This has been my family's go-to pot-luck dessert since I can remember - and no, before you ask, it isn't a salad... I'm not really sure where the name came from?! Any-who, I figured since it was Memorial Day, what better way to kick off the summer cook-out season with this scrumptious sweet treat. And while get-togethers may look a little different this summer, that doesn't mean you can't share great food with great people!
I truly thought that this dessert was well known - at least in the Midwest - since both sides of my family have their own take on it. But when I told the boyfriend, who grew up about 5 miles away from me, that I was making strawberry pretzel salad this week, he looked confused and concerned. Thankfully, when I had him taste it, he asked me how much I made and promptly had 2 more helpings.
Salty pretzels, sweet cream, and fresh strawberries? You can't go wrong! If you would like to make and deliver these to someone, I came up with a way to make individual servings in mason jars, too. You know, a social distancing version. I put directions on how to do that below the original recipe!
Servings: 12
Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 5 hours
INGREDIENTS:
Crust
2 cups crushed pretzels (I like to use the mini pretzel sticks)
3 Tbsp sugar
2/3 cup melted butter
Filling
1 8oz container of whipped topping (Cool Whip)
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
Topping
2 pkgs (4 serving size each) strawberry flavored gelatin
2 cups boiling water
5 - 6 large fresh strawberries
DIRECTIONS:
In a medium sized bowl, mix the gelatin to the boiling water and stir until dissolved. Place bowl of jello in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes to cool but not set. Eventually the liquid jello will go on top of the filling, but you don't want to melt the rest of the dessert with hot jello!
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl mix all the crust ingredients.
Press the crust mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 baking dish to create the bottom layer. Bake for 10 minutes, then place in the refrigerator to cool before adding the next layer.
Place the cream cheese and sugar for the filling in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer. Add the whipped topping and mix again on low, until just barely combined.
Evenly spread the filling mixture over the cooled crust. Make sure the filling goes all the way to the edges without any gaps. It's going to act as a barrier between the crust and the jello and you don't want the crust to get soggy.
Thinly slice your strawberries and spread them out on top of the filling. Make sure they're flat.
Cover the baking dish and place in the refrigerator until the jello is cooled.
When the jello is ready, slowly and carefully pour the jello mixture over the top of the filling and strawberries.
Cover and return to the refrigerator to set for an additional 3 hours or overnight before serving.
HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD IN A MASON JAR
The number of mason jars you need depends on how big they are. I used 8 medium sized mason jars, but if you use smaller ones, you can probably get away with using 12.
Make the crust just like you would above to include baking it in a baking dish. The only difference is that you spoon out the crust and crumble it into a bowl. Take the crumbles and layer the bottom of your mason jars, ensuring you save half of the crust crumbles for later. Allow the crumbles to cool before adding the next layer.
Spoon in your filling, making sure it touches all sides of your glass so the jello won't leak down into the crust. You will save half of the filling to add later, so be careful how much you add to each jar. My bottom filling layer was about an inch to an inch and a half of the jar.
Add a few slices of strawberries to the jar and carefully add the cooled, but still liquid, jello. It's up to you how much you want to add, but I added twice as much jello as the filling layer. The jello will be the middle layer in your mason jar. Allow the mason jars to cool in the refrigerator until the jello has set - about an hour and a half to two hours.
Once cooled, add another layer of the cream cheese filling and then top with the rest of your crust crumble. Seal the jar and refrigerate at least another hour to ensure everything has set.
I chose to layer the jars this way so the person eating it can still experience all the layers as the dig down into the jar. If you are using shorter and flatter jars, you can probably get away with one layer of each. Feel free to tie a spoon to the jar with a ribbon and deliver the treat to friends, family, neighbors...whoever!
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