way to add extra flavor to your trifle is to add a layer or two of hot fudge in there. You use just the fudge as the primary flavoring agent, or try a banana split-inspired trifle with layers of sliced bananas, hot fudge, vanilla pudding, and a cake of your choice. The hot fudge intertwines with these layers to create a familiar, yet fantastic, bite.

You can also stick to simple and just use the hot fudge as a flavoring or garnish for a simple bowl of pudding. The warm fudge will soften and melt into the chilled pudding and offer a rich, chocolate-forward mouthfeel that eaters of all ages will appreciate.

Hot chocolate is already a relatively foolproof and hands-off beverage to make at home. But when you add a spoonful of hot fudge to the mix, you get an even better flavor in a just-as-convenient format. You'll want to bring the hot fudge up to temperature before stirring it into a cup of warm milk. The chocolate will infuse with the milk, in turn creating a sweet and creamy beverage straight out of a chocoholic's dream.

It's important to remember here that hot fudge is thicker than the standard chocolate sauce (and obviously, the powder too) that you would use for hot chocolate, so it might take a little bit of legwork to mix it into your beverage and ensure that it fully dissolves. To ensure that the two blend together seamlessly, you may also want to try combining the hot chocolate with the milk on the stovetop instead of just adding the viscous sauce to your mug.

Rice Krispies treats are a snack that you will be as equally as giddy to find in your lunchbox now as you would when you were a child. These treats are crunchy, sweet, and relatively easy to whip up at home. Though, they can get a bit monotonous if you're just sticking to the cereal, plus melted butter, plus marshmallows formula. Adding a drizzle of hot fudge atop these treats will infuse them with a distinct chocolatey flavor and make them all the more addictive to eat — if that is even possible.

You'll want to pour on the hot fudge and give it some time to set, as this will make the whole process of cutting your treats easier and cleaner. While hot fudge alone is a great topping, you may also want to turn to something even more whimsical, like a hot fudge sundae-inspired treat. Layer on the rainbow sprinkles, maraschino cherries, and hot fudge to create a sweet bite — no ice cream required.