This was delicious...and we are not a Jello family. I have made Jello for my family maybe a handful of times over the last decade. This salad is different and that's pretty obvious. I mean who came up with the idea combining pretzels and Jello? It took me a long time to try this recipe but I'm glad I did. I thought a 9x13 would be way to big for my family so I made two 8x8 pans and shared some. That was the perfect amount for us.
strawberry pretzel salad (Ezra Pound Cake)
2 cups crushed pretzels (you want small pieces but don't pulverize them in a food processor)
3/4 cup melted butter
3 tablespoons sugar
filling
1 (8 ounce package) cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1 (8 ounce) container whipped topping (I had some freshly whipped in the fridge!)
topping
2 (3 ounce) packages strawberry gelatin dessert mix
2 cups boiling water
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen strawberries
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple
whipped topping or whipped cream to garnish
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
For the crust, grab a medium bowl, add the pretzels, butter and 3 tablespoons of sugar and mix them together. Press into a 9x13-inch pan. Bake for 7 minutes. Set aside to cool.
For the filling, mix together the cream cheese and sugar in a mixing bowl. Fold in the whipped topping and spread over the cooled crust. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until well chilled.
For the topping, dissolve the gelatin in boiling water and allow to cool slightly. Add the strawberries and pineapple and pour over the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate until serving time.
Serve slices with a dollop of whipped topping.
What I have to say- my friend Annie says she sometimes uses raspberry Jello and fresh raspberries. Doesn't that sound even better?!
*And no crushed pineapple with the raspberries! And actually frozen raspberries work great, too. We're not a jello family either. The only time I've made jello is for this recipe. But when it comes to this, once a year at Thanksgiving, we suddenly are a jello family. :)
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