I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July! I will be visiting with family for a few hours today to celebrate, and I will be taking this delicious dessert with me. I originally came across this when Alex’s sister made it a couple of months ago at a birthday cookout for family. It was delicious! I had her send me the recipe, which she got from Southern Bite.
The first time I made it (sometime last month), the crust was less than desirable and not as good as hers. It seemed to get better after sitting in the fridge for a few days, but the crust was hard to cut and still tasted a little off. Alex and I wound up throwing almost half of it away because we were disappointed. This time, I wanted to see how it tasted with a homemade graham cracker crust. It turned out amazing! This is how I will make it from now on!
I would normally make this in a 9×13 pan, but I wanted to keep half of it here for Alex and me and take the other half to my family’s 4th of July cookout. So I made two 8×8 pans and divided everything equally between the 2 using my kitchen scale. The proportions turned out great, so this is something you can do as well. Alex liked it so much, he ate almost half of ours last night!
- 1 (16-ounce) container fresh strawberries
- ¼ cup (2oz) sugar
- 1 tbsp (14g) lemon juice
- 10oz graham cracker crumbs
- 3 tbsp (1½ oz) sugar
- 6oz butter (1½ sticks), melted
- 8oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup (4oz) powdered sugar
- 2 (8-ounce) containers Cool Whip, thawed
- Wash, hull, and slice the strawberries. Place them in a small bowl, and add the sugar and lemon juice. Mix well and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar, and then mix in the melted butter. Press crust evenly into a 9x13 pan, and bake at 350° for 6-7 minutes. Allow crust to cool completely.
- In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, powered sugar, and one container of Cool Whip. Spread the mixture evenly over the crust.
- Drain the strawberries, and layer them over the filling. You can save the strawberry juice for smoothies or other dessert uses.
- Top with the remaining 8oz container of Cool Whip. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.