Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle

A few weeks ago we went to a potluck at a friends house, and I signed up to bring a dessert because they are my favorite thing to make.  I had been ruminating on the idea of a trifle with brownies and Nutter Butters for a while, but every time I went to make one it was just too hot to turn the oven on to make brownies.  We finally had a cool enough day so I decided to turn my little idea into reality.  This Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle turned out even better than I had imagined!  There were a bunch of kids at this party and not a single one of them got a bite of this trifle because the adults ate it all.  When we got in the car to leave Jake asked if we were bringing the rest home because he didn't get any; sorry buddy, the grown ups ate it all.  There were definitely some mommies and daddies going back for seconds and thirds but I won't name names. (;

Not only is this Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle out of this world delicious, it is incredibly easy.  Start out by making a batch of brownies, I used my favorite Ghirardelli mix.  I made mine in a rectangular pan so they would be thinner.  Once your brownies are completely cooled, cut them into bite sized pieces.  If you want to make this no-bake, you could easily substitute store bought brownie bites.  Take your brownie bites and layer them in the bottom of a trifle dish.  I used about 3/4 of my batch and then "disposed" of the remaining pieces by wolfing them down while hiding from Jake.

The next layer is peanut butter heaven, and by that I mean peanut butter pudding.  That's right, I said PEANUT! BUTTER! PUDDING!  Take a big box of instant vanilla pudding mix, some milk, and some creamy peanut butter and mix it up until it is nice and thick.  Then spread that peanut buttery goodness in a layer right on top of those brownies.

Now you need a little crunch, so take half of a package of Nutter Butters and put them into a large zip-top bag.  Get out your rolling pin and roll right on over those Nutter Butters until they are broken up into chunks.  You don't want them all crumbs, you want some good sized pieces.  Sprinkle the Nutter Butter chunks on top of the pudding reserving a few spoonfuls of the tiny crumbs from the bottom of the bag for later.

Get a container of Cool-Whip (I used the light) and spread it on top of the Nutter Butters.  For those of you who are new to Cool Whip like I was up until a few years ago, you have to defrost the Cool Whip first.  Now you want a little more chocolate, obviously!  Get some mini chocolate chips, you could use regular but the minis just seemed right to me, and sprinkle them all over the top along with the reserved Nutter Butter Crumbs.

You have just made the perfect Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle.  Try to share, but if you eat it all yourself, I won't tell. 

Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle

• 1 batch brownies, cooled and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 5.1 oz. box instant vanilla pudding
• 1 3/4 cups skim milk
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 16 Nutter Butters
• 1 container light Cool Whip
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Layer brownie bites in the bottom of a trifle dish.
2. Make pudding by combining pudding mix, milk, and peanut butter with a hand mixer until smooth and thickened.  Spread pudding on top of brownie layer.
3. Put Nutter Butters in a zip-top bag and roll over with a rolling pin to crush into chunks.  Sprinkle chunks over pudding reserving a few spoonfuls of crumbs for the topping.
4. Spread defrosted Cool Whip over Nutter Butter Chunks.
5. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips and reserved Nutter Butter crumbs all over the top.  Chill until ready to serve.

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