Redneck Tiramisu

I love to bake.  Really, I love to cook anything.  Sometimes I'm in the mood to try a challenging recipe and spend hours shopping for specialty ingredients, separating egg whites, folding in ingredients, and completing complicated steps.  Other times, I just need to cook, and I want it done fast.  I love pillsbury.com for recipes like that-if it calls for a pound of hamburger and some crescent rolls, I'm in.  Lately, I've really had a craving for tiramisu.  I blame Kathy Wakile from "The Real Housewives of New Jersey."  Sorry Teresa, but it's Kathy's cookbook I want to buy!  So yesterday, I decided I was going to make tiramisu, and I googled some recipes.  I ran in to some complications when I realized 1)-I needed mascarpone cheese and espresso, two things I wasn't going to find in this small town and 2)-it was quite a process to make, and I wasn't in the mood.  I wanted tiramisu and I wanted it now.  So I headed over to my trusty Pinterest and typed in "easy tiramisu".  Most everything still required mascarpone.  Then the word "Twinkies" caught my eye.  Twinkies I can find in this town.  Yet the recipe still wasn't easy enough for me, so I adapted my own recipe from this one, which I will lovingly refer to as Redneck Tiramisu.  Super sweet, but quite tasty.  Ya know, if you like Twinkies.  You're welcome.

  Redneck Tiramisu

5 tablespoons instant coffee or espresso powder

3/4 cup of sugar divided

8 ounces whipped cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 container of Cool Whip, thawed in fridge (I used fat free)

10 Twinkies (actually, I used the Little Debbie wannabees because they were $1 cheaper)

cocoa powder

In a glass bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar and the instant coffee with 1 cup of boiling water, whisking until dissolved.  Let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk cream cheese, vanilla and 1/4 cup of sugar until blended.  (I didn't bother with the electric mixer, just made Ben stir for a while.)  Gradually whisk in thawed Cool Whip to cream cheese mixture.

Cut Twinkies in half lengthwise.  Dip each half into the coffee mixture.  (Just moisten, don't soak.)  As you dip, place the Twinkies along side each other in a baking dish to create the bottom layer.  If you use a 8x8(ish) sized dish, half of the Twinkies will make the bottom layer.  Spread a layer of the cream cheese mixture on top of the Twinkie layer, then sprinkle it with cocoa powder.  Dip the remaining Twinkie halves and create a another Twinkie, cream cheese, cocoa powder layer.  Cover tightly and refrigerate until well chilled.