allterrainjohnny

Summer Recipe

One of our Account Managers, and resident baker, Tara Soltow, decided to share this delicious treat with everyone…

I’m not your conventional baker.

I like to get creative, which often creates delicious masterpieces and occasional small fires.  My college room-mate dubbed me “Mad Scientist Baker” as she would watch me meticulously place Jolly Ranchers on top of sugar cookie dough “just to see what happens.” (FYI: Jolly Ranchers melt into an inedible coating, smothering what would have been delicious sugar cookies).

But, here’s a no fail recipe my Minnesotan mother passed down from her Jello-Molding Mama. After all these years, a Harmony, MN summertime classic made its way to big, bad Chicago…and in true “city girl” style, I traded the blender for a hammer and ended up creating the best Jello treat Wicker Park has ever seen.

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

2 2/3 cup crushed pretzels (I prefer using a plastic bag and a hammer, but blenders work, too)
3/4 cup butter
3 tsp. sugar
8 oz. cream cheese (Fat-free if you think you’re gonna have more than 1 serving)
1 cup sugar
1 (12 oz.) container Cool Whip (Sugar-free, because we all know you’re going to eat half the container before we even get to the topping).
2 small boxes strawberry Jello (Sugar-free if you think you can still get some bikini time in before Fall).
2 cups boiling water
2 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen strawberries or fresh berries

Crush pretzels. Mix them in with 3 tsp sugar and the butter.  Press into 9” x 13” pan with your fists (punch it if you’re feeling gansta’) to make a crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 min. Then, let it cool.

While it’s chillin’, mix the cream cheese and 1 cup of sugar together and then fold in the whipped cream. Spread over the cooled pretzel crust.

Mix the Jello and boiling water.  Stir until dissolved and add in the frozen berries, stirring until thawed.

Pour over the cream cheese mixture and chill. Or just grab a fork and start eating…that’s what I do.