Mint Chocolate Trifle

When we got a couple days notice of a St. Patrick's Day "bring green food" pot luck at work I knew I needed something easy but impressive (a girl has to maintain her culinary reputation).   I decided on a trifle because few things look more impressive (and more importantly trifles are so simple and easy, but that's a secret so don't tell anyone).

A Pinterest search of St. Patrick's recipes yields a plethora of mint chocolate.  I am not sure that mint and chocolate are authentically Irish, but there is the whole green thing of the mint and what goes better with mint than chocolate?  However, nothing really stood out to me as "the one".   So I abandoned Pinterest and set off on my own adventure to make a mint chocolate trifle.
When I was trying to decide what I was bring to work I just called it "Leprechaun Surprise" so that is an alternative name

Mint Chocolate Trifle 

Ingredients 

1 box brownie mix, mixed according to package directions

2 large boxes vanilla pudding 

4 cups milk 

1 large container Cool Whip 

mint extract 

green food coloring 

mint chocolate cookies such as grasshopper or Thin Mints 

1 box Junior Mints 

Directions

Mix the brownies according to the package directions 

Lay parchment paper on the bottom of your baking pan and bake according to directions

When the brownies are done lift the parchment paper up and  jostle a bit to break up the brownie while it is very hot and crumbly 

Let the brownies cool completely 

While the brownies are cooling mix the pudding with the milk, you'll use less milk than the package directions call for

Mix the mint extract in to taste 

Add green food coloring until the desired shade of green is reached

Fold in the Cool Whip 

When the brownies are cool layer a third in the bottom of a trifle dish

Cover with a layer of one third of the pudding mix 

Break the cookies and and a thin layer over the pudding followed by half the remaining brownies 

Cover with another layer of half the remaining pudding mix

Layer the remaining brownies over the pudding mix 

Cover with the rest of the pudding mix 

Decorate with the Junior Mints as desired 

Tips and Hints

• I made the brownies and pudding mix the night before assembling the trifle 
• The mint seems to intensify as it sits 
• If the pudding mix is not reaching a shade of green you like it may be due to the yellowish hue of the pudding you can add a bit of blue coloring as well

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