Crunchy Pretzel Pecan Strawberry Salad

It's strawberry season at last! I've been eagerly awaiting its arrival for weeks, and I had grand plans to kick it off with this yummy-sounding salad.  My favorite strawberry farmer told me 2 weeks ago that he should have tons of berries by this week. I don't know what it was that made me give him a call to verify before making the short drive to Early Farms, but I was totally bummed to learn that some kind of infestation had destroyed his entire crop in the short time since we last spoke. I sympathized with him for a few minutes while trying to decide if I even wanted to try this recipe with anybody else's berries. I had been salivating over it for several days, though, so I decided to pick up some still great, but slightly less amazing, berries from another fruit stand nearby. They weren't sweet as candy like my favorites, but with all the goodies in this salad, it really didn't matter. The pretzel/pecan crunch topping is absolutely amazing, and I may have eaten a significant amount of it straight from the pan. Fortunately, there was still plenty left for the salad.

Crunchy Pretzel Pecan Strawberry Salad

Prep time: 5 min  Bake time: 7 min
Serves 10

1 cup pretzels, crushed
½ cup pecans, chopped
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup butter, melted
3 cups strawberries, diced about a quart)
8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
8 oz whipped topping

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix together crushed pretzels, chopped pecans, brown sugar and melted butter. Spread on a large baking sheet with sides (I used my jelly roll pan) and bake at 400°F for 7 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool and then break it into small pieces.

Beat together softened cream cheese, granulated sugar and vanilla.  Fold in whipped topping.

Before serving, stir the diced strawberries and sugared pretzels and pecans into the cream cheese mixture.

430 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!