http://loulousucre.blogspot.com/2012/04/peanut-butter-brownie-trifle.html
I decided to make it for a church pot luck lunch and let me tell you.. it was a huge hit! So simple and yet so scrumptious!
And in true Becky Daigle fashion, I had to jazz it up a bit the next time I made it to make it my own... I mean after all.. in all honesty that is what I want to inspire people through this blog to do. Never settle on a recipe just because, you are allowed to make it own.. jazz it up.. leave out a few unwanted ingredients or add something. Make mistakes.. it is all part of cooking.. it is the fun part!
So I decided to add a few things. Since it is obviously candy based, with the reese's, I continued with that theme and added Rolo's and then some caramel and hot fudge layers as well.
Ingredients
(please note that all pictures are as is.. no edits.. my son is taking a nap and my "good computer" with software is right next to his bedroom wall.. thus no editing)
1 box of your desired brownie mix, the family size it best if you want lots of brownie bits (PLUS all ingredients needed to make desired brownies.. it will vary with each brand)
4 cups of cold 2% milk (not pictured.. duh)
4 tsp vanilla extract (also not pictured.. duh)
2 5.1 oz instant vanilla pudding
1 cup creamy (or if you are living on the wild side, crunchy) peanut butter
1 giant tub (sorry forgot the volume) of cool whip (or two reg size tubs)
candy bar of choice... mine are rolos and reese cups... I cannot remember the size I got so just get plenty and then if you have extra.. then yum
caramel sauce (not pictured)
hot fudge sauce (not pictured)
First of course, make your brownies. cook until well done and then allow to cool. Once cooled cut or crumble them.
Assemble pudding in large (and I mean large) bowl
combine 4 cups cold with pudding mix and whisk for 2 minutes. The mixture will thicken into a pudding texture.
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| beginning of mixing pudding... very runny |
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| desired pudding consistency after your arm feels like it will fall off... I miss my kitchen aid mixer! |
Next stir (or whisk) in 1 cup of desired peanut butter (I chose creamy... I figured there was enough texture going on with the candy) as well as the 4 tsp of vanilla extract
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| Lemme take a second to plug the pampered chef solid, liquid measurer thing picture here.. Ever tried to measure peanut butter in a reg measuring cup? then get it out of that said measuring cup... yes this thing just pushes the "solid" up and out no major mess or headache.. definitely worth the cost.. I think i bought mine for like $12...
Fold in the cool whip
Now there is an art to folding. It is not "stiring" anything because you do not want the ingredients to thoroughly combine and thus breaking down the cool whip itself. instead you are literally folding the pudding over the cool whip to incorporate the cool whip into sort of a swirl with the pudding mixture....
Now comes assembly... gather your ingredients and make sort of a work station with all of them...
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Now comes the part where I have to sort of stop with pictures. As I was completing this dish my chocolate loving toddler finally noticed I was cooking with candy... thus his interest became overwhelmingly distracting.. so I rushed through assembly in order to get it done and hidden in the fridge before he could get his hand in any of the ingredients and thus ruin his supper!
Layering begins with a smooth layer of the pudding mixture (not alot.. just enough to cover the bottom of the dish)... then add 1/2 of the brownie crumbles, 1/3 of each candy, and a good drizzle of both caramel and fudge...
continue layers with 1/2 of the remaining pudding mixture, 1/2 brownie crumbles 1/3 each candy and a good drizzle of caramel and fudge
end with final half of pudding, a good drizzle of caramel and fudge and finally the reserved cool whip...
you should at this point have a 1/3 of each candy remaining... this is to "garnish" the top of the desert... Create a fun design...
refrigerate and serve chilled!
A few helpful hints with this recipe....
the original recipe called for the minature reese cups all unwrapped and cut in half that would be within the trifle... well that was awful.... I spent 45 minutes unrolling the dang things and it was terrible! Well with this recipe I found the even smaller, already unwrapped ones for INSIDE the trifle so the only one I had to unwrap went on top for the garnish... thus saving lots of time and frustration.. Same goes for the rolos... you can find the bite size... one bag was plenty for inside the trifle.. in this instance though instead of doing 1/3 of the candy mixture per layer.. you would use 1/2 of each candy in the inside and then garnish with some miniature ones you can unwrap
Second useful tip... for those who's children might have a peanut allergy or those who are not fond of that kind of candy etc..
you can EASILY do this to any specific liking. Just omit the peanut butter from the pudding... and then use your desired candy bar... hersey, just plain chocolate kisses.. add caramel to the pudding instead and then use rolos only...
This recipe is SO easily adaptable. And really such a crowd pleaser! This particular recipe makes enough for probably 20 plus people in my opinion. It is SO rich that really a small portion is needed per person. It cant easily be cut in half to serve less people or a family dessert all week!
Enjoy :)))
