Strawberry Pretzel Salad (no Cool Whip or Jello)

Crust

1. Preheat oven to 375F (190C).
2. In a medium-sized bowl combine crushed pretzels, butter, and sugars and mix together until well combined and pretzels are thoroughly moistened.
3. Press pretzel mix firmly and evenly into the bottom of 13”x9” pan.
4. Transfer to center rack of 375F (190C) oven and bake for 12 minutes. Remove and allow crust to cool completely before adding the filling, but in the meantime you can prepare the strawberry topping.

Strawberry Topping

1. In a small saucepan, whisk together sugar and cornstarch. Add half of the strawberries and the lemon juice, stir to combine.
2. Cook mixture on stovetop over medium/low heat until berries release their juices. Increase heat to medium and cook/boil, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened (spatula will leave a brief trail through the mixture, it will coat the back of a spoon, see video for visual reference).
3. Remove from heat and add remaining strawberries and butter, stir until butter has melted and strawberries are evenly mixed throughout. Set aside and allow to cool completely before making the filling and assembling the “salad”.

Filling

1. Combine heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until thick, fluffy, and stiff peaks form. Set aside.
2. In a separate, medium-sized bowl, use an electric mixer (you can use the same “dirty” beaters from the whipped cream!) to beat together cream cheese and granulated sugar until smooth and creamy.
3. Add whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and fold together until mixture is combined, smooth, and creamy.
4. Spread mixture evenly over cooled pretzel crust. Be sure to spread all the way to the edges of the pan (so the next layer can’t soak into the pretzel layer and make it soggy). Set aside.
5. Spread prepared, slightly cooled strawberry mixture evenly over the filling. Cover with plastic wrap and set in refrigerator to chill for at least 3-4 hours (or overnight) before serving. Serving tip! This strawberry pretzel salad does not cut as neatly as its Jell-o counterpart so slicing can be a bit messy. For neater slices, chill the pretzel salad in the freezer for 10-30 minutes before slicing.