A Trifle Hot

We are in a heat advisory in the Midwest so I became a trifle bit of fraud when making this trifle. Trust me, I would've been arrest or, at a minimum, kicked out of the house if I turned on the oven to bake the cake and cookie layers.

So I cheated.

I mean look at this. Not only was it 94 with a real feel of 106 degrees at 5 p.m. But it's only getting down to maybe 85 at 8 p.m. Uffda! 

So about the trifle... I made it a friend celebrating a huge personal milestone in her life. She deserves to be treated and happens to enjoy peanut butter & chocolate. Who doesn't? Making this trifle, I found my new secret ingredient (well, until I tell you) for PB & C trifles. Here you go:

• Bottom layer if store-bought (gasp!) chocolate cake with Reese's THINS Peanut Butter Cups cut in half and outlining the trifle bowl.
• Next layer up is Cheesecake-flavored pudding that I added PB2 (a TB of powdered peanut butter powder) to make it Peanut Butter pudding. I'd recommend White Chocolate-flavored pudding if it's available. It just blends better with the other flavors. (In my opinion – no one complained.)
• Next layer on top of pudding is just a smattering of crushed Chips Ahoy Peanut Butter Cup cookies (again with the store bought!) and... for the win... chopped up Little Debbie Nutty Buddy bars. Game changer, folks!
• Repeated those layers then added a thin layer of Cool Whip on top with Reese's Peanut Butter Cup minis scattered for appearance – and added flavor of course.

And yes, it was as delicious as it sounds. Still, it's almost too hot to eat anything. But, if I'm going to go for it in an extreme heat advisory, I'll take a trifle every time.

Wouldn't you?

Be careful out there, friends! 🔥