Apricot Fluff is creamy, fluffy and out-of-this-world good! This lovely fluff-type salad includes cream cheese, Cool Whip, vanilla pudding, apricots, pineapple, marshmallows and Apricot Jell-O. It's a perfect side dish for company or holidays since it presents beautifully and tastes even better! If you enjoy apricots, you'll gorge yourself on this fantastic fruit salad.
1 nut chopper to chop nuts if not previously chopped
1 sharp knife to cut fruit
Ingredients
3oz. pkg.apricot jello
1cupboiling water
1cupcold water
5.1oz. pkg.instant vanilla pudding mix
8oz. pkg.cream cheesesoftened (one block)
8oz. containerCool Whip
2cupsminiature marshmallowsdivided use
20oz. cancrushed pineappledrained well in colander
15oz. canapricotsdrained and diced
15oz. canapricotsdrained and sliced
1/2cuppecansfinely diced (measure after chopping) divided use
12maraschino cherriesfor garnish, if desired
Instructions
Dissolve Jell-O in boiling water in a large mixing bowl until fully dissolved.
Add cold water and stir to combine.
Place bowl in refrigerator and refrigerate mixture approximately 15 minutes.
Add pudding mix and whisk into Jell-O mixture until pudding mix is completely dissolved.
Refrigerate mixture an additional 20 minutes.
Beat in softened cream cheese, whipped topping, ¾ of the marshmallows, drained, diced apricots, crushed, drained pineapple, and all but two tablespoons of the diced pecans with a whisk until the cream cheese is totally dissolved into the mixture.
Refrigerate mixture for 2 hours.
Transfer mixture to a trifle dish, glass bowl or individual parfait dishes.
Garnish fluff with remaining miniature marshmallows, drained apricot slices, diced pecans and maraschino cherries.
Serve fluff with a large serving spoon.
Or, scoop fluff into individual parfait glasses and top individual servings with remaining marshmallows, drained, sliced apricots and diced pecans.
Top each individual serving with a maraschino cherry for garnish.
Notes
NOTE: The recipe takes about 4 hours to complete when you include the different stages of refrigeration.NOTE: A 15-ounce can of apricot halves yields about 1 cup diced apricots.