Pretzel Jello

The bane of my existence. The breaker of all diet/healthy eating plans. The thing that sits in my fridge and calls my name in the middle of the night..."come eat me...." This is one component of my "last meals" from the "if you were going to die on death row, what would your last meal be if you could have ANYTHING you wanted to eat." game. I love you pretzel jello, I really, really do.

Pretzel Jello

2 cups finely crushed pretzels
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter, melted

1 Tbls sugar
1 pkg. (8 oz) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 (8oz.) thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
2 cups boiling water
2 pkg. (3 oz.) or 1 (6oz) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin
2 (10 oz.) package of frozen strawberries, partially thawed


HEAT oven to 400°F.

Mix pretzel crumbs, 1Tbls sugar and butter. Press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Bake 8 min. Cool.

BEAT cream cheese until fluffy gradually add 1C sugar and beat until smooth. Fold in COOL WHIP; spread over crust. Refrigerate.

ADD boiling water to gelatin mix in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in strawberries. Refrigerate 1-1/2 hours or until thickened (spoon drawn through leaves definite impression). Pour over cream cheese mixture in pan. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm (don't skip this step, it makes the difference whether or not your dessert stays put when you cut it!)