The Best Red, White, And Blue Desserts For 4th Of July
Aside from the red and green palette of Christmas and the orange and black of Halloween, few holidays are aligned with such a specific set of colors as Independence Day in America. On the Fourth of July, people's hearts "beat true 'neath the red, white, and blue," as the old song goes, and Americans love celebrating their independence by showing off the colors of the Grand 'Ole Flag. For many, this means hanging the flag in their windows, while others seek out Dollar General tchotchkes for cute and affordable decorations. As for foodies, it's all about making red, white, and blue delectables to eat while the fireworks burst in Technicolor brilliance above our heads.
However, if we only look at dinner foods, we might have a problem. Tomatoes make red easy to come by and white radishes bring on the white. But blue? That's harder to secure naturally unless, of course, you expand your thinking past dinner and move on to dessert. Here you hit the red, white, and blue jackpot. Colored cake frostings allow you to bring together those spangled colors in one glorious, eye-popping dish, while single-color recipes like red raspberry pie, indigo-hued blueberry cobbler, and white vanilla ice cream come together to create a multi-dish Fourth of July dessert display. Our list of the best desserts for Independence Day gives you sweet options across the board.
1. Sweet Kolaches
We can thank the Lone Star State for sweet kolaches. This versatile flavored pastry offers you plenty of options for red, white, and blue fare.
Canned blueberry and cherry pie filling provide this dessert's red and blue hues. As for the white, you have two options. You can let the dessert's pastry add a bit of white (albeit off-white) to the dish. Or you can make a third flavor of kolaches by opening up some apple pie filling, which adds the mom-and-apple-pie element that American cuisine is known for.
Recipe: Sweet Kolaches
2. Simple Classic Raspberry Pie
Raspberries bring both the red element to your Fourth of July picnic as well as a sweet and tart flavor. This classic pie calls for garden-fresh raspberries to give it the kind of wholesome taste that we've come to love from seasonal berry pies. The special lattice top allows the juicy goodness of the raspberries to shine through.
For an extra festive flair, cut out star-shaped dough pieces to top the latticework crust. The pie tastes great à la mode, and for a creamier touch, substitute vanilla-flavored frozen custard for ice cream.
Recipe: Simple Classic Raspberry Pie
3. Blueberry Pie
As far as deep blues go, it's difficult to obtain a color quite like a blueberry's indigo hue, making it a lovely addition to your Independence Day desserts. This pie's open top places blue at the front and center of your dessert display. To create a visually arresting spread, flank it on each side with an open-topped raspberry or strawberry pie. Vanilla ice cream or frozen custard completes the patriotic look.
This delicious berry pie keeps in the fridge for up to five days, allowing you to do some early dessert prep before the celebrations.
Recipe: Blueberry Pie
4. Easy Vanilla Pudding
Even with the best intentions, your Independence Day holiday meal plans can go awry. Extra people show up to the party, cakes get burnt by accident, or maybe you just plain forget to make dessert. Fortunately, you can turn to this vanilla pudding for help. It's ready in about 20 minutes, making it a logical option for a last-minute treat.
Serve it plain in small pudding dishes to add some white to the table. Or dress it up with fresh raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries to create a light Fourth of July dessert that tastes rich and creamy.
Recipe: Easy Vanilla Pudding
5. 3-Ingredient No-Churn Vanilla Ice Cream
It's almost sacrilege to serve a piping hot Fourth of July apple pie or homemade chocolate cake and not go the extra step to make it à la mode. While there are many excellent brands of ice cream on the market, there's nothing quite like serving homemade vanilla ice cream to give your à la-mode desserts that I-went-the-extra-mile vibe.
If you serve the ice cream sans cake or pie, dress it up for the Fourth with red and blue sprinkles. A dollop of whipped cream makes it that much tastier!
6. Banana Split
A banana split represents the ultimate taste-of-everything dessert. It's hard to beat fresh bananas topped with scoops of ice cream, drizzles of syrup, whipped cream, and a few sprinkles of nuts for good measure. With ice cream substitutes, like homemade vanilla nice cream, the vegans among us can enjoy this summer treat too. Using non-dairy vegan whipped cream and dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate syrup sweetens the deal.
Finally, the addition of strawberry and blueberry syrups, plus red and white sprinkles, make this the ultimate patriotic after-dinner treat.
Recipe: Banana Split
7. Easy Semolina Pudding
Semolina, a type of coarse wheat flour, is an ingredient home cooks use to whip up homemade pasta noodles or porridge. The texture of semolina makes this vanilla pudding recipe stand out on your dessert table.
This pudding is easy to dress up for the Independence Day holiday. A dollop of fresh blueberry or strawberry jam adds color to honor the holiday and some additional flavor to the dish. It's also a dessert you can serve warm or cold, giving you more options come sweet treat time.
Recipe: Easy Semolina Pudding
8. 5-Ingredient Strawberry Shortcake
Strawberry shortcake has many iterations. For some of us, the dessert means glazed garden-fresh strawberries served on top of angel food cake. For others, a different pastry base makes this dish as fresh from the farm as can be. In this recipe, flaky buttermilk biscuits replace the angel food cake, adding a crispy texture to complement the plump, fresh strawberries.
That's not the only way this recipe excels. By using canned, ready-to-eat biscuits, you cut down on prep time, meaning less time cooking and more time watching fireworks.
9. Blackberry Cobbler
When you're in the mood for pie but don't want to go to the trouble of rolling out all that dough, there's cobbler. This Fourth of July, some of the best-tasting cobblers include seasonal berries, like blackberries, to give them the tangy sweetness that summer berry desserts are known for.
While it's nice to make a cobbler completely from scratch, it's not always possible when you're busy hosting. Fortunately, this recipe works just as well with frozen blackberries (and other frozen fruits, like strawberries), offering you plenty of colorful options for dessert this Fourth.
Recipe: Blackberry Cobbler
10. Blueberry Cobbler
It's hard to mess up dessert when dessert is a blueberry cobbler. This season-honoring after-dinner treat brings everything you love about cobbler — fresh fruit, a crispy crust, and the possibility of seconds — to your Fourth of July dessert table.
While this recipe calls for regular ol' blueberries, you can add more flavor and nutrients to the dish by substituting your ordinary blues for wild blueberries. Not only do they enrich the blueberry taste, but they're also packed with more antioxidants, making this dessert delicious and healthy. Frozen vanilla custard on the side completes it.
Recipe: Blueberry Cobbler
11. Moist White Chocolate Cake
If you want to make a red, white, and blue cake to celebrate Independence Day, you'll want to start with a great base. This moist white chocolate cake is a timeless way to include the white element of the patriotic trio. The secret is a rich white chocolate buttercream icing. In a milk chocolate world, it adds a bit of the unexpected to your dessert table.
To dress up the buttercream frosting so that it sports the holiday's banner colors, try garnishing it with raspberries and blueberries.
Recipe: Moist White Chocolate Cake
12. Raspberry Bars
If you and yours are like most people after an Independence Day picnic, you know that dessert isn't the end. The best celebrations include lots of snacking between rounds of fireworks, and while cake and ice cream taste great any time of the day, this post-dessert grazing period is all about portable food.
For that, look no further than these fresh raspberry bars. The raspberry filling and cookie-like crumbles make for a chewy yet crispy on-the-go dessert that tastes great between sparkler sessions and on the drive home — no plate required.
Recipe: Raspberry Bars
13. Red Velvet Brownies
Who says brownies don't fit in with a red, white, and blue Independence Day dessert spread? Not us, that's for sure. Red food coloring gives these decadent brownies their rightful spot on the dessert table, between the cheesecake and blueberry ice cream.
Aside from being downright delicious, these sweets appeal to the dessert eater who isn't fond of cake. They've been called a cross between a sugar cookie and a brownie, and they don't taste half bad with a scoop of homemade ice cream on top.
Recipe: Red Velvet Brownies
14. Perfect Red Velvet Cupcakes
Few dessert items dress up a table like red velvet cupcakes topped with cream cheese icing. The vibrant burgundy colors of these hand-held cakes bring an air of sophistication to your dessert table come this Fourth of July.
At its base, our original recipe calls for white cream cheese frosting. However, to create a more jovial red, white, and blue-hued celebration, it's fun to top these little cakes with blue star-shaped sprinkles or toothpick garnish American flags.
Recipe: Red Velvet Cupcakes
15. Easy Strawberry Pie
Nothing beats strawberry pie for dessert on the Fourth of July unless it's an extra-easy strawberry pie, and this recipe fits the bill nicely. For starters, it calls for a ready-made crust from your local grocer. When time is of the essence, you'll be glad not to have to start from scratch to make a great dessert.
Top the dish with dollops of homemade whipped cream to finish it off. You can make this quick pie on the day of your celebration, ensuring extra freshness from the first slice to the last.
Recipe: Easy Strawberry Pie