Raspberry Crunch Salad

When the sign up sheet went around for the dinner, I put my name down for a dessert. Then I thought about this. It's called a salad, but it's so good it's really more like a dessert. Plus, I was totally craving it! Voila! Don't worry, I made up for the fact it's a salad. This is a given at about every Mormon potluck. But really, if it wasn't there, I'd be pretty disappointed. The crust is salty pretzels over a sweet cream cheese layer topped with a tangy raspberry jello topping. The sweet, salty, tangy combo is just perfect!

2 C crushed pretzels {I put them in a sealed ziploc bag and crushed with a rolling pin}
1/2 C butter
1 C sugar + 3 tbsp
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 can (16 oz) pineapples, crushed or tidbit
12 oz Cool whip
3 C boiling water
6 oz raspberry jello
10 oz raspberries, frozen

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix pretzels with 3 tbsp sugar and butter. Press into 9x13" pan. Bake 5 minutes and cool. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and 1 C sugar until fluffy. Mix in cool whip. Fold in drained pineapple. Spread over pretzel mixture and put in fridge to firm.

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Mix raspberries into jello carefully. Place jello into fridge for 15-20 minutes or until syrupy. Pour over cream cheese layer and chill until set. Garnish with whipped cream if desired.