Macaroni Recipes: Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

For Easter I made an old, but yummy family dessert to take to our family gathering. It was gone within minutes, compared to the numerous cupcakes on the dessert table. The saltiness from the pretzels and the sweetness from the fresh strawberries is an amazing combination. Enjoy!

What you will need: 

• 2 Cups crushed pretzels
• 11/4 Cups white sugar (divided into 1 cup and 1/4 cup)
• 1 stick of melted butter
• 1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened/room temperature (I use the light or nonfat version to keep the calories down)
• 1 8oz tub of cool whip, thawed
• 1 large box of strawberry jello (I use the regular one since I don't think the sugar-free kind sets up well or tastes as good)
• 3 Cups of fresh strawberries (trimmed, cleaned, and sliced)
• 1 Cup boiling water

Steps: 

1. Preheat the oven for 350. 
2. Mix the preztels, 1/4 cup sugar, and melted buttered in a bowl then transfer to a 9x13 glass pan. 
3. Bake preztel crust for 10 minutes. Cool. 
4. Beat the cream cream then add the 1 cup sugar and cool whip until well blended (it may be a little dumpy, but that is fine).
5. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cooled crust. 
6. Mix the boiling water and jello. Add the strawberries and mix well.  Cool.
7. Once the strawberry mixture is cooled, pour it over the cream cheese layer. 
8. Cover and chill for at least 2-3 hours (until it sets up) before serving. 
9. If you are daring you can serve it with additional cool whip and more fresh strawberries.