• Before you begin, place the bowl and whisk attachment from your stand mixer into the freezer to chill for about 15 minutes. Starting with a cold bowl will help the cream whip up faster and with more volume.
• Preheat oven to 375°F and spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.

Pretzel Crust

• Place the pretzels into a food processor. Run the food processor until the pretzels are crushed to a fine crumb.
• To a medium bowl, add pretzel crumbs, butter, and sugar. Mix together until combined. Then, press firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
• Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven to cool completely.

Whipped Cream Cheese Layer

• To the chilled bowl, add the cream cheese and sugar. Mix on medium-high speed until fully combined and no lumps remain.
• With the mixer off, pour in the heavy cream. Resume mixing on medium speed until soft peaks have formed (peaks droop slightly). Stop the mixer.
• Using a rubber spatula, scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate all of the cream cheese.
• With the mixer back on medium speed, mix until stiff peaks have formed. (Stiff peaks refer to the whipped cream peaks that stand straight up and hold their shape firmly.)
• Finally, add in the vanilla and a pinch of salt, being careful not to overmix.
• Spread the whipped cream mixture over the cooled pretzel crust. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour.

Jello Layer

• In a large mixing bowl combine strawberry jello and boiling water. Whisk until all of the jello crystals have completely dissolved.
• Chill the jello mixture in the refrigerator.

Assembly

• When ready, top the cream cheese layer with sliced strawberries. Pour the cooled jello mixture over the top of the strawberries.
• Chill the salad in the refrigerator until completely set, about 4-6 hours.
• Serve cold.