Creamy Tropical Dessert (lighter recipe)

Prep 15 min
Total 9 hr 0 min
Servings 15

Enjoy these chilled creamy fruit squares without worrying about your waistline! Removing fat--but not flavor--is easily accomplished with reduced-fat cream cheese and frozen whipped topping. MORE+ LESS-

By Betty Crocker Kitchens

Updated May 18, 2016

Make with

Gold Medal Flour

Ingredients

Almond Pastry

1 1/2

cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour

cup margarine, softened

1/2

cup powdered sugar

1/2

cup almonds, finely chopped

Filling

package (8 oz) reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel), softened

2/3

cup granulated sugar

teaspoons vanilla

can (20 oz) crushed pineapple, drained, 1 cup juice reserved

cups Cool Whip lite frozen whipped topping, thawed

cups miniature marshmallows

tablespoon cornstarch

cup kiwifruit slices or strawberries, quartered

Steps

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1

Heat oven to 400°F. In large bowl, beat flour, margarine and powdered sugar with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed about 2 minutes or until creamy. Stir in almonds. Spread in ungreased 13x9-inch pan. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown; cool.
2

In large bowl, mix cream cheese, granulated sugar and the vanilla until smooth. Reserve 1/2 cup pineapple. Stir remaining pineapple into cream cheese mixture. Fold whipped topping and marshmallows into cream cheese mixture. Spread over pastry crust. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours but no longer than 48 hours.
3

In 2-quart saucepan, gradually stir reserved 1 cup pineapple juice into cornstarch. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute; cool. Fold in reserved pineapple and the kiwifruit. Cut dessert into squares; serve with fruit mixture. Store in refrigerator.

Expert Tips

If you need to store fresh strawberries a day or two, place them in a single layer in a 15x10x1-inch pan lined with paper towels. Cover the berries with paper towels and refrigerate.
Remove the hulls of the strawberries after rinsing to avoid water-logged berries.