I made Chocolate Lasagna…Pie

I have no idea what lascivious temptress invented this recipe but he or she must be either a chocolatier genius or someone who gets kickbacks from a pharmaceutical company that makes diabetes drugs.

The original recipe looks like this:

Chocolate Lasagna

INGREDIENTS

• 1 package regular Oreo cookies (Not Double Stuff) – about 36 cookies
• 6 Tablespoon butter, melted
• 1- 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons cold milk
• 1- 12 ounce tub Cool Whip, divided
• 2 – 3.9 ounce packages Chocolate Instant Pudding.
• 3 1/4 cups cold milk
• 1 and 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Begin by crushing 36 Oreo cookies. I used my food processor for this, but you could also place them in a large ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin. When the Oreos have turned into fine crumbs, you are done.

2. Transfer the Oreo crumbs to a large bowl. Stir in 6 tablespoons melted butter and use a fork to incorporate the butter into the cookie crumbs. When the butter is distributed, transfer the mixture to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator while you work on the additional layers.

3. Mix the cream cheese with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add in 2 Tablespoons of milk, and sugar, and mix well. Stir in 1 and 1/4 cups Cool Whip. Spread this mixture over the crust.

4. In a bowl, combine chocolate instant pudding with 3 and 1/4 cups cold milk. Whisk for several minutes until the pudding starts to thicken. Use a spatula to spread the mixture over the previous cream cheese layer. Allow the dessert to rest for about 5 minutes so that the pudding can firm up further.

5. Spread the remaining Cool Whip over the top. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips evenly over the top. Place in the freezer for 1 hour, or the refrigerator for 4 hours before serving.

36 oreos but NOT Double Stuff .Because that would just be crazy overkill.

I did not use Oreos. Couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead,I used chocolate graham cracker crumbs. I also halved the recipe and made just a pie plate instead of a big pan of the stuff. One piece per person in my family for dessert. It worked out perfectly.
Everything else in the recipe I left the same.
It was DEE-licious.

Poor Mama Tip: When you scale back on a lot of sweets and desserts , it means so much more on the rare occasions you have them. Their taste buds also acclimate in such a way that when they do have something really sweet, a little bit is enough.  I made Chocolate Zucchini Brownies last week and my teens found them TOO chocolately and sweet. They only had one piece. It’s common for them to choose the not-too-sweet thing over something naturally sweet all on their own.