Strawberry Pretzel Salad

You guys! I can't believe how many of you have never before had strawberry pretzel salad. It's like the best stuff ever. You can serve it as a side dish, dessert, or as breakfast.

Well, most decent people don't serve it as breakfast but I do.

Salty - sweet. Creamy - smooth - crunchy. So, so good.

Enough ado.  Here's the recipe:

For a 9x13 casserole dish, typically served as a side:
Ingredients:
2 1/2 C coarsely crushed pretzels
3 Tbsp sugar
1/3 C butter, melted

8 oz cream cheese
1 large tub of thawed Cool Whip
1 C sugar

6oz strawberry Jello
20oz frozen strawberries
2 C  boiling water

Directions:
Mix together pretzels, sugar, and butter. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13" pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.  Allow to cool.

Meanwhile cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Gently fold in Cool Whip, being careful to not over mix. Set aside.

In a separate bowl dissolve the Jello into the boiling water. Then add frozen strawberries, breaking them up as you stir. Allow to cool but do not let the Jello set.  This usually takes 5-10 minutes.

Once the pretzel crust has cooled cover it with the cream cheese mix. Be sure to smooth the cream cheese over to the edge of the pan, creating a seal over the pretzel crust. Pour the Jello and strawberry mix on top of the cream cheese mix. Spread it over the whole area.  Chill in the fridge until Jello is set.


For 2 9" pies to be served as dessert:
Ingredients:
5 C coarsely crushed pretzels
5 Tbsp sugar
1 stick of butter, melted

8 oz cream cheese
1 large tub of thawed Cool Whip
1 C sugar

6oz strawberry Jello
20oz frozen strawberries
2 C  boiling water

Directions:
Mix the pretzels, sugar, and melted butter together and divide in two. Press the pretzel mixture into the bottom and at least half way up the sides of two ungreased 9"pie pans. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.  Allow to cool.

Meanwhile cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Gently fold in Cool Whip, being careful to not over mix. Set aside.

In a separate bowl dissolve the Jello into the boiling water. Then add frozen strawberries, breaking them up as you stir. Allow to cool but do not let the Jello set.  This usually takes 5-10 minutes.

Once the pretzel crusts have cooled cover them with the cream cheese mix, using half the mix for each pie. Be sure to smooth the cream cheese over the edge of the pretzel crust, creating a seal. Pour the Jello and strawberry mix on top of the cream cheese mix. Spread it over the whole area.  Chill in the fridge until Jello is set.


Notes:
- You can finish the dish off with more Cool Whip and sliced strawberries if you wish. In the image above I reserved about 1 C from the tub for a topping instead of mixing it all in to the cream cheese.
- Be sure to spread the cream cheese mix all the way to the sides. Once I did not and there was Jello in the pretzel crust. It wasn't as crunchy or pretty as it's supposed to be.
- You can use fresh strawberries in the Jello if you'd like but you'll need to plan on giving it extra time to cool off. If the Jello is too hot it will melt the Cool Whip and cream cheese mix.