Brownie Trifle

The official title of this dessert,the recipe for which I cut out of a magazine, is "Jell-O and Cool Whip Easy Chocolate Trifle," but my niece simplified it at our family 4th of July get-together as "Brownie Trifle." [p.s. it wouldn't let me put "1 box of brownie mix" in the ingredients, but that's what you need. I like Duncan Hines, myself.]This dessert was absolutely the hit of the party. We had ages 2-72 in the house, and everyone LOVED it. Super easy to make, and can be as high or low fat as you'd like. When I told my mom after the fact that I'd used skim milk in the pudding and fat-free Cool Whip, she was totally stunned because people were lining up for second helpings. Prep and cooking time sound high, but the "cooking time" is the chill time and the time it takes the brownies to come out of the oven; "prep time" would be the time to make the brownie mix--10 minutes--and the time to make the pudding--about 10 minutes. The milk, water, eggs, and vegetable oil are for the pudding and brownies, but the ingredient list wouldn't quite let me put that, so there it is then.

• Ready In: 1 hr 50 mins
• Serves: 16

Ingredients

• 2 (1 ounce) packages  jello instant chocolate pudding mix
• 4  cups milk, cold
• 2 (8 ounce) containers Cool Whip, thawed
•  strawberry, sliced
• 1 (17 5/8ounce)  Duncan Hines chewy fudge brownie mix, prepared
• 1⁄3 cup water
• 1⁄3 cup  vegetable oil
• 2  large eggs

Directions

1. Bake brownies according to package directions. While the brownies are in the oven and cooling off is a great time to make the chocolate pudding and slice the strawberries.
2. Cut prepared brownies into cubes.
3. In a trifle bowl or other large glass bowl, layer in this order, brownie cubes, chocolate pudding, strawberries (or raspberries, or whatever fruit strikes your fancy), Cool Whip, then brownie cubes, pudding, and Cool Whip again. Arrange some of the fruit over the top of the Cool Whip to make it look pretty.
4. Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve.