Gluten Free Brownie Trifle

This easy Brownie Trifle recipe features layers of fudgy brownie, homemade peanut butter mousse, and whipped cream. Layers in small jars or a big trifle dish!

Written by: Carla of Carla’s Confections Blog

Creating This Brownie Trifle Recipe

My sister-in-law has a gluten allergy, so usually when we eat with her she has to eat a completely separate meal than the rest of us. It is hard to watch her not be able to enjoy what the rest of us are enjoying, so I wanted to give her a dessert this time that she would be able to eat.

No one would ever know these brownie trifles are gluten free! They are that delicious! I am slightly obsessed with mason jars, so anytime I get the excuse to use them in a recipe I jump at the chance.

Trifles are just that excuse. You get to make individual serving sizes, and you don’t have to fuss with serving them in bowls when it comes time to pass them out. Not to mention everyone gets the perfect portions of each layer of the trifle.

Less work for the hostess too, which is what it is all about anyway, right?

Along with the brownies, these trifle beauts have an utterly delicious homemade peanut butter mousse layer, as well as dark chocolate sauce and homemade whipped cream.

Ingredients in the Brownie Trifles

The ingredients list is short and sweet for this brownie mousse trifle recipe. Here’s what goes into the dessert:

• Cream cheese
• Peanut butter
• Powdered sugar
• Heavy whipping cream
• Gluten-free brownies (from a box or homemade)
• Chocolate fudge sauce (store-bought or homemade)

For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.

Can I Make Homemade Brownies Instead?

For these brownie trifles, I went the easy route on the gluten-free front and used a box GF brownie mix. Brownies tend to be my demise, and since I don’t have much experience with gluten-free flour, I didn’t want to ruin the entire trifle with one mistake.

If you have the confidence to make the brownies from scratch, I highly suggest going that route. But these box-mix brownies were superb, and I didn’t feel like we were missing out by not making them from scratch.

How to Make Brownie Trifles

This brownie dessert is as simple as baking the brownies, whipping up the mousse, and layering everything in jars. Easy!

1. Brownies: Bake the brownies according to the package instructions. You’ll likely need to add some water, oil, and eggs to the mix.
2. Peanut butter mousse: Mix together the softened cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and 1/2 cup heavy cream.
3. In another bowl, whip the remaining heavy cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold into the mousse mixture.
4. Whipped cream: Whip together heavy cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.
5. Assemble the trifles: In glass jars, layer as follows: brownies, PB mousse, hot fudge sauce, whipped cream. Repeat these layers until the jars are full.

The above is simply a quick summary of this recipe. Check out the full recipe in the free printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for all the detailed instructions.

Can This Recipe Be Prepared in Advance?

Yes, you can assemble the brownie mousse trifles up to 24 hours before you plan on serving them. Keep them in airtight containers until you’re ready to serve.

Recipe Substitutions

• Brownies: I used a gluten-free boxed brownie mix, but you’re welcome to use a regular brownie mix if you’re not on a gluten-free diet.
• Whipped cream: You can feel free to use store-bought whipped cream instead of the homemade, but I enjoy the slightly less sweet taste of the homemade to offset the richness of the brownies and mousse.
• Peanut butter: If you can’t have peanut butter, you’re likely fine to substitute the peanut butter with your nut or seed butter of choice.

Typically I don’t recommend making a bunch of substitutions when preparing a new recipe. When making substitutes, you won’t know if you don’t like the recipe or if the recipe didn’t turn out due to a preparation mistake, an ill effect from the substitute, or something else.

However, if you do choose to make substitutions in a recipe, I recommend only making one substitute at a time so you don’t have a building effect of multiple poor substitutions.

Tips for Making the Brownie Mousse Trifles

• I ended up using a hodgepodge of different sizes mason jars, so I only ended up with four servings, but some were huge (as you can see in the photos), so if you use smaller jars, you will end up with a lot more.
• These would also look adorable in stemless wine glasses too.
• You’ll likely wind up with leftover brownies, mousse, and / or whipped cream. All three components can be frozen in airtight containers for up to three months.

More Brownie Desserts:

Classic Homemade Brownies are the perfect quick dessert to whip up at home. They only take a few minutes and totally satisfy your chocolate cravings.

Creamy vanilla no-churn ice cream is layered with chewy brownie chunks and swirled with sweet and salty vanilla bourbon caramel sauce in this Brownie Ice Cream recipe.

In this Raspberry Brownie Parfait with Mascarpone Whip, fudgy brownies are layered with mascarpone whipped cream and raspberries for a delightful dessert!

Take a regular ice cream sandwich over the edge with this Chocolate Covered Brownie Ice Cream Sandwich. Perfect for dessert on hot summer days!

Brownies, tarts, pie, cake — we love them all. Why not combine a deep fudge brownie with a tart and pie and call it Brownie Pie?

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Gluten Free Brownie Trifle

Yield: serves 6-8

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Additional Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes

An amazingly delicious and super simple brownie trifle with boxed gluten-free brownies, homemade peanut butter mousse and homemade whipped cream.

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Ingredients

Mousse:

• 1 (8 oz) pkg softened cream cheese
• 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided

Whipped Cream

• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Trifles

• peanut butter mousse recipe
• whipped cream recipe
• Gluten-free brownies (boxed or homemade)
• chocolate sauce drizzle - the kind you put on ice cream (make sure it is gluten-free)

Instructions

1. Cook brownies to box's directions, or cook up your favorite gluten-free brownie recipe and allow to cool completely. I made mine a day in advance.
2. To make the mousse, combine the softened cream cheese and peanut butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and beat until well combined. Slowly add in the powdered sugar and mix until combined. Slowly pour in 1/2 cup of the heavy whipping cream and mix until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl using an electric whisk, beat the remaining 1 cup of heavy whipping cream until it holds soft peaks. Turn both mixers off and gently fold in the 1 cup whipped heavy cream into the peanut butter mousse recipe until well combined. Set mousse aside.
4. To make the homemade whipped cream, pour in the 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream into the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on high until the cream holds stiff peaks (roughly five minutes). Once it holds stiff peaks, add in the 1/3 cup powdered sugar and beat on medium speed until well combined. Set aside.
5. Get mason jars ready and cut the brownies into tiny bite-sized pieces and get ready to assemble.
6. Assemble by placing a layer of brownies on the bottom of the mason jar. Place a couple small scoops (roughly 1-2 Tbsp - depending on size of mason jar) of Peanut Butter Mousse on top of the brownies. Drizzle a good amount of chocolate sauce over the mousse. Finally layer on some whipped cream (store-bought or the homemade version). Repeat with another layer of the brownies, peanut butter mousse, chocolate sauce drizzle, whipped cream and finally, garnish with extra brownies.
7. Repeat until you have used up all the ingredients. You will most likely have left-overs.

Notes

Feel free to make these non-Gluten Free as well.

You will end up with more of certain ingredients. Use them as you please!

If you have a peanut allergy in your home, substitute your favorite brand of Almond Butter.

Recommended Products

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 688Total Fat: 52gSaturated Fat: 27gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 125mgSodium: 199mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 2gSugar: 42gProtein: 9g

GoodLifeEats.com offers recipe nutritional information as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although GoodLifeEats.com makes every effort to provide accurate information, these figures are only estimates.

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