One of my favorite holiday dishes at our family gatherings is the Pretzel Strawberry Dessert, a.k.a. Pretzel Strawberry Salad. I first had it at a dinner party I attended while out in Orange County, California, on a teaching assignment. It was served as part of the meal, but I also ate it for dessert. I might have had a third helping that time . . .
The salad/dessert/side dish is a layered dish with toasted pretzels on the bottom for the crust, a cream cheese and cool whip mixture in the middle layer, and a strawberry jello with strawberries for the top layer. I’ve always thought it was perfect. At least, it was until the year I tried to save some calories and fat grams by using low sugar/low fat products. The top layer literally slid off the the dish. Needless to say, I have not been asked or allowed to bring it again.
Perfection, by virtue of the definition, means that something can’t get any better. It means that the object is SO perfect that nothing added or done differently would make it better. And that’s what I thought about the Pretzel Strawberry Dessert, a.k.a. Pretzel Strawberry Salad.
That is until my friend, Teresa Brown, brought a brand new dish to a recent ladies’ gathering. Teresa has already been featured here with her Ritz Cracker Pie recipe. It was an amazing recipe. This time the menu for the gathering called for all salads. Teresa dug into online sites and Pinterest, looking for some kind of fruit dessert salad. What she found was the Strawberry Pecan Pretzel Salad. It took that pretzel dessert I already loved, lightened it up a bit, and brought in more crunch by adding pecans.
This is the perfect summer dessert . . . easy to make; cool and light to eat with a pleasing combination of both sweet and crunchy. I enjoyed it so much that I’ll be taking it to the next family gathering. I think they’ll forgive me for what I did to the other pretzel strawberry dessert, and I’m hoping, they’ll forget my transgressions from all those years past. Or, at least that’s my dream!
Strawberry Pecan Pretzel Salad
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 7 minutes
Total time 22 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup crushed pretzels
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup butter, melted
- 3 cups diced strawberries
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups cool whip (or use whipped cream)
Instructions
- Mix together crushed pretzels, chopped pecans, brown sugar and melted butter.
- Spread mixture on a large baking sheet with sides and bake at 400 degrees for 7 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool and then break it into small pieces. Set aside.
- Dice strawberries and set aside.
- Beat together softened cream cheese, granulated sugar, and vanilla.
- Fold in the cool whip. Cover and store in the fridge until serving.
- Before serving, add the diced strawberries and sugared pretzels and pecans into the cream cheese mixture and mix well.
- If desired, garnish with fresh strawberries before serving.
Teresa found this recipe on Pinterest and changed it slightly. Teresa’s recipe came from The Gunny Sack.
