Kayla In The Kitchen: Strawberry Pretzel Bars

One thing you may not know about me is that I love to bake. I'm not saying that what I bake is amazing, trust me, I've had my fair share of major fails, but I just love to make new things especially when it's something sweet. I came across this recipe from Pinterest, and it was a huge hit with my family. This would be the perfect Valentine's Day dessert to make for that special someone in your life.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Pretzel Bars

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups pretzels (crushed)

3 tbsp. brown sugar

3/4 cup melted butter

1 6 oz. package frozen sliced strawberries

1 8 oz. package cream cheese

1 cup sugar

8 oz. cool whip

You will also need a 9x13 pan

Step One:

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Gather your pretzels, brown sugar, and melted butter.To crush the pretzels, I place a few handfuls into a zip-loc bag and then put that bag into another to prevent spills. I crush them with my hands and then to really get the job done I use a rolling pin.

Once the pretzels are crushed it is time to combine the crushed pretzels, brown sugar, and butter together in a bowl. Stir the ingredients together and if you find that it is not sticking together well add either more butter or pretzels. 

Place the pretzel mix into a greased 9x13 pan and spread so it covers the entire bottom.

By now the oven should be fully preheated so you can go ahead and throw the crust in for 10 minutes. Once the time is up, set the crust aside to cool, or what I like to do is put it in the refrigerator.

Step 2:

Now it's time to prepare the jello. Simply follow the instructions on the box. I like using the JELL-O brand which requires you to boil 2 cups of water, stir that into the gelatin mix and once that is melted together add 2 cups of cold water and stir.

Once you have your jell-o prepared, it's time to add the frozen strawberries. I just add the whole bag into the bowl of jell-o and then stir it together so they all get coated.

When you are done preparing the jell-o, place it in the refrigerator to set. Keep checking back to make sure it hasn't set completely. You only want it to be partially set.

Step 3:

To make the whipped yummy center, mix together the cream cheese with the sugar in mixing bowl. Mix until it forms a creamy yet still hard consistency. When it gets to that point, go ahead and add the whole tub of Cool Whip and stir the two together.

Step 4:

Now it's finally time to put everything together. Go ahead and take out your pretzel crust now that it has completely cooled. Spread the whipped topping all on top of the crust making sure you seal all of the sides so the jell-o can't get through to make the pretzel crust soggy. 

 Once the whipped topping is set, take your jell-o from the fridge and add that to the top. Spread it all out and then you're done!

It's a bit messy, but I promise it's delish! ( ;

Clearly I wasn't the only one who wanted to get a taste of this super delicious dessert...

He couldn't stop staring when I was putting it all together. ( ;

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

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