Pretzel Salad

After a week of work for both my husband and I, the family is at home together enjoying each other. We have the additional pleasure of having my 5 year old nephew over this weekend. He is a cutie. We have plans to make cupcakes and to see The Lorax in 3-D.

Last night I made Pretzel Salad. This isn't a salad, really, it's a fantastic dessert that uses crushed pretzels as it's crust. There are a plethora of recipes for pretzel salad out there, but I have really had fun with my first two posts, so here is how I made mine.

List of ingredients:
2.5 cups crushed pretzel sticks
3/4 cup butter
12 oz Cool Whip
12 oz cream cheese (sorry I only have 8 oz showing in the picture)
1.5 cups white sugar
1 large package Jell-O of your choice
2 cups water
10 oz berries of your choice

I chose to use raspberries and raspberry Jell-O because my husband just LOVES them, but this can be made with strawberries, blueberries, or really any berry you prefer. There are three layers to our pretzel salad: crust, filling, and topping. All are delectable and complement each other.

You will need a 9X13 pan, an oven preheated to 400 for the crust, and room in the refrigerator for your dessert.

First, make the crust by using about half the bag of pretzels and crushing them. I used a meat hammer to gently break the pretzels in a Pyrex bowl. You don't want all the pretzels crushed to smithereens, try to get your pretzels about 60% crushed well and 40% remaining in small chunks.

Melt the butter and put it in a 9X13 pan.

Pat your pretzels into the butter to make the crust. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. Allow the crust to cool.

Now to move onto the filling. Simply mix the Cool Whip, cream cheese and sugar until creamy.

Drop the filling on top of the cooled crust and smooth over, reaching every edge.

Place in refrigerator while you make the topping. Bring to cups of water to a boil and add Jell-O. Put Jell-O in bowl and refrigerate until syrupy. It should still be liquid, but just beginning to stick to the side of your bowl.

Add the berries. If you are using frozen berries, be careful, as the temperature of the berries will set your Jell-O quickly. Spread the Jell-O/berry mixture on top of the filling. Refrigerate until Jell-O sets and serve.

Tasty and simple, just the way I like my food! I hear this is a nice dish for a potluck or picnic type event.

I must be going now to get presentable enough to take the children to the movies. The cupcakes are cooling and we will be frosting them later. I also have a new recipe I am trying in the crock pot. If it turns out well, I will be posting about it later.