Strawberry Pretzel Pie

By Ree DrummondPublished: Jul 27, 2015

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Sweet, shiny strawberries in a sweet-salty pretzel pie. A summertime treat!

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Yields:: 8 serving(s)
Prep Time:: 4 hrs
Cook Time:: 10 mins
Total Time:: 4 hrs 10 mins

Ingredients

4 c. Pretzel Sticks
1 stick (8 Tablespoons) Butter, Melted
1/3 c. Brown Sugar
1 1/2 c. Sugar
3 tbsp. Cornstarch
1 package (3.5 Ounce) Strawberry-flavored Jello
1 1/2 c. Water
3 pt. Strawberries, Hulled And Halved
Unsweetened Whipped Cream

Directions

For the pretzel crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Crush the pretzels in a large resealable plastic bag with a rolling pin. Mix in a bowl with the butter and brown sugar. Press into a pie pan and bake for 8 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.

For the strawberry filling: Put 1 1/2 cups water, the granulated sugar, cornstarch and gelatin powder in a saucepan. Stir together and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook until it starts to thicken, about 2 to 3 minutes, then remove from the heat. Let the liquid cool for a good 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Put the strawberries in a bowl and pour over the sauce, gently tossing together. Allow to sit for 5-7 minutes, then carefully pile the coated strawberries into the cooled pie crust. Spoon over a little leftover sauce if needed, and refrigerate, uncovered, for 4 hours.

Cut into slices and serve with whipped cream. (Unsweetened is nice because the pie is so sweet!)

I made this pie on an episode of my Food Network show a few months ago, but just realized over the weekend that I’d never made it here! Strawberries and pretzels are actually not an uncommon dessert combination, and this pie is such a lovely summertime masterpiece. The sweet strawberries are so lovely: they’re coated in a sugar/Jello mixture that diners have used for decades (that’s how the strawberries get that gorgeous shiny surface) but the pretzel crust, friends. Oh, goodness. It is tremendously yummy and as you’ll see from my warning below, it makes a delicious snack. So make sure you’re not hungry when you make the crust!

(Not that that will stop you from wanting to eat it anyway. Ahem.)

Here’s how to make this pretty pie!

The Cast of Characters: Pretzels, brown sugar, butter, strawberries, sugar, strawberry Jello, cornstarch, cream (for whipped cream), and water (not pictured.)

First, make the pretzel crust!

Pour some pretzel sticks into a zipper bag…

Then seal the bag with a little bit of an opening in the corner to keep it from exploding, and pound the pretzels using a rolling pin (or you can use a can!) It’s a little difficult to describe how much to break up the pretzels; basically, you want to have some nice, ground pretzels…but you also want to have some visible pretzel pieces.

Like this!

Put the pretzels into a bowl with some brown sugar…

And stir it until this is all mixed together.

Melt the butter and pour it slowly into the bowl, mixing as you go along…

Until you have this crazy-delicious mixture, which is slightly moist and extremely delicious.

Warning: Do not taste this with a spoon! It will be the biggest mistake of your entire life. You won’t be able to stop eating it and you’ll be left without a pie crust, which means you either won’t be able to make pie or you’ll have to make another pie crust, which will also tempt you to eat it with a spoon, and then you have a vicious (but very tasty) cycle.

Pour the pretzel mixture into a pie pan. I’m using a metal pan, but if you have a glass one handy, it would be nice to use for this pie since it allows you to see all the pretzel craziness.

Press it into the bottom of the pan and up the sides.

Then bake it at 350 degrees for about 5 to 7 minutes until it’s toasted and golden, and until your kitchen smells like Heaven. Then take it out and let it cool.

While the crust is cooking, make the filling!

Combine sugar, cornstarch and the Jello powder in a medium saucepan…

Then pour in water and mix it together.

Bring it to a gentle boil, stirring constantly, then reduce the heat and allow it to cook and thicken for another minute or two.

Remove it from the heat and—this is the important part—let it cool for a good 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t form a film on top or around the edge.

While it’s cooling, hull and halve a buncha strawberries! I have made this pie with whole strawberries before, and while it looks gorgeous, it’s a little crazy fitting all the big strawberries in the pie. So halving them is a nice compromise.

Once the mixture is cool (confession: I didn’t wait long enough because I was chasing sunlight), place the strawberries in a bowl and pour the syrup over the top. You may not need it all, so don’t be afraid to stop short. You can always use the extra to spoon over the berries if they need it!

Gently stir the strawberries until they’re totally coated in the syrup.

Then again, let the berries sit for a good 5 minutes until the liquid is starting to set.

Using a slotted spoon…

Heap the berries into the pie crust! I get involved and arrange some of the halves facing down because that’s the pretty side.

Then, if you’d like…

You can spoon a little bit of the syrup on the surface of the strawberries. Just keep in mind that if there’s a lot of excess syrup, it will wind up in the bottom of the pie, on top of the crust, which can sometimes make it soggy. This is why it’s important to let the syrup cool, and then to let the berries sit in the syrup, before they go on the crust.

Tada! What a pretty pie.

But wait! You have to chill it. The berries are pretty much coated in a Jello mixture, after all, and it needs to set. So refrigerate it for at least 3 to 4 hours (uncovered). You’ll be glad you did.

When it comes time to cutting it into wedges, well…good luck. Ha! But really, it should be much easier if you chill it and use a small, sharp knife. I only chilled mine for about 45 minutes, so it was a little…challenging.