Strawberry Cream Pie with Pretzel Crust

This strawberry cream pie has a delicious pretzel crust and a sweet cream cheese layer under the pretty pink strawberry layer!

Strawberry cream pie is the kind of thing that I daydream about. I think I might have mentioned here a time or two that I love strawberries when they’re in season. My goodness…in my opinion there really is no flavor-at least not on the sweet side of things-better than that of a perfectly ripe strawberry on the verge of going south. They’re good in any application…pies, cakes, sauces, drinks, popsicles, sweet rolls, etc., etc., ETC.

Of all the strawberry desserts I love, my grandmother’s strawberry pie is the one that makes me swoon the most. Partly nostalgia, partly because it’s just that darn good, I could eat that strawberry pie till my waistband was bursting at the seams and probably wish that I had more. It just makes me smile, especially when I think about my grandmother serving it to me when I was a child.

Recently I had a super-exciting moment when I used my Amazon app to scan a book in Books-a-Million. My heart leapt into my chest when I saw that the Kindle edition of Me, Myself, and Pie by Sherry Gore was on sale for $1.99 (regular price $9.99). I promptly bought it when I got home and read the whole book that day. It got me thinking about things that I could do to make pies that were even better than the already pretty darn good pies I’ve been making.

And then…then I happened upon a recipe for pretzel crust. That made me think of a Jell-O salad that I have eaten a few times, with a pretzel base, a cream cheese and Cool Whip layer, and a layer of strawberry Jell-O and fresh strawberries. I remember loving it. I’ve thought about it a few times lately, thought about how I could make it my own. So what did I do? I turned it into strawberry cream pie.

This pretzel crust recipe is actually one that I found on my friend Jessie Weaver’s blog. It’s pretty much perfect. I attempted a cream cheese layer with sweetened condensed milk and decided that, while it was delicious, it was just too weepy and runny, so I changed it up. My grandmother’s strawberry filling recipe was still perfect, though.

This pie…this is the strawberry cream pie of my dreams-and not just my daydreams!

Yield: 8-12 servings

Strawberry Cream Pie with Pretzel Crust

3 hrPrep Time:

15 minCook Time:

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Ingredients

For the crust
• 1 cup plus 2 T. fine pretzel crumbs (about 3 1/2-4 cups of pretzels)
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons sugar
For the cream cheese layer
• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
For the strawberry layer
• 1 quart strawberries, hulled and sliced in half
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 packet unflavored gelatin
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

Instructions

1. To make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the pretzel crumbs, sugar, and melted butter until completely moistened. Press the crumbs into a 9-inch pie pan, pressing evenly into the bottom and up the sides. I like to use the flat bottom of a measuring spoon to smooth the crust. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool completely.
2. When the crust has cooled, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Spread into the cooled pretzel crust, taking care to not peel up any of the pretzel crumbs.
3. Place 3 cups of the strawberries into a bowl and toss with the remaining powdered sugar. Macerate for an hour.
4. Dissolve the gelatin into 1/4 cup old water. Crush up the remaining cup of strawberries using a potato masher or a fork. Place the crushed strawberries in a small saucepan and bring to a boil with the remaining cup of water. Boil for two minutes.
5. Stir the granulated sugar and the cornstarch together. Add to the strawberry mixture and cook briefly, until dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin until completely combined.
6. Arrange the macerated strawberries on top of the cream cheese layer. Pour the strawberry/gelatin mixture over the top of the strawberries. Chill for at least 12 hours before serving.

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