Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle

This past weekend, we had The Bun's baby dedication at our church.  Afterwards we had our family over to our house for lunch.  Because we would be at church and had such a large crowd coming, I wanted to do something easy.  So we had all cold foods that I made the day before and just pulled out of the fridge when the service was over.  Our menu consisted of:

Luncheon Chicken Salad with Croissants
Sweet Potato Salad
Roasted New Potato Salad (that I normally serve warm, but served chilled this time)
Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding
Granny's Cut Out Cookies (shaped with a cross cookie cutter)
And this delicious trifle!  Chocolate/Peanut Butter lover's dream!!!

I tore the recipe out of a magazine months ago and saved it this whole time for this special occasion!

For the kids, I did have grilled cheese sandwiches and chips.  The sandwiches were baked in the oven and kept warm until lunch time.

Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle

1 fudge brownie mix (13x9 pan size)
1 pkg. (10 oz.) peanut butter chips
1 pkgs. (13 oz. each) miniature peanut butter cups
4 cups cold milk
2 pkgs. (5.1 oz. each) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 c. creamy peanut butter
4 tsp. vanilla extract
3 (8 oz.) cartons frozen whipped topping, thawed

Prepare brownie batter according to package directions; stir in peanut butter chips.  Bake in a greased 9x13 baking pan at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool and cut into 3/4 inch pieces.

Cut peanut butter cups in half; set aside 1/3 cup for garnish.  In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes.  Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set.  Add peanut butter and vanilla; mix well.  Fold in 1-1/2 cartons of whipped cream.

Place a third of the brownies in a 5-qt. glass bowl; top with a third of the remaining peanut butter cups.  Spoon a third of the pudding mixture over the top.  Repeat layers twice.  Cover with remaining whipped topping; garnish with reserved peanut butter cups.  Refrigerate until chilled.