Immediate Posting: Pistachio Dessert with Pretzel Crust

I had a request for an immediate posting for this recipe.

A pregnant lady (you know who you are) asked for this recipe right away. Of course, if you're pregnant you know how the cravings work.....

The special lady that requested this recipe is nine months pregnant, so she needs to make this right away.....

Very soon my niece (by chance) will be born.

This lady is special because she is my fiancee's sister, Jesse. She has been focusing strongly on this pregnancy and I'm sure there is a lot of emotion, stress, and fear right around the corner for her. But I am not the one to tell you about what is going on in her life......Jesse writes a blog, an excellent blog, and if you'd like to read it you can find it here.

St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow!!

My favorite holiday of the year.....just because it's GREEN.

GREEN

I LOVE GREEN

GREEN IS MY FAVORITE COLOR

and just because a food is green it doesn't have to be MINT.....EEWWWW!!

I am not a mint hater, but when it comes to St. Patrick's Day, I don't want to eat MINT.

Give me green eggs and ham, green beer, key lime pie.....just not mint!!

Green pistachio pudding is what I want......

And the nice thing about this recipe, you can change all the ingredients to fat free and sugar free. I used sugar free pistachio pudding and I couldn't tell it was sugar free.

This recipe is linked to:

Pistachio Dessert with Pretzel Crust

For the crust:

2 1/2 c. crushed pretzels (measure after the crushing, not before)

3 TBS packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/4 c. finely crushed pecans

2/3 c. butter, melted

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 13x9 baking pan with cooking spray.

In medium bowl mix crushed pretzels, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and crushed pecans. Stir in melted butter. Press mixture onto bottom of baking dish. Bake 9 - 11 minutes or until set. Cool on wire rack completely.

For the cream cheese layer:

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, soft

1 c. (I used a little less) sugar

1 container (8 oz.) whipped topping, thawed

In medium bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Fold in whipped topping. Spread mixture evenly over cooled crust.

Pistachio pudding topping:

2 boxes pistachio pudding (1 oz.)

10 drops of green food coloring, optional

Mix pudding according to package directions (I sat mine in the frig for about 15 minutes), and pour over cream cheese layer. Sprinkle with crushed pretzels. Place in refrigerator until set. Store left-overs in the frig too.