Eat Well, Live Happy: Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Yesterday was my niece's 2nd birthday and also Labor Day, so my sister had a cookout for her birthday party. She wanted to make Strawberry Pretzel Salad and I offered to help her since I've never made it. This is a classic recipe that most people have had at a cookout or potluck at least once, and most likely many times. It's always a hit, so it's a good recipe to learn!

This recipe was pretty simple to make except for one thing - it was hard to tell when the Jell-o was ready to pour over the pretzel and cream cheese layers, so we did have a little bit of trouble with that. It may not have set long enough, but it was starting to gel around the sides so we thought it was OK. It didn't come out looking as nice as we had hoped (some of the Jell-o seeped down into the pretzel layer), but it tasted great and it was the first thing to go at the party!

The recipe that we used calls for Dream Whip, but you can also use Cool Whip if you prefer (I saw that in many other recipes posted online). The dream whip is easy to make though - you just mix the packet with milk and vanilla extract until it thickens. We used sliced frozen strawberries, and not quite as many a the recipe called for (we only had a 14-ounce bag), but it was still enough. We made the recipe in the morning so it wouldn't get soggy overnight. You do need to have time to make this recipe since the pretzel layer has to cool, you have to wait for the Jell-o to stiffen a bit, and then let it all set for a while. I definitely recommend trying this, and I hope you have better luck with the Jell-o than we did! (This is one of those recipes I'll be re-making and posting better pics eventually!)

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

2 cups Snyders pretzel sticks, crushed into chunks, not crumbs

1½ sticks margarine, melted

3 teaspoons sugar

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 envelope dream whip, made to package directions (with the pudding)

½ cup cold milk

½ teaspoon vanilla

½ cup sugar

1 6-ounce package strawberry Jell-o

2 10-ounce packages frozen sliced strawberries, partially thawed

Mix crushed pretzels, melted margarine and 3 teaspoons sugar together and put in 13 x 9-inch pan. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or 325° for glass dish. Let cool.

Mix strawberry Jell-o dissolved in 2¾ cups boiling water with 2 10-ounce packages partially thawed strawberries. Put in fridge to thicken for about 30 minutes.

Make the dream whip: mix whipped topping mix, milk and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed until blended. Beat on high speed for 4 minutes or until topping thickens and forms soft peaks.

Mix cream cheese, dream whip and ½ cup sugar and spread on cooled pretzel crust.

When Jell-o mixture is thickened (just starting to gel), spoon over cream cheese crust.

Chill for a few hours until Jell-o is set.

NOTE: You can alternate an 8-ounce or 16-ounce container of cool whip for the dream whip if you prefer.