Pretzel Jell-O Salad

Hi All,

Today I’ll be sharing a recipe that is a family favorite of ours and we have it at almost every holiday event. Definitely the 3 majors. (Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.) It is salty and sweet and really hits the spot. I recently made a strawberry flavored one and brought it to church for our “Momsgiving” Celebration. I was asked for the recipe and thought, why not share it with even more people??? So you all get to benefit too. 🙂

As a side note, when I was growing up we did this in a lot of different flavors so don’t be afraid to branch out from strawberry. For instance, in my family, boysenberry and blackberry were popular along with the strawberry. You would just pair the particular fruit with the Jell-O that you’d picked but the pineapple remains constant no matter the flavor as it adapts to the flavor you add it to. I’ve also done peach flavored and really enjoyed it.

I’ve linked the facebook live videos to each layer’s instructions section below.

Supplies/Ingredients:

• 9×13 pan
• Crust:
  • 3/4 to 2 Cups of Butter softened
  • 2 3/4 to 3 Cups of Crushed Pretzels (of your variety of choosing)
  • 2 Tablespoons of Sugar
• Middle Layer:
  • 8 oz container of whipped cream topping
  • 1 Cup Sugar
  • 8 oz package of softened cream cheese
• Top Layer:
  • 1 large package of Jell-O (6 oz. size) in desired flavor (I used strawberrry.)
  • 12-16 oz of fruit (I like to used sliced frozen but try to get the not sugared fruit with the Jell-O or it can be too sweet.) Any fruit you add needs to be frozen or canned first to add it into Jell-O. (If you add fresh fruit to Jell-O it won’t set properly.)
  • 1 large (20 oz.) can of CRUSHED pineapple (I don’t always double check in the store what kind of pineapple I grab….so if you’re like me… that’s why it’s capitalized.)
  • 1 Cup of boiling water

Instructions:

• Crust –
  1. Combine Crust ingredients in the bottom of the 9×13 pan.
  2. Press down into a stable layer along the bottom of the pan.
  3. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.
  4. COMPLETELY COOL!!!! If it’s not the middle layer will melt slightly.

• Middle Layer –
  1. Using a medium sized mixing bowl, combine middle layer ingredients with a mixer until completely smooth.
  2. Smooth out over the chilled crust, making sure there are no holes that will allow the top Jell-O layer to seep down to the crust, or you’ll end up with mushy crust. (I learned this the hard way growing up! LOL)
  3. Chill for at least 30 minutes before doing the next layer.

• Top Layer –
  1. The correct way to do this would be to drain juice from pineapple and thawed fruit you’re using. (I cheat. So it’s not necessarily as good as it could be… but who has time for that normally? LOL) You’re trying to get roughly 2 Cups of juice after really smooshing the fruit to get the juice. If it doesn’t quite add up to 2 Cups, you can add water. The way I usually do it though I don’t have to add water. See the video. 🙂 I just have the frozen fruit and use the whole can of pineapple.
  2. In a mixing bowl, add 1 Cup bowling water and Jell-O mix. Mix until dissolved.
  3. Add juices and then GENTLY (so it doesn’t splash) add both fruits and stir it all together.
  4. GENTLY pour the mixture over the top of the chilled middle layer. (Again so it doesn’t splash.)
  5. Chill until set. Usually about an hour to hour and a half.
  6. Serve cold as a side or as a treat after the meal.

Have a great day, enjoy, and keep creating!!