Strawberry Pretzel Jello
Is this recipe healthy? It is not. Is it highbrow or beautiful? Also no. But is it delicious? Emphatically yes!
My family has always simply called this Pretzel Jello, but in the South I’ve often seen it on menus as “Strawberry Pretzel Salad,” which is a baffling name for a dish that - if anything else - is definitely a casserole!
Over the years, I’ve tweaked a lot of my childhood favorites to bring them more in line with how I eat now - fewer highly processed foods, more fresh produce, etc etc (see: Cheesy Broccoli Casserole). But I find that I’ve no desire to mess with this one, which is a truly perfect salty-sweet layered dessert and surely welcome at any warm-weather gathering.
My mom got the recipe from Chef Andy, whose Jell-O-themed website appears to be delightfully paused in the early 2000s. I’ve swapped the crust sweetener to brown sugar, and I always use fresh strawberries; other than that, this recipe is frozen in time for me.
It’s incredibly easy, and basically fool-proof: the only way to mess it up is to not seal off all the edges with the white layer, in which case the Jell-O will leak onto the pretzel crust and make it soggy.
Strawberry Pretzel Jello
INGREDIENTS
Crust:
2 cups crushed pretzels
¾ cup butter, melted
¼ cup brown sugar
Whipped Cream Layer:
8 oz Cool Whip
½ cup granulated sugar
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
Top Layer:
6 ounces strawberry Jell-O
1 pound fresh strawberries, sliced
1 cup boiling water
1 cup cold water with ice
DIRECTIONS
Make the crust: combine pretzels, butter, and ¼ cup brown sugar. Press into 9”x13” baking dish and bake at 350ºF for 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
Middle Layer: Cream together cream cheese and sugar. Fold in Cool Whip. Spread the mixture over the cooled pretzel crust. Make sure not to leave any holes or the crust will get soggy.
Top layer: Arrange the berries on the white layer. Dissolve jell-o in boiling water. Stir in ice water. Spread over the white layer. Chill the dish until the Jell-O is set.
NOTES:
Make sure the crust is truly room temperature before layering on the cream cheese mixture or it will melt