Pineapple Pretzel Salad

We love fresh pineapple and when we have one on hand I can find SO many ways to use it in dishes.  I saw this salad recipe that not only used pineapple, it had buttery pretzels in it!  We’ve been on a pretzel binge, buying bags of buttery pretzels over the past few months for snacks.  It seemed logical to pair the two ingredients with cream cheese and Cool Whip.  Yum!

Crush one cup of pretzels into smaller pieces

I put a large handful of pretzels in a zippered bag and bashed them a bit to make them smaller.  I measured them and they were a little bit over a cup worth.  Good enough.

Melt 1/2 cup butter. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar then the pretzel pieces.

I melted the butter and stirred in the sugar.  I used a Tupperware bowl that was microwave safe.  I put the pretzels into the bowl and stirred well.

Spread pretzel mixture over a foil covered pan.

Placing foil over a baking sheet I spread the pretzels out and slid the pan into the preheated oven.  I set the timer for 7 minutes.

Bake for 7 minutes at 400°F. Remove from oven and cool.

I removed the pretzels after 7 minutes and was shocked.  It had made brittle! It was good that I’d placed foil on the pan; it was easier to peel it off the foil since it was flexible. I let the pan cool for a bit before breaking the pretzel brittle into smaller pieces.

Peel pretzel pieces from foil and break into smaller pieces. Before serving, mix pretzels into pineapple salad.

I poured the pretzels into a container with a cover.  I’d add them to the salad just before serving to prevent them from getting soggy.

Stir sugar and cream cheese together. Fold in container of Cool Whip

In another bowl (yes, I actually have two vintage white Tupperware bowls!  I use them daily!)  I stirred the room temp cream cheese and sugar until they were well mixed.  I folded in the Cool Whip.

Cut up fresh pineapple into small pieces or drain can of pineapple

I cut up a fresh pineapple into smaller pieces and measured out about 20 ounces.  You could use canned pineapple instead.

Stir pineapple into cream cheese mixture and refrigerate until serving.

I stirred the pineapple into the cream cheese mixture then scooped it into a plastic container.  I put a lid on the container and refrigerated the salad for several hours before dinner.

Pineapple Pretzel Salad

At dinner time I added the pretzels to the pineapple mixture and stirred well.  The kids loved it so much it disappeared fast!  I didn’t even have time to remember the photo!

Pineapple Pretzel Salad

I’ve made the salad a second time, exactly the same way, and we are still in love with it.  The fresh pineapple has a great tang, the cream cheese and whipped topping provide a sweetness and the pretzels are an amazing brittle like crunch.  It’s not going to last long again!

Adapted from The Gingham Apron