Strawberry Pretzel Pie

By Jerrelle Guy

Strawberry Pretzel Pie
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Erin Jeanne McDowell.
Total Time
40 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
Rating
4(2,347)
Comments
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This is a wonderful but simple summer pie inspired by strawberry pretzel salad, a popular Southern dessert. The classic recipe consists of a crumbled pretzel crust, a whipped cream cheese and Cool Whip filling, and a top layer of strawberry Jell-O. In this fresher adaptation, crushed pretzels form the foundation of an easy shortbread crust, followed by a fluffy cream filling and a pile of fresh strawberries, omitting the use of gelatin. If you’re making this pie in advance — especially with juicy, height-of-season berries — complete Steps 1 to 3, then cloak the filled crust with plastic wrap and chill up to 24 hours. Just before serving, toss the berries in sugar and pile them on top.

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings
  • 14tablespoons/200 grams unsalted butter (1¾ sticks), softened, plus more for greasing the pan
  • 2cups plus 2 tablespoons/265 grams unsifted confectioners’ sugar
  • 3cups/120 grams mini snack pretzels, finely ground
  • 1cup/130 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1teaspoon baking soda
  • 1teaspoon kosher salt
  • 12ounces/340 grams cream cheese
  • 1½cups/360 milliliters very cold heavy whipping cream
  • 1pound/450 grams fresh strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced lengthwise
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

1126 calories; 54 grams fat; 32 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 151 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 69 grams sugars; 15 grams protein; 1350 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 400 degrees and grease the inside of a 9-inch, deep pie dish with butter and set aside.

  2. Step 2

    In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a medium bowl using a handheld electric mixer, beat the 14 tablespoons butter, ½ cup confectioners’ sugar, ground pretzels, flour, baking soda and salt on low speed until just combined, then increase the speed to high and continue to beat until you get a soft, cohesive dough. Gather the dough and transfer it to the pie pan. 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, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while you make the filling.

  3. Step 3

    In the stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on high for 1 minute to soften. Turn off the mixer. Add 1½ cups confectioners’ sugar, and continue beating on low speed until combined. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on high until fluffy, about 2 minutes. If using a stand mixer, switch to the whisk attachment. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the heavy whipping cream, a splash at a time, beating well after each addition until the mixture is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, increase speed to high and beat until billowy and whipped, about 2 more minutes. Transfer 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.

  4. Step 4

    Add the remaining 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar to the sliced strawberries and toss to coat, then pile the strawberries on top of the pie. Serve immediately.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
2,347 user ratings
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Comments

victoria

I have a question - is it 3 cups of pretzels that are then ground, or 3 cups of ground pretzels? Thank you!!

Molly

This is so summery and delicious! To address the issue of it not setting up correctly this is what I did it turned out so good.... - I used 2 packages of cream cheese (16 oz. all together) - I whipped the cream cheese powdered sugar in one bowl. in a separate bowl I whipped up the cream to stiff peaks. Then I folded the cream into the cream cheese mixture and put it in the shell. It set up perfectly after a couple hours in the fridge. - also make sure you grease the pie pan super well!

Courtney

Since the weight is 120 grams I'm guessing it's 3 cups of mini pretzels before grinding.

Dodie Jacobi

Move over strawberry shortcake, this is so so good, and easy enough to put into company-worthy rotation often. Can def see it doubled in a 9x12 pan for summer potlucks too. Subbed 5% whole milk Greek yogurt for heavy cream and just whipped it directly into the sweetened cream cheese with mixer’s whisk attachment. Saved berries to put on each serving since wasn’t feeding a pie’s worth of guests at once.

Leslie Marqua

The filling tasted fine, but it didn't set up particularly well. Tasted fine, just not the texture I thought it should be.

Sooska

Meh. I really wanted to like this as I love the OG salad version with its sweet/salty combo. This is way too cream forward while the salad is fruit forward with a good sweet/salt balance. The cream overpowers the bite of the cream cheese (which is part of the reason the salad works.) The saltiness of the pretzels gets lost too. If I made this again I’d use less cream (half?) and add lemon juice and strawberry preserves to the cream cheese-maybe a couple TBL. I probably would just make the salad.

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