Cranberry Pretzel Salad is a fun no bake festive dessert that the whole family will love! Sweet, creamy, salty, and slightly tart. It's a welcome addition to the holiday table.
Course No Bake Desserts
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutesmins
Additional Time 5 hourshrs30 minutesmins
Total Time 5 hourshrs50 minutesmins
Servings 24Squares
Calories 102
Author Dorothy Bigelow
Ingredients
Pretzel Crust
2cupspretzel crumbs5-6 cups pretzel sticks
½cupmelted unsalted butter
⅓cupgranulated sugar
Cream Cheese Layer
1cuppowdered sugar
18oz package cream cheese, softened
18oz container Cool Whip, thawed
Cranberry Layer
23oz packages raspberry flavored Jell-O
214oz cans whole berry cranberry sauce
1 ½cupsboiling water
Instructions
Add your pretzels to the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until they are fine crumbs.
Measure out 2 cups of crumbs into a medium sized bowl, and pour in the melted butter and sugar. Mix well to combine.
Grease a 9X13 baking dish (or line with parchment paper) and press the pretzel mixture into the bottom in an even layer. Apply firm pressure with your hand, but don’t push too hard.
Place the dish in the fridge and chill for 30 minutes, or up to 1 hour.
Add the confectioners sugar, softened cream cheese, and thawed whipped topping to a large bowl.
Using an electric hand mixer, blend everything together until it is smooth and uniform.
Transfer the whipped mixture to the top of the chilled pretzel base using a silicone spatula. Smooth it out evenly, making sure to get to the edges to completely seal the layer.
Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and place it back in the fridge to chill for 1 hour.
Empty the contents of the raspberry Jell-O packets into a large bowl.
Pour in the boiling water and whisk well to dissolve the gelatin.
Add in the two cans of whole berry cranberry sauce, and fold them together with the gelatin mixture until everything is uniform.
Pour the cranberry and gelatin mixture on top of the chilled cream cheese layer, and spread it out evenly.
Cover with plastic wrap, and chill until set, or approximately 4-8 hours.
Slice into bars and serve!
Notes
Storing Leftovers: Leftovers will last in the fridge, when tightly covered, for up to 5 days.Baked Crust Option: Add 2 ½ cups of pretzels to a freezer bag and seal. Crush with a rolling pin into small bits. Combine ½ cup of butter and ¼ cup of sugar and pour it over the pretzels. Toss to combine. Transfer to a 9X13 baking dish and press them into the bottom of the dish. Bake at 350ºF for 10 minutes, then allow to cool completely before adding the remaining layers. Lighter/Lower calories: Substitute the cream cheese for light cream cheese, and the Cool Whip for the low fat/no sugar type. You can also use a sugar free raspberry Jell-O if desired. Gluten Free: Use gluten free prezels to make the base.