This strawberry pretzel salad is a classic layered dessert made with a crunchy buttery pretzel crust, sweet cream cheese filling and strawberry Jell-O topping.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
Layer 1
In a food processor or blender, pulse pretzels until finely crumbled (about 1 3/4 cups crumbs). Stir in butter and sugar until combined. Press evenly into baking dish. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Chill 30 minutes, or until cool.
Layer 2
In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer. Add sugar until combined. Mix in Cool Whip.
Drop by spoonful (about 8) over the top of the chilled crust. Carefully spread in an even layer, being sure to go all the way to the edges so the jello mixture doesn’t leak through. You can use your finger with a paper towel to run along the edges to make clean lines. Chill 1 hour, or until set.
Layer 3
While you are refrigerating the cream mixture, place the strawberries in the freezer for the hour to chill.
In a small saucepan, boil water and jello over medium-high heat. Stir 2 minutes, or until the mixture is dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the strawberries. Let sit 5 to 10 minutes, until thickened slightly. Once the pot is cool enough to handle, I like to put it in the refrigerator 10 to 15 minutes more.
When thickened slightly, pour evenly over the of cream cheese mixture and chill at least 2 hours, or until jello is firm (I like to leave it overnight).
Once the dessert is firm, slice and serve.
Notes
Variations
Raspberry: Use raspberry jello and frozen raspberries.
Pineapple: Use pineapple jello and frozen crushed pineapple or frozen strawberries.
Mandarin: Use orange jello and canned mandarin oranges (pre-freeze them).
Peach: Use peach jello and frozen sliced peaches.
Make-ahead: This jello pretzel dessert needs time to set in the fridge, which makes it a great recipe to prepare ahead of time. You can make it up to 1 day in advance, however I wouldn't prepare it any sooner or else the pretzel crust could get a little soggy.Storage: Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge. Just keep in mind that the pretzels will soften the longer they sit.