Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

Friends, please go make these cookies. Unless you can't eat peanut butter, and honestly? That just makes me super sad. You're missing out, and I'm sorry. Because these cookies are SO. GOOD. Especially if you liked eating the classic PB&J sandwiches as a kid. Or as an adult, I don't judge.

These cookies are big, bakery-style cookies. You're really probably eating like 2-3 regular-sized cookies when you eat just one of these. But they are so worth it. I adjusted the original recipe slightly to add in more jam. It felt like there was just a slight hint of jam in the original -- it was more of a peanut butter cookie. And still a delicious one at that, but to get a real PB&J vibe, I added a bit more jam per cookie and yes, I'd recommend the extra jam. You'll get more ooey gooey oozing, but do we have a problem with that? No. 

It's just so nice to eat this cookie and get to the peanut buttery, jelly filled center. And? It's not hard to make. You can be eating these cookies in about an hour from start to finish. Honestly, enough with the talk. Get on it!

 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: 10
Prep time: 00:20
Cook time: 00:17
Total time: 01:00

Your favorite childhood sandwich turned into your new favorite cookie.

Ingredients:

• Abt 10 Tablespoons (162 grams) crunchy peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups (253 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup (265 grams) creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup (140 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (120 grams) light brown sugar
• 8 Tablespoons (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 10 heaping teaspoons strawberry jam or preserves

Instructions:

1. Dollop the crunchy peanut butter into 10 equal-sized pieces (a little less than 1 tablespoon each) on a sheet tray or plate and freeze until ready to use.
2. Heat the oven to 375°F. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
3. Either using a large bowl and hand mixer, or your stand mixer fitted with the blade attachment, beat the creamy peanut butter, sugars, and butter until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and make sure the first is fully incorporated before adding the next, then add the vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix until fully incorporated, then roll the dough into 10 equal-sized balls and place on a parchment paper-lined (or you canuse a silicon liner) baking sheet.
4. Working with one ball of dough at a time, flatten the ball into a 3-inch circle in the palm of your hand. Add in about 1 heaping teaspoonful of the jam, then a dollop of the frozen peanut butter. Carefully seal the dough around the peanut butter and jam and roll it back into a ball. Some of the jelly may ooze out slightly, and that's ok! Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.
5. Divide the dough among 2 parchment paper-lined baking sheets and bake, turning once halfway through, until golden on top, 15 to 17 minutes. Cool slightly, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before serving.
*I don't like using two cookie sheets in the oven at a time, so instead I put all 10 balls in step three onto a cutting board, then did five for the first batch on one cookie sheet, baked those, and then the last five for the second batch on that same sheet. I'm leaving the original instructions in case you have two and prefer to do that, but just know you don't have to do it that way!

Adapted slightly from a recipe by Farideh Sadeghin

Strawberry Cheesecake Bars

I know I just made another strawberry recipe, but what can I say, when you want strawberries, you want strawberries. Plus, they're in season, so can you really go wrong when you have delicious fresh strawberries that are naturally sweet? Nope. 

What can be a problem, though? When there aren't any graham crackers at the store due to the pandemic. Well, let's be honest, they had cinnamon graham crackers, but I didn't think that would go well with strawberry cheesecake. Solution? Make your own! If you're lucky enough to already have some whole wheat flour at home, anyway. Which I did. So I did. And? They tasted like graham crackers! Amazing. Did I notice a difference by making them homemade vs store bought in the cheesecake? No. So please don't feel like you need to do that if you can find them at the store. But, I've included the recipe below in case you want to go that extra mile.

Now, I've made this recipe before, but it was during that time when I was feeling too busy to post things to the blog (recipes seem to take the longest because of formatting blah blah). So, this seemed like a perfect opportunity to make this again. The original recipe will tell you to do this complicated foil hang thing in your 9x13 pan to easily take out the whole thing later on. That's really only if you're going to cut these into separate pieces to serve all at once, so I don't bother with it since we just keep it in the fridge and eat it over time, and you can just slice out an individual piece as you go. That means you also don't need to add the strawberry pieces on top, but if you're taking these somewhere, it certainly does make them more fancy schmancy.

 

Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: 24 squares
Prep time: 00:20
Cook time: 01:20
Total time: 08:40

If you like strawberries and you like cheesecake, this is a no-fuss way to combine the two into a delicious bar version, no spring-form pan required.

Ingredients:

Crust:
• 9 whole graham crackers, broken into pieces (see below to make these homemade)
• ½ cup (3.5 ounces) granulated sugar
• ¾ cup (3.75 ounces) all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
• 1 ½ pounds cream cheese (3 8 ounce blocks)
• 1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Topping:
• 6 ounces strawberries, hulled (1 heaping cup), plus 5 hulled strawberries
• ½ cup (3.5 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 cups sour cream
For Homemade Graham Crackers:
• 1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat flour
• 1 cup (4.25 ounces) all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup (1.75 ounces) granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup (1.75 ounces) vegetable oil
• ¼ cup (3 ounces) honey
• 2 to 3 Tablespoons milk

Instructions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. FOR THE CRUST: Process cracker pieces (see below if making from scratch) and sugar in food processor until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Add flour and salt and pulse to combine, about 2 pulses. Add melted butter and pulse until crumbs are evenly moistened, about 10 pulses.
3. Using your hands, press crumb mixture evenly into bottom of prepared pan. Using bottom of dry measuring cup, firmly pack crust into 9x13 pan. Bake until fragrant and beginning to brown around edges, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely. This will likely take about an hour.
4. FOR THE FILLING: In clean, dry processor bowl, process cream cheese and sugar until smooth, about 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. With processor running, add eggs, one at a time, until just incorporated, about 30 seconds total. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add vanilla and process to combine, about 10 seconds. Pour cream cheese mixture over cooled crust. Bake until center is almost set but still jiggles slightly when pan is shaken, about 45 minutes.
5. FOR THE TOPPING: Meanwhile, in clean, dry processor bowl, process 6 ounces strawberries and ½ cup sugar until pureed, about 30 seconds. Stir strawberry puree and sour cream in bowl until combined.
6. Remove cheesecake from oven. Pour strawberry mixture over cheesecake (cheesecake layer should be completely covered). Return pan to oven and bake until topping is just set, about 15 minutes.
7. Transfer pan to wire rack and let cheesecake cool completely, about 2 hours. Refrigerate until cold and set, at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours. Slice remaining 5 strawberries thin and gently toss with remaining 1 teaspoon sugar in bowl. Garnish with 1 strawberry slice per 2 inches and serve.


For Homemade Graham Crackers:
8. Combine the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder in a medium-sized bowl.
9. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg with the oil, honey, and 2 tablespoons milk. Stir this egg mixture into the dry ingredients until you have a fairly stiff dough, adding more milk if necessary. Knead the dough gently until smooth.
10. Wrap the dough and chill it until firm, about 1 hour (or longer, if it's more convenient).
11. Adjust oven racks to upper middle and lower middle positions and heat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
12. Divide the dough in half and, working with one piece at a time, roll the dough out about 1/16" thick onto a piece of parchment paper. Tip: place another piece of parchment paper on top of your rolling pin to prevent sticking.
13. Transfer the rolled-out dough on the parchment paper to a baking sheet. Repeat with the second piece of dough.
14. Bake the sheets of dough for 10 minutes, one each on the upper middle and lower middle racks, rotating the pans after 5 minutes.
15. Remove pans from the oven and use a rolling pizza wheel or sharp knife to cut the sheets of dough into 3" x 2" rectangles; don't separate them, just cut them.
16. Return the cut crackers to the oven, and continue to bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
17. Turn off the oven, and open the oven door wide for 5 minutes. After the majority of the oven's heat has dissipated, shut the oven door, and let it cool down for 20 minutes with the crackers inside; this will help them become as crisp as possible.
18. Remove the crackers from the oven, transfer them to a cooling rack, and cool completely.
19. Store the crackers, well-wrapped, at room temperature for up to a week; freeze for longer storage. This will make about double the amount needed for the Cheesecake recipe.

Cheesecake Recipe from Cook's Country / Graham Cracker Recipe from King Arthur Flour

Strawberry Cake

It's week... something... of the stay at home order, and everyone is joining in on this baking trend to the point where those of us that liked to bake beforehand can't find our normal ingredients. I'm looking at you, bread flour and yeast. And milk powder, too, of all things. But, hey! If you're one of those people who happened to stumble upon this post here, then welcome. Baking is fun, right? I just hope you don't have a bunch of partially used ingredients sitting in your pantry once all of this has passed. 

I was still able to make a cake this past weekend despite the above mentioned shortages, as luckily this cake uses ingredients that I have been able to find. Strawberry season is settling in, so what better time to make a strawberry cake? The cake has a delicate and light crumb, and the frosting is sweet without being overpoweringly so. Tip: I actually used a touch less powdered sugar than the recipe calls for below in my frosting, so feel free to do so too if you are wanting a bit less sugar in your diet.

I'll tell you what this cake really reminds you of: strawberry shortcake. In some ways it's really just strawberry shortcake mixed together in one cake. Just, you know, a bit more complicated. If what you're looking for is a strawberry shortcake fix, then maybe you should just do something a bit less time consuming, because in the end you're satisfying a very similar craving. But, if you want a cake, then take the time and make this. It'll certainly make you feel fancy.

I will say, the last cake I made from the Cook's Country website was cloyingly sweet to the point where I could hardly eat a slice. And I love sweets! I didn't even post about that cake here because honestly it was just way too decadent for my own tastes. I feel like I'd have to edit it and try it again with way less sugar before sharing it whole-heartedly here. This one is not too sweet, so it's definitely worth sharing!

Strawberry Cake
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: 8 to 10
Prep time: 00:35

Cook time: 00:25

Total time: 02:30

A light and fluffy cake that only uses real strawberries for flavor.

Ingredients:

CAKE
• 10 ounces frozen whole strawberries (about 2 cups)
• 3/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
• 6 large egg whites, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups (9 ounces) cake flour
• 1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in 12 pieces and softened
FROSTING
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1/4 cups (9 ounces) confectioners' sugar
• 12 ounces cream cheese, cut into 12 pieces and softened
• pinch salt
• 8 ounces fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced thin (about 1 1/2 cups)

Instructions:

1. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line bottoms with parchment, grease parchment, and flour.
2. Transfer strawberries to bowl, cover, and microwave until strawberries are soft and have released their juice, about 5 minutes. Place in fine-mesh strainer set over small saucepan. Firmly press fruit dry (juice should measure at least 3/4 cup); reserve strawberry solids. Bring juice to boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until syrupy and reduced to 1/4 cup, 6 to 8 minutes. Whisk milk into juice until combined.
3. Whisk strawberry milk, egg whites, and vanilla in bowl. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, and mix until only pea-size pieces remain, about 1 minute. Add half of milk mixture, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, add remaining milk mixture, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Give batter final stir by hand.
4. Scrape equal amounts of batter into prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, discarding parchment, and cool completely, about 2 hours. (Cooled cakes can be wrapped with plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.)
5. For the frosting: Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix butter and sugar on low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add reserved strawberry solids and salt and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Refrigerate until ready to use, up to 2 days.
6. Pat strawberries dry with paper towels. When cakes are cooled, spread 3/4 cup frosting over 1 cake round. Press 1 cup strawberries in even layer over frosting and cover with additional 3/4 cup frosting. Top with second cake round and spread remaining frosting evenly over top and sides of cake. Garnish with remaining strawberries. Serve. (Cake can be refrigerated for 2 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.)


Recipe from Cook's Country

Easy Strawberry Sonker

Berry season is upon us, where you'll find cheap and delicious strawberries in abundance at your grocery and farmer's markets. Sometimes, you end up getting so many that you don't have time to eat them all by themselves. Enter - the sonker.

What the heck is a sonker, you ask? I had no idea either, but I was looking for something easy and delicious to make on a weeknight, and came across said sonker. It's basically very similar to a cobbler mixed with a pie, but there's no worrying about cutting together butter into a topping, or making a crust. That sounds just about right for a weeknight dessert, doesn't it?

What's also nice is that you can use frozen berries instead, and it will turn out just as delicious. My version here uses just fresh strawberries, but the first time I made this, I actually did a combination of fresh strawberries and frozen blueberries because I didn't have enough strawberries on their own, and it turned out great! The recipes I've seen all seem to use just one kind of berry, but I would think you could use any combination and it would turn out fine. Have a bunch of those mixed frozen berries from Costco? Try it!

The topping has a nice bit of sugary crunch to it when it's fresh, but it will become a little more soggy if you have this around for a few days. I didn't mind, though, it still tasted awesome. And yes, you really do want to have the baking dish set on top of a baking sheet when it's in the oven. The berries get to some mighty bubbling, and you'll have berry goop going on to the bottom of your oven if you don't have that to protect it. No one wants that.

Easy Strawberry Sonker
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: 9
Prep time: 00:10

Cook time: 01:10

Total time: 01:35

When you want a cobbler but don't want to go to the trouble, a sonker is just the ticket.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds (6 1/2 cups) fresh strawberries, hulled, or 2 pounds (7 cups) frozen strawberries
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• Salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and hot
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 350F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside for the moment. Combine the strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Whisk water and cornstarch together in a small second bowl, then add to the strawberry mixture and toss until strawberries are evenly coated.
2. Transfer the strawberry mixture to an 8-inch square baking dish and place the dish on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 35-40 minutes (1 hour for frozen strawberries) until the filling is bubbling around the sides of the dish, stirring and scraping the bottom with a rubber spatula halfway through.
3. Remove sheet from the oven and stir the filling, scraping again with the spatula. Whisk flour, baking powder, remaining 3/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt together in a bowl. Whisk in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract until smooth. Pour batter evenly over the filling.
4. Bake until the surface is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, another 35-40 minutes, rotating the dish halfway through baking. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

Recipe thanks to Cook's Country

Strawberry Shortcake

Growing up in Portland, sometimes we would head over to this one restaurant that was famous for its strawberry shortcake. The restaurant in question is called Tebo's, and it's kind of almost an assembly line situation. You go in, wait in line and order things as you move down a sort of buffet, with little plastic tags informing those doing the cooking on the other side of the barrier what you're waiting for. Anyway, I have fond memories of ole Tebo's, and they are due in no small part to the strawberry shortcake.

This homemade version is more like biscuits with strawberries and whipped cream. Yep, it's a drop biscuit recipe! And you know what? It works just as well as regular shortcake. For reals, try it and just see. I don't think you'll be missing anything. Though I'm not sure Tebo's would agree!

It's funny, though, because I forget how great strawberry shortcake is until I have it again, and then it's like whoa, I have been missing out! There's not much better than fresh strawberries tossed in a bit of sugar with some warm biscuit and whipped cream. Or even some vanilla ice cream. I've been having the ice cream variety the last couple of times, and it's pretty damn good as well. Whatever your heart desires, you can't really go wrong. Unless you're like my stepdad and are just not a fan of whipped cream in general, then I suppose you're going to go for the ice cream straight off the bat.
Go forth and eat this deliciousness! For reals.

Strawberry Shortcake
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: 1 Dozen
Prep time: 00:15

Cook time: 00:14

Total time: 00:30

Strawberry shortcake using biscuits instead of the traditional shortcake. Yum!

Ingredients:

For the Biscuits:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cold buttermilk
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 Tablespoons melted butter, for brushing biscuits
For the Strawberries:

• 16 ounces strawberries, washed and sliced
• 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
For the Whipped Cream:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 475°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter and buttermilk and stir until the butter forms small clumps.
2. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until just incorporated. With a greased 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop level amounts of batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. The biscuits should be about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until the top are golden brown, 12-14 minutes.
3. While the biscuits are in the oven, prepare your strawberries. Mix the sliced strawberries with the sugar and set aside. Also stick your mixing bowl and whisk attachment you will be using for the whipped cream at this point.
4. Once the biscuits are golden brown, remove from the oven and brush the tops of the biscuits with the remaining 2 Tbsp melted butter, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
5. For the whipped cream, assemble your bowl and whisk attachment, then mix together the cream and sugar on medium-high until it reaches stiff peaks.
6. Stick down a biscuit, top with whipped cream and strawberries, and go to town! You can also, of course, substitute in vanilla ice cream for the whipped cream, or heck, if you're feeling really adventurous, do both!

In Photos:

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.

In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter and buttermilk until the butter forms small clumps.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula until just incorporated. Don't overmix.

Using a greased 1/4 cup measure, scoop out level biscuits onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Stick those in the oven for 12-14 minutes until the tops are golden brown.

 Stick your mixing bowl for the whipped cream in the freezer at this point, and also get to work on your strawberries. Mix the sliced strawberries with 2 Tbsp granulated sugar.

The biscuits are ready!

Brush the tops with the extra 2 Tbsp melted butter, and set on a wire rack to cool.

Now it's time to make your whipped cream. Beat with your whisk attachment the heavy cream and sugar until it forms stiff peaks. It can be used right away or you can stick it back in the fridge and give it a quick whip when you're ready to use it.

Assemble that baby and dig on in!

Resistance is futile.

See?

Pretzel Jello Salad

First, I must say, this is a recipe near and dear to my heart. It's been a family tradition for years now that someone always must bring the pretzel jello. Such a tradition has it been, that I'm reluctant to share it here on the interwebs.

But, you know what, this recipe has variations all over the place on the web, so it's not entirely a new concept. However! This particular version I'm going to share with you is a little more fancy pants than the others, and actually, in comparison, tastes much better if you add in these extra goodies. At least, to me. It's perfect for summer barbecues or even for Thanksgiving dinner. The world is pretzel jello's oyster!

Pretzel jello is something I've watched and helped my mom make for a long time, but I realized when I went to make it myself, that I'd never done it alone! And lo, I messed up a little bit. It seems like everyone messes up the pretzel jello salad the first time in some way, but it never fails to still be downright tasty anyway.

You know what I did? I didn't use enough butter in the pretzels, so they didn't really set up as a full layer on the bottom, which made it harder to spread the cream filling on without the pretzels moving around everywhere. Whoops! I also didn't realize my cool whip was not fully thawed when I went to fold it into the cream cheese either, so that was a little more work than it would normally be. But hey, you make those mistakes and you learn for next time!

Pretzel Jello Salad
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: 18 pieces
Prep time: 00:20 

Cook time: 00:15

Total time: 01:00

The ultimate version of Pretzel Jello Salad, with jello full of delicious fruit.

Ingredients:

Bottom Layer:

• 2 cups crushed pretzels
• 3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) melted butter
• 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
Middle Layer:

• 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1 8 ounce tub whipped topping, a la Cool Whip
• 1 cup powdered sugar
Top Layer:

• 1 large package strawberry jello
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 package frozen strawberries
• 3 mashed bananas
• 1 can jellied cranberries, whole berry
• 1 small can crushed pineapple (optional, add in extra 1/4 cup water if you don’t use)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together the bottom layer ingredients and press evenly into a 9x13 pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool until no longer hot to the touch.
2. For the middle layer, beat together the cream cheese and powdered sugar until fluffy. Fold in the whipped topping, then spread across your pretzel layer as evenly as you can.
3. For the top layer, in a large bowl mix together your jello and boiling water for a couple minutes until completely dissolved, then add in your fruit and mix around until combined. Stick that in the fridge for a bit until it starts to set up. Before it sets completely, dump that onto your other layers and smooth out. Stick that back in the fridge until fully set up before serving.
4. Make sure to store any leftovers in the fridge.

In Photos:

 Crush up your pretzels. To avoid a giant pretzel mess, stick it in a bag! They don't have to be super fine; it's nice to have a bit of a crunch.

Mix those pretzels with the butter and powdered sugar for the first layer.

Press that into your 9x13 pan and bake for 15 minutes.

Let the pretzels cool. While that's going on, you can get your cream middle ready. Beat together your softened cream cheese and powdered sugar until fluffy, then fold together with the thawed cool whip (or whatever whipped topping you prefer).

This is the part where you can experiment a little. What I used: a large box of strawberry jello, a tub of frozen strawberries, 1 cup boiling water, 3 mashed bananas, 1 can cranberries (whole berries). My family also usually adds in a small tin of pineapple, but I'm not a pineapple fan, so I nixed it and added a little extra water to compensate. Stick that in the fridge for a bit to start to set up.

While the jello is setting up, smooth your creamy layer on top of the cooled pretzels.

Yeah, man, layers are happening.

Once the jello has set up a little, put that on as your top layer. Apologies for the slightly blurry photo. Stick that back in the fridge to fully set up.

Once it's set up, you're ready to serve that baby! Such pretty layers on this dish! Anything not eaten right away can be kept in the fridge, but be aware the pretzels will get soggy!

Sorry I don't have a pretty photo of a single piece cut out, I was working on a deadline on this one. Perhaps when I make it again in the future I will add one!