This Strawberry Pretzel Salad is a classic sweet-and-salty dessert made with a buttery pretzel crust, cream cheese filling, and strawberry Jello topping.
Instructions
1
Preheat the oven
2
Gather all ingredients and preheat the oven to 350°F.
3
In a food processor, pulse pretzels and brown sugar together until combined but still chunky.
4
Add melted butter and pulse a few more times until the mixture is evenly moistened.
5
Bake the pretzel base
6
Press the crust mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom of a parchment-lined 8x8 baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown. Remove and let cool completely.
7
Beat the cream cheese
8
In a mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the room-temperature cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla together.
9
Pour the heavy cream into the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth and fully combined. Spread this mixture evenly over the cooled pretzel crust. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
10
Make the jello
11
In a medium bowl, stir the strawberry gelatin powder into the boiling water until fully dissolved. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes until it thickens to the consistency of raw egg whites*.
12
Chill until set
13
Gently fold sliced strawberries into the thickened strawberry gelatin. Pour this mixture evenly over the chilled cream cheese layer. Return the dish to the refrigerator and chill for 2 to 4 hours or until the Jello is fully set.
14
Slice and serve chilled. Enjoy!
