What is it about the three distinct components in this popular midwestern party dish? The pretzels are salty and mixed with butter and sugar. The cream cheese is tangy and folded together with light and airy whipped topping. And the strawberry gelatin is packed with a whole pound of fresh strawberries and provides a tart sweetness to finish off the dish. The trio of flavors — salty-sweet, tangy and tart — are layered together for the perfect dessert with a hometown feel.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 5 hr 20 min |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 10 to 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 cups mini pretzel twists (about 6 ounces)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- One 8-ounce container frozen whipped topping, such as Cool Whip, thawed
- One 6-ounce package strawberry flavored gelatin, such as Jell-O
- 16 ounces strawberries, hulled and sliced thin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add the pretzels, sugar and butter to a food processor and process until crumbled and well combined. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Bake until the pretzels are set and slightly more golden than before, about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, clean the food processor, add the cream cheese and pulse 5 to 6 times to soften, scraping the bowl as needed. Transfer to a medium bowl and fold in the whipped topping until well combined. Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the cooled pretzels, making sure that it goes all the way to the edges so that no pretzels can be seen, and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the strawberry gelatin. Continue to stir constantly until the gelatin has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Add 2 cups of cold water to the mixture and stir to combine. Stir in the strawberries. Use a ladle to carefully spoon the gelatin mixture on top of the chilled cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate until the gelatin is set, about 4 hours and up to overnight.
- Slice into squares and serve cold.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 12 servings |
| Calories | 308 |
| Total Fat | 19 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Carbohydrates | 32 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 19 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Cholesterol | 54 mg |
| Sodium | 271 mg |
Reviews
I had trouble with this recipe. I am normally a pretty good or at least decent cook but this recipe just didn’t work for me. Maybe it was me but the jello mixture seeped into the pretzel layer and I don’t know why. I worked hard to make sure the white layer was sealing the pretzel layer. I don’t understand why I can’t seem to make this recipe work.
Too much liquid.
Jello was way to runny need to reduce water by half.
I always thought you add sugar to the cream cheese and Cool Whip layer
The video showed 2 pkgs of strawberry jello
I made this recipe the first time and I didn’t have enough pretzels, but I had oodles of pecans. I added 1 cup of chopped pecans to 2 cups of pretzels and on from there! It was great and I continue to do it. I am a picky eater because I was never able to choose my food growing up, and I had to eat things like beets and lima beans, and collards-cooked without fat back. This is my favorite food group next to generic vanilla bean ice cream with ruffles potato chips crushed over top. This is the perfect food!
Absolutely fantastic!