Best 4th of July Desserts: Easy to Make and Your Family Will Love Them

If you're planning a picnic or family get-together for the 4th of July, you may want to try out a few new desserts to help you enjoy your fun in the sun even more. Here are some easy desserts that your whole family will love-and they're easy to make too!

If you want to stay with the red, white, and blue theme for your Independence Day picnic, you can always prepare a healthy trifle made of strawberries or raspberries (red), whipped cream (white)and blue or blackberries (blue). This trifle is great with just fruit and cream, but you can also line the bottom of your parfait glasses with angel food cake for a light dessert that has just the right amount of sweetness. You can also use homemade pound cake to make your trifle dessert slightly richer-which would be a great finale to a dinner on the grill.

Looking for a more classic American dessert? Why not try a cherry pie? This tried-and-true 4th of July dessert is always tasty, and a cool, sweet scoop of vanilla ice cream makes this fruit-filled pastry even more delicious. For the crust, you'll need all purpose flour, shortening, cold water and a pinch of salt, and you can make your own filling with pitted cherries, butter, cornstarch, sugar, and some type of flavor extract, like almond or vanilla. You will most likely be able to ask family members for a recipe variation, but great ideas can also be found at www.allrecipes.com or www.recipzaar.com.

For a more original recipe for 4th of July, why not try Florida strawberry muffins? Jiffy and Martha White make great muffin mixes that you can add your own berry combinations to, or you can make your own mix using flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Kids and adults alike will love these baked treats, and you can add your favorite berries to the muffins like blueberries of even red apple for red, white, and blue desserts that make for easy cleanup-and a satisfied family!