If you need a dessert for Thanksgiving and someone else already has dibs on pumpkin pie, give this a try! It’ll look beautiful on the family table…for about 30 seconds until everyone devours it.
You guys know I have a serious weakness for peanut butter and chocolate. We had our friends, Andy and Jacquie, over the other day to celebrate their birthdays, and I wanted to make them a birthday dessert. They are food lovers like us, so I pretty much had carte blanche to make whatever I wanted. I thought a chocolate peanut butter trifle would be perfect. Trifles always impress guests, they are always delicious, and they are a lot easier to make than they look. I also knew I’d be able to put candles in it for the birthday celebration! And if I needed one more reason, it’s National Peanut Butter month!
The only thing I would maybe change about this next time is the amount of whipped topping I used. I used two 8 ounce containers total – about 3/4 of one in the pudding mixture and the remaining 1 and 1/4 in the whipped topping layer. I might consider using more in the whipped topping layer, because I thought it could have been thicker. So in the recipe, I’m going to say 16-24 ounces (the equivalent of 2-3 regular sized containers), and let you decide. Next time, I’ll use three…or at least two and a half. Oh, and FYI, you will have a couple of brownies leftover for snacking. 🙂
Now, the really fun part…I lightened this up as much as I could, and you couldn’t even tell! I used regular brownies, but I used fat free sugar free pudding, a mix of fat free and lite whipped topping, reduced fat peanut butter, and skim milk. I mean, it still isn’t exactly “diet food,” but at least you can eat this and enjoy it without feeling too guilty!
Try this for a holiday party – it’s sure to impress!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Trifle
Ingredients:
- 1- 9 x 13 pan of brownies (I used a box mix for this)
- 1- 5.1 oz box of fat free sugar free instant vanilla pudding
- 3 cups cold skim milk
- 1 cup reduced fat peanut butter
- 16-24 ounces whipped topping (lite and/or fat free)
- 6 Reese’s peanut butter cups, roughly chopped
Directions:
Cut brownies into about 2 inch squares. Whisk milk into pudding until it starts to thicken. Refrigerate for about five minutes to allow to fully thicken. Whisk peanut butter into pudding – it will be thick. Fold about 6 ounces (3/4 of one regular sized container) of whipped topping into the peanut butter pudding mixture.
In a trifle dish or clear bowl, arrange brownies in a single layer on the bottom, then layer 1/2 of the pudding mixture, and then half of your remaining whipped topping. Sprinkle on just a few bits of chopped Reese’s – maybe 1/4 of what you have. Repeat brownies, pudding, and whipped topping, and spread the remaining chopped Reese’s on top.
So easy and so good!
Looks wonderful!