Blondies for the 4th of July

This easy blondie recipe is next-level delicious when you add my tips and tricks. It always turns out so rich, gooey, and is loaded with all the goodies. 

These 4th of July blondies are a showstopper dessert that will light up any celebration. I call them Fireworks Blondies because the sprinkles and M&Ms look like an explosion of July Fourth fireworks. 

If you’re making a dessert for the 4th of July, then you need to make a grab-and-go food. And these blondies are PERFECT for that. Plus, the kids love them so prepare for them to disappear FAST!

The best part about baking cookie bars? You don’t need to worry about them spreading while baking – Just mix your ingredients, spread them on a pan, and viola! An incredible batch of firework blondies that look like the 4th of July fireworks. 

Ingredients needed

• Butter: I always use unsalted butter because it’s easier to control the flavor. For this 4th of July cookie bar, we’ll use melted butter for a gooey and chewy texture.
• Sugar: I am using light brown sugar because it gives these blondie bars an incredible caramelized flavor. When you measure the sugar, be sure to pack it. Packing the brown sugar will ensure there are no lumps or pockets of air inside the measuring cup.
• Egg: I’m using large eggs to bind all the ingredients better together. Be sure the eggs are at room temperature before mixing them into the batter. It just helps with the mixing process.
• Baking powder: let’s not confuse the baking powder with the baking soda. I’ll be using a teaspoon of baking powder to help these blondie bars rise
• M&Ms: you can just use sweet chocolate chips instead but I love to add M&Ms for the pop of red white, and blue colors. I have tried these blondies with butterscotch chips and oh my… so good. If you can’t pick, it’s ok to use M&Ms and chocolate chips because why not? 
• Sprinkles: I’m using patriotic sprinkles to make these blondie bars into firework blondie bars. 

How to make blondies

1. Preheat oven to 350°F then line a metal baking pan with parchment paper or foil and spray generously with cooking spray. 
2. Cream butter and brown sugar with a stand or a hand mixer until crumbly. 
3. Mix in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Then add salt, baking powder, and flour to mix together until evenly combined. 
4. Stir in M&Ms and sprinkles. 
5. Spread in prepared pan. The mixture is wet so it’s best to spray your hands with cooking spray and then smooth the dough with your hands to get an even layer.
6. Top with extra M&Ms if desired to make them look prettier. 
7. Bake for about 22-25 minutes until they start to turn golden. 

Buttercream Sugar Cookies

These easy tips will show you how easy it is to decorate sugar cookies in patriotic colors – and they’ll look like a professional made them!

I make sugar cookies every year for Christmas; they’re our absolute favorite. As much as I’d love to make royal icing and do flooding and super intricate designs, that is just not me. I’m more of a buttercream cookie frosting gal, even better if you just frost with a knife and load on the sprinkles.

BUT! Sometimes you want to make cute decorative sugar cookies, but you want an easy way to do it where they’ll look great every time. That’s when you need THIS tutorial.

These Patriotic Sugar Cookies are so easy to make and look how fun and festive they are – and you just need some pastry bags and a couple of tips to do it. ANYONE can make pretty sugar cookies, I promise. If I can do it, so can you!

4th of July Spiral Cookies

Everyone will admire the patriotic swirl on these spiral cookies but they’ll love the flavor more: these 4th of July cookies are buttery, soft, and have just the right amount of sugar! They’re like butter cookies but rolled with sugar – absolutely delicious!

Although I’m baking these specifically for the Fourth of July, they can be made for any holiday or special occasion. All you need to do is follow this simple recipe and change out the color of the sanding sugar. 

Easy 4th of July Cupcake Tops

4th of July cupcake decorating is a new tradition for me since it makes a festive and fun time in the kitchen. Plus, these fireworks cupcakes are a showstopper! They always turn out looking perfect and so professional. 

I always serve patriotic cupcakes for my 4th of July party since they are an easy dessert and they decorate the table for my guests. Double win! 

What I love most about these Cupcake Tops for the 4th of July is how easy and quick it is to make. Just frost two easy layers of blue and white then top it off with a red berry. That’s it! They always turn out perfect. 

Ingredients Needed

• Cupcakes: use either chocolate or vanilla cupcakes
• Frosting: vanilla frosting to add some blue food color later
• Food coloring: blue food coloring to dye the vanilla frosting layer
• Cool Whip: this will lay on top of the blue vanilla frosting 
• Berries: strawberries or raspberries to finish off with red

How to make Cupcake Tops for the 4th of July

1. Bake and cool your cupcakes to room temperature.
2. Tint your vanilla frosting blue with a few drops of the blue food coloring then place it in a pastry bag fitted with a round tip. In a ziploc bag, place your cool whip in and cut the tip off to help frost.
3. Frost each cupcake with a bit of blue frosting. Top the blue with the white cool whip. Place a strawberry on top to finish.

4th of July Pinata Cupcakes

My firecracker cupcakes never miss out on our July 4th celebrations. Piñata Cupcakes look complicated, but they’re actually so easy to assemble. 

This cupcake recipe starts with a cake mix and finishes with some 4th of July sprinkles to bring it all together. 

Once you learn how to make these fireworks cupcakes, the sky’s the limit when it comes to celebratory treats. You can change up the frosting, sprinkles, or cupcake flavors to fit any occasion. 

Ingredients Needed

• Cupcakes: an easy cake mix of your choice or yellow cupcakes baked and cooled 
• Frosting: I’m using Vanilla Butter Cream or you can use store-bought 
• Sprinkles: I’m using the three colors red, white, and blue to fit the 4th of July theme

How to make 4th of July cupcakes

1. Bake cupcakes according to package directions and let them cool down to room temperature.
2. Slice a round circle from the middle of the cupcake and gently remove the piece you cut to set it aside. 
3. Fill the hole you made with sprinkles. I used cute red, white, and blue patriotic sprinkles in mine. Then place the part you cut out back in the hole. You will only need part of it – enough to fill the top since the sprinkles are inside.
4. Frost the cupcake and top it with more red, white, and blue sprinkles.

Fireworks Funfetti Cupcakes

This 4th of July is full of patriotic fireworks and these funfetti cupcakes! These homemade Funfetti cupcakes are so cute with matching cupcake liners. 

Although I’m making these funfetti cupcakes for the Fourth of July, you can really have them whenever. It’s such a versatile cupcake recipe.  Just switch out the cupcake liners, sprinkle colors, or color-dye your frosting to fit any occasion. Easy!  

These homemade funfetti cupcakes have a fantastic vanilla buttercream frosting, you’ll find yourself reaching for more just for the frosting. These are my holiday go-to recipe – so easy and festive. Just what I need for any celebration! 

Ingredients needed

• Sugar: I always use granulated sugar for my cakes
• Cocoa powder: unsweetened cocoa powder since we are adding sugar
• Baking soda and Baking Powder: for leavening – different for the different cakes so be sure to read the recipe.
• Buttermilk: I learned how to make buttermilk at home so I will be using that instead of the store-bought
• Vegetable oil: it’s the best oil to use for baking since it keeps the cake so moist
• Vinegar: I’m using white vinegar to help the baking soda rise 
• Vanilla extract: makes the cake taste so good, especially with the buttermilk 
• Food coloring: red food coloring to make this chocolate cake a red velvet one 
• Butter: melted to make a soft and moist cake
• Sprinkles: I used nonpareils, but you can also use jimmies
• Frostings: Cream cheese frosting and vanilla buttercream!

How to make a 4th of July cake

MAKE THE RED VELVET CAKE:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F then butter and flour two 9-inch cake rounds.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa, and salt. Then whisk the rest of the ingredients in a measuring cup: buttermilk, oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract. 
3. Stir both wet and dry ingredients together in one large bowl. Once fully combined, stir in the red food coloring carefully.
4. Pour the cake batter into one of the prepared pans. 
5. Bake for 20-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.

MAKE THE FUNFETTI CAKE:

1. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Mix butter and sugar in a large bowl. Then add your eggs one at a time and finally the vanilla.
3. Add buttermilk with the dry ingredients, and mix until the batter comes together. 
4. Stir in the patriotic sprinkles.
5. Pour batter into the prepared pan. 
6. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs sticking to it. Cool completely before frosting.

Funfetti Flag Cake Recipe

This American flag cake recipe is one of my favorite Summer dessert recipes! The creative berry topping is so fun to put together for the Fourth of July. 

I don’t know about you, but I can’t stop smiling at this 4th of July cake. Not only does it look delicious with the vibrant berries and fluffy frosting, but it always turns out looking amazing! 

For my Patriotic flag cake, I used a combination of raspberries and sliced strawberries for the red stripes and blueberries for the stars.

Now, a normal American Flag has 13 red and white stripes but my cake doesn’t… and that’s okay! I think most people get it. Since we’re using berries, there wouldn’t be room for 13 stripes on a 9×13-inch cake. 

Ingredients Needed for the cake

• Flour: I always use all-purpose flour 
• Baking powder: for leavening
• Salt: since we are using unsalted butter 
• Butter: we’ll be melted
• Sugar: I’m using granulated sugar 
• Eggs: to bind all of our ingredients together
• Vanilla extract: perfect at bringing all the flavors together
• Buttermilk: you can learn how to make buttermilk 
• Sprinkles: rainbow jimmies sprinkles 

Now if you want, you can use a cake mix to make this funfetti cake even easier!

Ingredients Needed for the frosting

• Butter: more butter that’s softened at room temperature
• Powdered sugar: a must when making frosting
• Vanilla extract: just a few teaspoons vanilla extract 
• Salt: to help enhance the flavors
• Heavy whipping cream: makes a creamy and delicious homemade frosting
• Berries: I’m using blueberries for the stars and strawberries or raspberries for the stripes

How to make a flag cake

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9×13-inch baking pan.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Mix butter and sugar on medium speed in a large bowl using a hand or a stand mixer until smooth. Mix in eggs one at a time, then mix in vanilla.
4. Add the buttermilk alternately with the dry ingredients, mixing between each, starting and ending with the buttermilk, and mixing just until the batter comes together. 
5. Stir in sprinkles.
6. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs sticking to it. 
7. Cool completely before frosting.
8. Make the frosting and give the cake a good layer of white buttercream.
9. Top with berries in an American Flag pattern.

Patriotic Sugar Cookie Bars

These cookie bars are our favorite for the 4th of July and Memorial Day! You will love these cookies because:

• They’re so EASY to make
• Completely homemade
• Thicker than my normal sugar cookie bars so they are perfect to feed a crowd
• FULL of sprinkles!

Everyone loves sugar cookie bars and when they are full of red, white, and blue sprinkles they’re even more fun.

Fireworks Bundt Cake

Sometimes the only way a cake is going to happen is with cake mix. This cake recipe is the perfect way to jazz up your July 4th dessert table with something new that isn’t complicated. 

The first time I made this tie-dye cake for a Fourth of July party, I instantly regretted not doubling up on this recipe. Everyone will gobble this up! Shortcuts are lifesavers so using the cake mix will help you make dessert even quicker.

Get ready to let the colors red, white, and blue explode in every single bite! This special 4th of July cake will have your taste buds bursting with excitement. 

Ingredients Needed

• Cake mix: use white cake mix so the food coloring can show 
• Instant Pudding Mix: I love adding pudding mix to my cakes for flavor and to keep them soft and moist.
• Vegetable oil: It’s easier to mix this cake with oil!
• Food coloring: to keep the 4th of July theme going, I’ll be using colors red and blue
• Powdered sugar: an essential ingredient for any cake frosting recipe
• Sprinkles: you can use any kind you like but I’ll use red and blue to match the theme

How to make bundt cake with cake mix

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease and flour a fluted bundt pan. 
• Mix your cake mix, pudding mix, eggs,  milk, and oil in a large bowl using a hand mixer until the cake mixture is combined.
• Color the cake batter by separating the mixture into 3 bowls. Color one of them red, one of them blue, and leave one white. 
• Bake for about 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake sit in the pan to cool for about 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a plate to cool completely.
• Make the frosting by whisking the milk into the powdered sugar. Drizzle on the cake and sprinkle with sprinkles.