Deep in the Heart of Texas Dessert

aka: “the best fracking pie,”  thanks to oil & gas investment researcher Trey Cowan for the nickname

Make this dessert one day ahead;  it requires overnight refrigeration.

• 1 package Keebler Pecan Sandies cookies, crushed to small crumbs
• 8-oz. Cream cheese, softened
• 1 Cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 16 oz. Cool Whip, divided for use
• 1 small package instant chocolate or chocolate fudge pudding mix
• 1 small package instant French vanilla pudding mix
• 1 small package instant butterscotch pudding mix
• 3 large or king-size Butterfingers candy bars, crushed
• 4 – 1/2 cups milk, divided (1-1/2 cups for each pudding mix)
• 1 box Betty Crocker Supreme Brownie mix
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup corn, canola or other vegetable oil
• 1 jar Hershey’s Hot Fudge Sundae Sauce

1. Prepare and bake the brownie mix (requires 1 egg, 1/4 cup water, and 1/4 cup oil) following the package instructions.  Don’t bake the brownies in the same pan you are using to serve the dessert.  Allow brownies to cool and then crumble the entire pan into bite-sized pieces.
2. While the brownies are baking, prepare the pudding mixes, but use only 1-1/2 cups milk for each flavor.  This creates a thick, pie filling rather than the less dense pudding.  Chill in refrigerator in separate bowls for each of the three flavors.
3. Line the 11 x 15 pan with parchment paper on the bottom and partially up the sides (this helps when you remove the servings)
4. Cream together cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  Using a spatula, fold in 1 Cup Cool Whip.  Set aside to remain at room temperature while you crush the cookies.
5. Crush the Pecan Sandies cookies in a freezer weight Ziploc bag.  Pound with a meat mallet or roll with a rolling pin. Scatter crumbs evenly over the parchment paper on the bottom of the pan. Save the bag to crush the candy bars.
6. Drop streamers of the cream cheese mixture from a knife blade about every 2 inches across the crushed cookies.  Gently connect the tops of the blobs of cream cheese mix so that you don’t see the cookie layer beneath.  The layer will smooth itself out evenly as more layers are added to it.
7. Smooth the French vanilla pie filling layer over the cream cheese layer.
8. Scatter the brownie bits across the vanilla layer.
9. Heat the hot fudge sauce in the microwave, according to the directions on the jar.  Drizzle hot sauce over brownies, it will not fully cover the brownie layer, gaps are fine.
10. Smooth the chocolate pie filling over the brownie and fudge sauce layer
11. Smooth the rest of the Cool Whip over chocolate pudding layer.
12. Spread the butterscotch layer over the Cool Whip layer.
13. Crush the Butterfingers candy bars in the same bag you used for the Pecan Sandies cookies.  Use a meat mallet or rolling pin to crush the candy bars.  Scatter half the candy bar pieces over the pudding.  Save the remaining candy bar pieces to scatter over the dessert just before serving.
14. Covered with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
15. To serve, use a sturdy straight edge spatula or pancake turner.  The layers tend to run together if you scoop it out with a spoon.

You may want to add this note to the dish if  you are serving in a buffet line:

Deep in the Heart of Texas has layers represeting some of Texas’ extensive geology:

• Texas Red Clay = Butterscotch Pie Filling + Butterfingers
• Quartz  =   Cool Whip
• Oil =  Chocolate Pie Filling
• Gumbo*  =  Brownies + Fudge Sundae Sauce
• Limestone = French Vanilla Pie Filling
• Caliche** = Cream Cheese & Powdered Sugar
• Sandstone  =  Pecan Sandies crumbled cookie crust

*Gumbo is the type of soil found in the Houston area: dark & moist with clumps of clay.

**Caliche (kuh LEE chee) is a cream-colored, mineral-based powder used for cheap roads in rural Texas; it turns to clay when wet and hardens quickly as it dries, but turns up a cloud of white dust when you ride or drive over the hardened surface.