Food for thought...just a trifle

By posting this, I am allowing my domestic diva crown to slip pretty far. In fact, between this post and the housecleaners who are supposed to arrive any moment, the crown may be spinning around my ankle!

When invited to any sort of potluck or bring-your-favorite-dessert event, I always make Trifle. Chocolate goes over the best and there is never enough left to even lick the bowl. It looks impressive and tastes fabulous. My little secret? It is super easy to make!

Chocolate Heath Bar Trifle

1 box brownie mix (13x9...or family-size) plus ingredients to make the brownies
1 large container Cool Whip
1 large (or two small) boxes instant chocolate pudding and milk to make your pudding
6 large Heath bars (or one bag miniature Heath bars), frozen






Make and bake your brownies. Allow plenty of time for your brownies to cool before you need to assemble the trifle. Hot brownies and cold Cool Whip are yummy, but not a good combination in a trifle.

I use a jelly roll pan to bake my brownies. I like to cut them in little squares, but you can definitely use a regular cake pan.



Remove your Heath bars from the freezer and chop them up. I leave them in the wrappers and hit them with a rolling pin. Using six big bars is a lot easier than opening all those little miniature wrappers, but I have a hard time finding the big ones here.

Make the pudding and let set in the fridge for a few minutes. It should be slightly set.





I love the look of a trifle bowl and you can find them quite inexpensively. I picked mine up at Kohls for less than $10. But if you don't have a trifle bowl, any glass bowl will do. Actually, any bowl will do, but glass is great so you can see the pretty layers.

Start layering your trifle. Half the cut brownies go on the bottom of the bowl, followed by half of the chocolate pudding. Layer about half of the Cool Whip and sprinkle with a handful of Heath bits. Repeat the layers: brownies, pudding and Cool Whip. Top the last layer artistically with Heath bits. :)




This is a great dessert to play around with. If you don't like Heath (or can't find it) try another candy. I've done Butterfingers, Whoppers, and chopped up Hershy bars. Try a different pudding flavor - I like to mix Cheesecake Jello pudding with my chocolate for a unique taste.

And if you are looking for something a little more spring-y, try a trifle with pound cake, fruit and Cool Whip! I mixed a little cream cheese and sugar in with the Cool Whip on this one and it was divine! Grate a little chocolate on top for a pretty presentation.