Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Lee Greenwood's Favorite Dessert

More than 30 years ago, my mom found a recipe in the newspaper for "Lee Greenwood's Favorite Dessert" (you know, the guy who sang "God Bless the USA"?). 
God bless the USA... and this dessert!
It was so good that we have made it for Thanksgiving and Christmas every single year since. And even though it is so flippin' good, we only make it those two times each year -- it makes it more special that way!
I think most people call it "Chocolate Delight", but at our house, it will always be "Lee Greenwood".
So by popular demand, here's the recipe for Lee Greenwood!
I don't know how many this serves. Five, six, ten? It depends on how hungry you are. I make it for five people and there's about half leftover so I guess 10 folks or so.

I also don't know any kind of nutritional information because when it comes to Lee Greenwood, I don't care if it has a jillion calories. But if you are watching your weight, you can always use fat-free/sugar-free instant pudding, low-fat milk, and reduced fat Cool Whip. In fact, this is how I make mine every year and it tastes just as good as the full fat kind

CRUST:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 
1 1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 1/4 sticks of butter or margarine, melted
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine ingredients. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan (I use the disposable aluminum kind so I can just toss it when the goodness is gone . Bake @ 325 degrees for about 13 minutes. Now I say "about" becuase here's the deal with the crust. It is a delicate thing. You don't want it too "done" or else your pecans will taste all burnt and nasty. You have to watch it very carefully Take it out of the oven when the top of the crust starts looking "dry". Seriously don't overcook it. Then cool the crust completely (like in your fridge) or else the next part won't work right.

Layer One:
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
12 oz. Cool Whip
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar. Mix well until blended. Then fold in the Cool Whip with a spoon or rubber spatula-thing. You have to fold in the Cool whip by hand because if you mix it in with a mixer, it messes it up. Don't ask me why, it just does. Spread mixture over cooled crust.

Layers Two and Three:
2 small boxes of chocolate instant pudding
2 small boxes of vanilla instant pudding
Make pudding according to "pie directions" on the box. That basically means you make each box with 1 1/3 cups of milk. Now the thing that is important about this is you have to make each box separately. Again, I don't  know why, but it makes a difference in the taste. Hey, I don't argue with Lee Greenwood -- we've been making this for over 30 years. You make the chocolate pudding first, and let it sit in the refrigerator for about 3 minutes. When it just starts to set, pour it on top of the cream cheese/Cool whip layer. Repeat for the second batch of chocolate pudding. Then you make the vanilla pudding (again, one at a time) and put it on top of the chocolate layer. Then stick the whole thing in your fridge and let it get nice and cold. I usually make mine the night before: any recipe that has nuts in it has a better flavor the next day. That's it!

This dessert is so good that your tongue will jump out of your mouth and slap you upside the head. Seriously. I hope this becomes your favorite dessert too!
Oh, and if anyone knows Lee Greenwood, can you ask him if this really is his favorite?
Doesn't that just look like a big old messy pile of goodness?



1 comment:

  1. Hello, Lee Greenwood! Are you listening? Inquiring minds want to know! Even if it's not your favorite dessert, it should be!

    ReplyDelete

 
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