Strawberry Goodness

Here is an alternative to one of my favorite summer desserts...Strawberry Margarita Bars!! By using some special ingredients you can have a tasty, cool treat that is safe for your special diet loved one.

What you will need is:

• 1-1/4 cups crushed Gluten Free pretzels (Snyder's or comparable)

• 1/4 cup butter or plant based butter of choice melted

• 1 pkg (8 oz.) Cream Cheese or plant based cream cheese, softened

• 1can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (Coconut Milk works great too)

• 1 cup puréed strawberries

• 1/3 - 1/2 cup Key lime juice (Nellie & Joe's)

• 1tub (8 oz.) Coco Whipped Topping or Whipped topping of choice, thawed

• 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries

PREPARE: Pre-sugar your strawberries if they are bitter. You can use pure cane sugar which will dissolve naturally overnight OR you can heat the strawberries with sugar and water on low until the sugar is dissolved and the strawberries reach your desired level of sweetness. You will want to do this step the day before you intend to mix up this dessert!

Step one: Crush pretzels into desired sized bits.

Step two: Melt your butter of choice

Step three: Mix pretzel crumbs and butter in 13x9-inch pan or two 8x8-inch pans; press onto bottom of Parchment lined pan(s). Refrigerate until ready to use.

Step four: Combine condensed milk of choice, cream cheese of choice, puréed strawberries and lime juice in large bowl. Gently stir in thawed whipped topping of choice.

NOTE: At this point you will want to taste the mixture to see if it is the right level/blend of sweet and tart!. Make adjustments at this stage.

You can add extra lime if it is too sweet or extra cane sure if it is too tart but do NOT proceed until the mixture tastes the way you want it.

Step five: Spread the mixture over crust.

Step six: Cover the pan loosely with Aluminum foil so that it does not touch the mixture

Step seven: Freeze 6 hours.

Step eight: Remove from freezer about 15 min. before serving; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly. Serve topped with sliced strawberries.

Step nine: Cut and enjoy!!!

NOTE: If you are serving this dessert within 24-48 hours then there is no need to make adjustments to the proofing of the dessert. If not then you will need to remove the dessert from the freezer, place Parchment paper on the top of the frozen dessert, re-wrap with Aluminum Foil and place in a freezer safe bag.

Extra Tip: You can double or triple the recipe to meet the needs of your loved ones. You can service it in dessert cups without the pretzel base or you can pile it all into cupcake papers to make mini margarita bars...it is all up to individual taste.

Below is a picture of the ingredients used for my special diet loved one followed by a picture of what the frozen dessert is supposed to look like courtesy of Kraft Heinz.