Strawberry Blueberry Crack Salad
I came across this recipe online and I was like “ummm excuse me?!”. This is basically a deconstructed Strawberry Pretzel Salad which is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE desserts.
I decided to try it out and it’s DIVINE, and it’s also less time consuming than the Straw Pretz dessert because you don’t have to wait in between steps while it cools fully. The only negative is that you have to eat it a little quicker just because the toffee pretzels can soften. A hack to this would be to not mix the berries, cream mixture, and pretzels and to mix them to order so all of the ingredients stay fresh.
In the recipes that I came across online, they commonly use cool-whip. I made my own stabilized version which is whipped cream with a little gelatin mixed in- and it really did the trick to keep it’s fluffy consistency!
Enjoy this amazing dessert!
Strawberry Blueberry Crack Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup crushed pretzels (not powder—leave some texture)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup melted butter
- 1 block (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream, cold
- ½ cup powdered sugar, divided
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
- 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 ½ cups sliced strawberries
- 1 cup blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, combine pretzel pieces, brown sugar, granulated sugar. Pour melted butter over the top and stir until evenly coated.
- Spread onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes, until caramelized and fragrant- watch closely because it can burn quickly!
- Let cool completely and then break into chunks. I like to put a handful into a bag to crush a little extra for a finer texture to sprinkle on top after mixing.
- In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over ½ cup cold water. Let bloom for 5–10 minutes. Microwave for about 10–15 seconds to melt completely. Set aside to cool slightly.
- In a stand mixer or bowl, whip 2 cups heavy cream with ¼ cup powdered sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form.
- Slowly stream in the dissolved gelatin while whipping, and continue whipping until medium peaks form. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese with remaining ¼ cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until smooth and fluffy.
- Gently fold the stabilized whipped cream into the cream cheese until fully combined. Chill for at least 30 minutes to set.
- Once everything is prepped, gently fold the pretzel toffee and fresh berries into the chilled cream cheese mousse until just combined.
- Spoon into a serving dish or individual cups, and sprinkle extra crushed toffee on top for added crunch. Serve immediately.
- Make-Ahead Tip:
- If you plan to enjoy it over a couple of days, keep the mousse, berries, and pretzel toffee stored separately. Mix portions together just before serving to keep the toffee crisp and the texture fresh.
