Take a salty crunchy pretzel crust, add some tangy billowy cream cheese, and a sweet (but not too sweet!) berry topping ... that's what you get with this lovely, lightly sweetened pie. The perfect thing to serve after a summer meal!
Strawberry Pretzel Pie
Yield: 1 9-inch pie
Ingredients
Crust
3 cups/120 grams hard pretzels (doesn't matter the size)
14 tablespoons/200 grams unsalted butter (1¾ sticks), softened, plus more for greasing the pan
3 T + 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup/130 grams all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Filling
12 ounces/340 grams cream cheese
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups/360 milliliters very cold heavy whipping cream
1 pound/450 grams fresh strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced lengthwise
1/2 cup strawberry jam, stirred to loosen
For serving
Very lightly sweetened Whipped cream (1 cup cream whipped with 1 T sugar, dash of salt, and 1/2 tsp vanilla)
Directions
Heat the oven to 400 degrees and grease the inside of a 9-inch, deep pie dish with butter and set aside.
In the bowl of a large food processor, process the pretzels until they begin to be finely ground. Add the butter, 3 T sugar, flour, baking soda and salt until well combined and forming into a soft, cohesive dough. Gather the dough and transfer it to the pie pan; don't rinse the food processor. Using your fingers, press the mixture evenly across the bottom and up the sides of the dish. Bake until the crust is slightly puffed and deep golden brown in color, 15 - 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while you make the filling.
In the same food processor bowl (no need to wash!), combine the cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar. Pulse a few times to combine, and then start the processor running until well combined, stopping the machine to scape the sides several times. Using the chute, slowly add the whipping cream while continuing to pulse and process the mixture. Once all of the cream is added, scrape the sides, and continue to blend until the smooth and billowy. Transfer the cream mixture to the cooled crust and spread in an even layer. Refrigerate until ready to serve, or chill for 2 hours to allow the pie to firm up for slicing.
Add the jam to the sliced strawberries and toss to coat, then pile the strawberries on top of the pie. Serve immediately with lightly sweetened cream. Enjoy!