Holidays & Entertaining July 4th Festive 4th of July Dessert Recipes By Midwest Living editors Midwest Living editors Midwest Living's experienced editors create best-in-class travel, lifestyle, food, home and garden content you won't find anywhere else. We're loudly, proudly Midwestern, and we're passionate about helping our audience explore and create through award-winning storytelling. Midwest Living's Editorial Guidelines Updated on April 6, 2023 Trending Videos Get out your red, white and blue for these dessert recipes. 01 of 32 Boozy Bomb Pops How to improve on a childhood classic? First, use real fruit. Second, spike those stripes. In her Boozy Bomb Pops, Hildie Haviland of the Detroit Pop Shop (a fixture at metro-area farmers markets) layers tangy yogurt with vanilla vodka-laced strawberry and blueberry purees. View Recipe 02 of 32 4th of July Cookie Pizza Matthew Clark Win over guests of all ages with this quick and easy patriotic cookie pizza at your July 4th gathering. View Recipe 03 of 32 Choose-a-Fruit Fool With just four ingredients, this light and easy summer dessert recipe is goof-proof for gatherings. Portion into short drinking glasses up to two hours ahead. View Recipe 04 of 32 Citrus-Berry Tart A crisp shortbread crust holds orange pastry cream in this recipe. Scatter the berries casually on top, or arrange as stripes for an extra-festive look. View Recipe 05 of 32 Fruit Hand Pies Our flaky hand pies taste just like their big sibs, but they're tidier to serve and eat, making them perfect for picnics and potlucks. Best of all, you get to choose the fruit filling: cherry, blueberry peach or plum! View Recipe 06 of 32 Jammy Blueberry Pie Jason Donnelly Prebaking both berries and pastry have big-time pay off: The filling is potent, and the bottom crust cracker-crisp. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for the ultimate July 4th treat. Pie Recipes Perfect for Summer View Recipe 07 of 32 Cherry-Berry Shortcake Stars Tossing the cherries and blueberries with a little sugar draws out the juices in this shortcake recipe. The sweet syrup is a perfect complement to the flaky, sconelike shortcakes. The dough will be sticky. To easily cut out the star shapes, dip the cutter in flour between each cut. View Recipe 08 of 32 Raspberry Cream Tart Use refrigerated sugar cookie dough for the crust of this luscious fruit-and-cream tart to save time and add extra sweetness. Dust with powdered sugar just before digging in. Mouthwatering Raspberry Dessert Recipes View Recipe 09 of 32 Double-Ripple Strawberry Ice Cream Carson Downing Transform a pound of strawberries into a cool patriotic treat with this jam-swirled recipe. Irresistible Ice Cream Recipes View Recipe 10 of 32 Chocolate-Berry Meringue Choose your favorite berries for this cream and chocolate treat. A trifecta of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries will look especially eye-catching on the dessert table this holiday. View Recipe 11 of 32 Blueberry-Coconut Pavlova When Kristin Rosenau of Pastry Affair discovered her lactose intolerance, she had to get creative in her Bismarck kitchen. The result: Desserts like Blueberry-Coconut Pavlova, a crispy-chewy pillow of meringue topped with whipped coconut milk and blueberry sauce. View Recipe 12 of 32 Red, White and Blue Parfaits Pour a syrup of honey, sugar and crystallized ginger over blueberries, watermelon, and strawberries, then top with a swirl of sweetened whipped cream and a fruit star for a pretty-and patriotic-finish. View Recipe 13 of 32 Watermelon stars Use a 2- to 3-inch star-shape cookie cutter to make stars from watermelon slices, then serve stars by themselves, on a platter with fruit and cheese, or in a dessert like our easy Red, White and Blue Parfaits. 14 of 32 Pistachio Pavlova with Fresh Berries Mildly nutty meringue cradles fresh berries in this classic dessert named for a ballerina. Use your favorite nut to flavor the meringue. Our Test Kitchen recommends pistachios, almonds or pecans. Any fruit works: blueberries, kiwi, bananas. View Recipe 15 of 32 Cherry Almond Cake Erin Mahoney's Cherry Almond Cake is the kind of towering, old-fashioned layer cake you expect to see wearing a blue ribbon at the state fair. The KC blogger relies on a boxed mix for fluffy texture but adds sour cream, maraschinos and almond extract to make it her own. View Recipe 16 of 32 Double-Berry Sammies If you're the kid who requested the corner slice of birthday cake (with roses!), these ultrasweet Double-Berry Sammies are for you. Crispy sugar cookies sandwich strawberry buttercream and blueberry jam. The recipe comes from Christy Augustin of St. Louis' Pint Size Bakery and Coffee. (Yes, it's as tiny and cute as the name would indicate.) View Recipe 17 of 32 Pretzel Sparklers The sweet coating complements salty, crunchy pretzel rods. Stand your edible sparklers in a container filled with coarse brown sugar or candy-coated milk chocolate candies (M&Ms). Change the color of the sprinkles and candies to suit the occasion! View Recipe 18 of 32 Red Velvet Sundae Jars These sundaes are more than just another excuse to ride the Mason jar wave. There's genius under that screw-top, thanks to inspiration from Silver Lining Creamery in Rapid City. Bake the cake batter in the jars; pile ice cream, fudge and nuts on top; then stash them in the freezer to serve later. They're perfect for serving at outdoor parties in large silver tubs filled with ice. View Recipe 19 of 32 White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes Frosting for a cause? Sold. Chicago's Cupcakes for Courage food truck donates 10 percent of proceeds to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and other nonprofits. Their 50-plus flavors include this stunner, a White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake topped with a voluptuous swirl of worth-the-effort Swiss meringue buttercream. View Recipe 20 of 32 Blueberry Sour Cream Dessert Use fresh blueberries when in season to make this rich dessert, a cross between a pie and a cheesecake. View Recipe 21 of 32 Jam 'n' Graham Buttermilk Ice Cream This scrumptious Jam 'n' Graham Buttermilk Ice Cream features strawberry jam and graham cracker piecrust crumbles. View Recipe 22 of 32 Yogurt-Berry Jelly Squares The idea for these mosaiclike Yogurt-Berry Jelly squares (aka wiggly, jiggly bites of happiness) came from Faith Durand's cookbook Bakeless Sweets. The Columbus writer is executive editor of the massively popular website thekitchn.com (and co-author of The Kitchn Cookbook). View Recipe 23 of 32 Cherry Phosphate Icebox Pie Blaine Moats A humble pie if you ever saw one, this unassuming potluck star has an almondy crust and a yogurt-based filling that mimics the acidic tang of a phosphate. Amaretti (Italian almond cookies) are available at large supermarkets. You can substitute graham cracker crumbs. Irresistible Desserts Inspired by Soda Shop Flavors View Recipe 24 of 32 Berry Pudding Cake Vanilla cake bakes over fresh blueberries and strawberries for a light, lower-calorie summer dessert. View Recipe 25 of 32 Firecracker-Red Cupcakes with Coconut Filling A red, white and blue dessert stars at any patriotic potluck. Red velvet cake mix makes our moist and gooey Firecracker-Red Cupcakes extra easy to prepare. Delicious Cupcake Recipes View Recipe 26 of 32 Blueberry Ice Cream Pie Combine fresh blueberries, vanilla ice cream and homemade blueberry sauce in an almond-brown sugar crust for this showstopping dessert. View Recipe 27 of 32 Mixed Berry Slab Pie Floral notes from lemon zest, thyme and honey round out the sweet-tart punch of ripe berries in this creation from Shelly Cross and Jill Long of Madison's Humble Sweet and Savory Pies bake shop. Shelly and Jill have some mad pastry skills; amateurs can get creative, too, with the extra dough. View Recipe 28 of 32 Sparkler Cupcakes Fireworks-inspired zigzags and sprinkles dress up cupcakes. View Recipe 29 of 32 Cherry Raspberry Pie Combine fresh cherries and raspberries with cranberry juice blend, sugar and tapioca for a delightfully sweet-tart filling to this summer pie. View Recipe 30 of 32 Raspberry Pavlova An airy Pavlova cradles fresh raspberries and a simple raspberry sauce. View Recipe 31 of 32 Blueberry Shortcake Serve warm shortcake with a rich filling of sweetened blueberries and whipped cream. 10 Delicious Shortcake Recipes View Recipe 32 of 32 Berry Trifle Mix buttery pound cake, creamy vanilla pudding, soft cream cheese, and fresh strawberries or blueberries for a rich comfort-food dessert. To trim calories, try making it with angel food cake, fat-free pudding, and low-fat or fat-free cream cheese. View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit