Family and friends will love this pie and will bug you for the recipe. It has a great pretzel and graham cracker crust, a yummy cream cheese filling and then is finished with a fresh strawberry topping.
Crust:
2 c. pretzel sticks
2 sheets of graham crackers, 4 squares
5 ½ T. unsalted butter melted
¼ c. granulated sugar
Filling:
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 t. vanilla extract
Topping:
4 c. fresh strawberries, halved (about 1 qt.)
2 T. strawberry jam
Pretzel crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9 inch pie plate with vegetable cooking spray; set aside.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse pretzels and graham crackers together until crushed, making about 1 ¼ c. crumbs. Add melted butter and sugar; pulse until combined. Firmly press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pie plate.
Bake 7-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to fill.
Filling:
In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and vanilla; fold mixture together using a spatula, taking care not to over-mix. Pour filling into prepared pie crust. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours and up to 24 hours before serving, but overnight is best.
Strawberry Topping:
Just before serving, prepare strawberries. Pour the hulled, cleaned and halved strawberries into a large bowl.
Spoon 2 T. strawberry jam into a small bowl; warm jam in the microwave on 50% power for about 10 - 15 seconds; stir jam. Pour over the bowl of strawberries; toss gently to coat. Scoop strawberries on top of individual pie slices.
Refrigerate leftovers.
8 servings.
Tip: Don’t mound a lot of strawberries on top of the whole pie unless planning to serve it all at once. If there's a chance of having leftovers, spoon the strawberries on each individual slice. The filling is soft and too much weight from the strawberries will cause it to spread.