Strawberry Jell-O Pretzel Salad

Strawberry Jell-O pretzel salad appears to be a dessert that has been around for awhile and I'm sure most of you have heard of it, or tried it.  I had not ever heard of it before seeing it around on Pinterest.  However, this is such a delicious summer dessert recipe!! Fruit, cool whip .... yum!  It's the perfect combination of sweet & salty.  I highly recommend making this before the summer is over!! 

The only downfall to this dessert is that it doesn't stay good for very long - the pretzels will start to get soggy after several days.  It would be a great dessert to take to a BBQ or potluck dinner. 

Tip for you: Follow the directions carefully, and in order.  Timing each step is important.  I learned the hard way and my jell-o had set a little too much before I poured it as the top layer.

Strawberry Jell-O Pretzel Salad

3 cups crushed pretzels

1 cup butter, melted

4 Tbsp sugar, plus 3/4 cup sugar

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, room temperature

1 (8 oz) container cool whip (I always use the "Free" Cool Whip)

2 (3 oz) strawberry gelatin, Jell-O, packages

2 cups boiling water

2 (10 oz) pkg frozen strawberries (sliced)

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

For the crust: mix the pretzels, butter (melted), and 4 Tbsp sugar.  Press the pretzel mixture into 9x13 and bake from approximately 7-10 minutes.  Let crust cool.  (Make sure completely cooled before moving on the next layer). 

In a mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar.  Once thoroughly mixed together, gently fold in the cool whip.

Once the crust is cooled, spread the cream cheese layer over the pretzel crust.  Make sure the cream cheese layer is spread evenly and is spread up against the edges of the pan - that will prevent the jello from leaking down into the layers.

Top layer/Jell-O layer: Boil 2 cups of water, then take off the burner and add gelatin mix - mix together well.  Add in the strawberries and let it cool for just a couple minutes - you want slightly thicker consistently, i.e. that of an egg white.  Once that is achieved, pour Jell-O mix on top of cream cheese mix.

Refrigerate for 3-4 hours, until well set.

Enjoy!!!