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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I cut up a fresh pineapple into smaller pieces and measured out about 20 ounces. You could use canned pineapple instead.
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.
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!
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!
Pineapple Pretzel Salad
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pretzels
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter; melted
- 8 oz cream cheese; room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 8 oz Cool Whip
- 20 oz can pineapple tidbits; drained
Cover baking sheet with foil. Preheat oven to 400°F.
Mix melted butter and sugar together. Stir in pretzels. Spread pretzel mixture over foil and bake for 7 minutes. Cool completely. Peel off foil and break into small pieces.
Cream together cream cheese and sugar until well mixed. Stir the Cool-Whip and pineapple tidbits into the cream cheese mixture. Chill 2-3 hours.
Add pretzel mixture and serve.
Adapted from The Gingham Apron
Well, YUM! My BFF just made some Strawberry pretzel salad. Haven’t been over to her house to try it yet, but like your pineapple pretzel salad, I bet they are amazingly delicious!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve seen the strawberry recipe around and it’s probably the same. Sounds just as tasty!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I see an entire series of “fluff salad” posts. Love it 😉
LikeLike
Yes I’m eager to try other fruits. Can’t wait for peach season later this summer!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You know that pretzel brittle would also good in other fluff salads. You gave me some ideas. I booked marked this to come back to it later. Thanks for sharing.
LikeLiked by 1 person