Pretzel Jello Salad

Ok, this one is kind of a stretch as a "salad".  But I won't tell, if you don't.  This is one of the yummiest creations ever.  The combination of sweet, salty, fruity, creamy is perfection!  I made this for a Relief Society event recently and everyone was enamored with it. I thought for sure it was one of those recipes that was old news, that everyone had had a million times before... but still never gotten sick of.  But in my ward, at least, it was pretty new!  Maybe you can surprise some people in your neck of the woods too!

Pretzel Jello Salad

2 cups pretzels, crushed
1 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 (8oz) block cream cheese
1 (8oz) tub Cool Whip
1 cup sugar
1 cup boiling water
10 oz frozen strawberries
10 oz frozen raspberries
1 (6oz) package raspberry Jello

First of all, heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Now go and find a glass 9x13 dish, this is just too pretty to hide in a metal pan.

Now, get those pretzels crushed.  I'd like to say the food processor works perfectly, but I still end up smashing a lot of them with a rolling pin.  Toss the pretzels, I usually use sticks, in a sturdy zip top bag.  Get the air out as best you can.  Then whack with a rolling pin (or whatever tool you have handy for smashing things, meat mallet, hammer, candlestick, whatever).  Once you have enough crumbs to measure 2 cups, mix the pretzels with the sugar.  Melt the butter and mix it in with the pretzels and sugar.  Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes.  You want to cool for 1 hour, but if you don't have time for that just stick it under the AC vent while you work on the rest.

Next beat the cream cheese and 1 cup sugar together, stir in the Cool Whip.  Spread over the pretzel crust.

Mix boiling water with Jello and stir until dissolved.  Add frozen berries and stir until thickened.  Pour over cream cheese mixture.  Chill for at least one hour.