I used to serve this as a dessert, but since many of my guests managed to swipe a piece to go with their turkey dinner, I now put it on the table as a side dish. No one will believe you when you tell them the crust is not nuts, but crushed pretzels. Delicious!
Strawberry Pretzel Jello
2-1/4 cups crushed unsalted pretzels
3 tblsp sugar
1-1/2 sticks butter or margarine, melted
Mix together above ingredients; press into 13 x9 cake glass cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes; Cool.
8 oz cream cheese, softened
8 oz Cool Whip
2/3 cup granulated sugar
Whip together cream cheese and cool whip; gradually add sugar (note: the original recipe calls for 1 cup sugar, but that's much too sweet for my taste. I use anywhere between 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup sugar)
Spread over cool crust; chill
Mix 2-1/4 cups boiling water with 6 oz Strawberry-Banana Jello Mix. Place into refrigerator. Chilll until it just begins to set (around 45 minutes). Mix in 2 10oz packages frozen crushed strawberries (thawed). Pour over cream cheese layer.
Chill several hours and serve. Enjoy!