50 Best Red, White & Blue Star-Spangled Desserts To Celebrate The 4th
After fireworks, we dessert.
Start a revolution of your own this 4th of July—against boring desserts! These patriotic, star-spangled sweets will add some festive red, white, and blue to your spread... at least until they're devoured. From fruity cookies to spectacular cakes, all-American pies to summery popsicles, we've got something here for everyone, for every occasion Independence Day could throw at you.
Okay, admittedly, some of these desserts aren’t red, white, AND blue all at once, but we believe in your ability to either make it happen by getting creative with additional ingredients, being content with a more subtle patriotic vibe, or, our favorite, serving multiple of them at once for that full flag effect.
What do we mean by additional ingredients? Fruit, of course! Cherries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries are the easiest, tastiest way to add color to your desserts. Start with a white or red base—like our red velvet cake or ice cream, our no-bake whipped ricotta cheesecake, or our white cake—add a variety of fruit, top the whole thing with some whipped cream, and there you have it: the perfect creative interpretation of America's flag. Check out our red velvet whoopie pies with blueberries, our flag cake, or our berries & cream charcuterie board for inspiration, then get creative with it.
Speaking of fruit, no one would be mad if you served up a variety of classic summer desserts instead of adhering to a colorful theme. Our fruit popsicles, our blueberry surprise, our raspberry tiramisu, or our strawberry crisp are always crowd-pleasers. Looking for something a little more casual? Our strawberry shortcake Rice Krispie treats, our M&M cookie bars, or our cheesecake cupcakes are perfect for sharing at a 4th of July potluck or picnic.
Want to meet somewhere in the middle? A little food coloring, red and blue sanding sugars, and even edible glitter can go a long way in turning something subtle into a showstopper—check out our lemon-blueberry firecracker Bundt cake to see what we mean. We also aren't above topping our treats with actual sparklers, so be safe and have fun with it! 🎆
Chantilly Cake
There are cakes, and then there’s Chantilly cake, an impressive dessert that marries the delicious simplicity of a classic yellow cake with the berries and cream combo that makes shortcakes shine. What’s even sweeter? The all-American dessert has a charming origin story that started in a grocery store bakery.
Get the Chantilly Cake recipe.
Red Velvet Whoopie Pies With Blueberries
These patriotic beauties were inspired by classic red velvet cake, whoopie pies, and the need for an easy and fun 4th of July dessert. Red velvet cookies with fluffy, white whipped cream and cream cheese frosting, and blueberries make for a fun twist on classic whoopie pies that we didn't even know we needed.
Lemon-Berry Firecracker Cake
Nothing says Fourth of July quite like a patriotic red, white, and blue dessert, especially this eye-popping lemon-berry firecracker cake. For a blast of flavor, our spin on the classic firecracker cake upgrades itself from white cake to a tangy lemon batter with blueberry- and strawberry-flavored swirls.
Get the Lemon-Berry Firecracker Cake recipe.
Berries & Cream Charcuterie Board
The only thing better than fresh, sweet berries is piling them on angel food cake and shortbread cookies with sweet ricotta or whipped cream. This DIY "starcuterie" board is the ideal sweet treat to round out your 4th of July spread.
Vegan Sugar Cookies
Soft, buttery, with crispy edges, these are the classic, quintessential sugar cookie, veganized and ready to share. Whether frosted, sprinkled, or eaten plain right out of the oven, we can't get enough of them.
Get the Vegan Sugar Cookies recipe.
Cheesecake Pops
You only need 6 ingredients (and some Dixie cups and popsicle sticks) to make these adorable popsicles. They're everything you crave from a cheesecake, made frozen for summer!
Get the Cheesecake Pops recipe.
M&M Cookie Bars
These have all the comfort of a chocolate chip cookie, with the added crunch of M&M's and the heft of a bar shape, making for a delicious treat that’s impossible to put down. Try them with red, white, & blue M&M's to switch them up for holiday too.
Get the M&M Cookie Bars recipe.
Red, White, & Blue Brownie Parfait
No-Bake Whipped Ricotta Cheesecake
"No-bake" and "whipped" in the same recipe name as "cheesecake"? Sure! Trust us, the whipped ricotta and mascarpone combination lightened with whipped cream atop a Biscoff crust isn't traditional, but is still quite dreamy.
Sponge Cake
Having this cake in your recipe arsenal will have you ready for anything that gets thrown at you: You can cube it a trifle, crumble it over ice cream, or—our favorite—stack it with whipped cream and berries. The best part? You can also have this entire cake ready in just about an hour.
Get the Sponge Cake recipe.
Freedom Bark
This stunning red, white, and blue chocolate bark tastes like freedom, and is so fun for the whole family to help decorate. We love adding in all our favorite festive sprinkles, like edible stars and plenty of edible glitter.
Get the Freedom Bark recipe.
Strawberry Shortcakes
In this easy recipe, tender, fresh shortcakes get topped with juicy, sweet strawberries and fluffy whipped cream to make this iconic, crowd-pleasing dessert. We used a shortcake that's lightly sweetened to let the strawberries shine, but if you prefer this dessert on the sweeter side, try this sour cream pound cake or super-easy sponge cake.
Get the Strawberry Shortcakes recipe.
Cheesecake Cupcakes
Who doesn't love an ultra-creamy slice of cheesecake? These mini versions are super-easy to make (no water bath!), but just as delicious as their full-size counterpart, and much easier to share with BBQ guests.
Get the Cheesecake Cupcakes recipe.
Red Velvet Ice Cream
This creamy homemade ice cream is made with a buttermilk base and cocoa powder for that iconic chocolatey, tangy flavor. A cream cheese frosting is crucial to red velvet, so we added a swirl of the frosting throughout and crumbled some red velvet cake in too so you get bits in every bite.
Get the Red Velvet Ice Cream recipe.
Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
To make these, we topped a simple graham cracker crust with a creamy cheesecake layer and a sweet pink strawberry layer, then crumbled a cinnamon-spiced streusel on top. The result is a cute, springy dessert that’s remarkable enough to share with friends at a potluck, but also easy enough to make any time you’re craving cheesecake.
Get the Strawberry Cheesecake Bars recipe.
White Cake
If you’re a vanilla cake fan and have never tried a white cake, you’re in for a treat: This white cake is tender, light, fluffy, and moist, and is layered with the most satiny-smooth vanilla frosting.
Get the White Cake recipe.
Blueberry Surprise
For this dessert, a tart homemade blueberry filling is sandwiched between layers of lightly sweetened, fluffy cream cheese and whipped cream, all on top of buttery cornmeal shortbread. It's what summer dreams are made of.
Get the Blueberry Surprise recipe.
Fourth of July Flag Cake
Old Glory has never looked so delicious. We love this honey whipped cream frosting for its refreshing lightness, but you can't go wrong with a classic vanilla buttercream frosting before topping with all your favorite festive fruits.
Get the Flag Cake recipe.
Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
It took many, many rounds of testing to get these cookies just right. Our biggest piece of advice is to not be afraid of mess. Covering the cream cheese with cookie dough is a messy task (especially with the fresh strawberries!), but we promise you it's worth it a million times over.
Get the Strawberry Shortcake Cookies recipe.
Fruit Popsicles
In the heat of summer, nothing satisfies quite like a fruit Popsicle. This classic strawberry version is big on fruit flavor and not too sweet.
Get the Fruit Popsicles recipe.
Camille Lowder is the digital food producer at Delish, otherwise known as our resident queen of recipe galleries. Previously, she attended the Natural Gourmet Institute for culinary school and worked at/managed a number of New York restaurants. She loves anything vegan, foods masquerading as other foods (hello, cauliflower), and a well-used Oxford comma.
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