Blueberry Pretzel Salad
Nostalgic? Yes. But that salty-sweet combo has serious staying power.
Is there any retro dessert that people are as happy to see as they are the pretzel salad? I don’t think so. It’s always a crowd favorite. Made up of a salty pretzel crumb crust, a middle filling of something akin to cheesecake, and a topping of fruit and jello goodness, I will never understand how it got a ‘salad’ nomer, but sure can appreciate how delicious it is. It has that salty-sweet thing down pat.
You start things off by making the crust. And the crust is both the base of this dessert and the reason for its namesake because it’s made up of crushed pretzels. Well, crushed pretzels, melted butter, and a touch of sugar. (I told you this was all about the salty-sweet.)
Mix those three things together and then press them into the bottom of a baking dish. These ratios work in a 9×13-inch pan.
Bake the crust for ten minutes, just long enough to set things up. And then let it cool down long enough that you don’t melt your next layer, which is basically cheesecake filling.
To make that, beat powdered sugar and a softened brick of cream cheese together and then fold in whipped topping. (If you’re feeling extra industrious, yes, you can use homemade whipped cream.)
You’ll want to chill that while you work on the topping.
Now, there are a million and one ways to make a pretzel salad topping (or at least as many as there are fruits) but today we’re doing blueberry. And rather than just relying on the jello to carry us in flavor, we’re going to cook down some fresh (or frozen!) berries to make it a little extra special.
Just throw some blueberries in a pan with a bit of lemon juice and sugar and let them cook until most of them have burst.
You’ll then whisk together some blueberry gelatin and boiling water and stir the actual blueberry mixture into it. (If you can’t find “blueberry” gelatin, “berry blue” is just fine.)
Then, pour it over the cream cheese layer, but be gentle about it so you end up with distinct layers and not muddled jello and cream cheese. And then chill again, this time for at least two to three hours.
At that point you’ll have three distinct layers of salty-crunchy crust, sweet and creamy goodness, and a somewhat jiggly fruit finale for the top.
It’s quite a combo. It might feel a little nostalgic but it has the staying power that not many retro desserts have managed to harness, and that’s probably due to that beloved combo of salty, sweet, crunchy, creamy, and jiggly. It’s got it all.
Blueberry Pretzel Salad
For the crust:
- 2 cups pretzels, crushed
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
For the topping:
- 3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 6 oz blueberry gelatin
- 2 cups boiling water
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 400°F and grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the crushed pretzels and 2 tablespoons sugar. Stir in the melted butter until thoroughly combined.
- Press pretzel mixture into prepared baking dish in an even layer. Bake until golden, 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- Next, make the cream cheese filling:
- In a clean bowl, beat together the cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined. Gently fold in the whipped topping.
- Spread mixture over cooled crust, then transfer to refrigerator to chill until set, about 1 hour.
- While it chills, work on the blueberry topping:
- In a saucepan, combined blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until berries burst and mixture thickens a bit. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Once cream cheese layer has set, combine blueberry gelatin and boiling water in a large bowl. Stir in cooked blueberry mixture, then gently pour over cream cheese layer.
- Chill until set, 2-3 hours. Slice, serve, and enjoy!