Frost It!: 4th of July!

For most people, the celebration of Independence Day usually calls for a party, cookout or another kind of special event. This year, for my family, our 4th of July celebration was a block party in York Beach, Maine. With so many fun ways create patriotic treats; I was unable to make just one!

Tie-Dye Sugar Cookie Stars!

A simple homemade sugar cookie recipe was the base for this idea. I separated the dough into 3 parts. One ball of dough was kept white; the other two were colored blue & red. I then rolled the each ball of dough into a flat rectangle, layered them on top of each other (white on the bottom, then red, then blue) and rolled the dough to form a log shape.

After refrigerating the dough for about 20 minutes I sliced the dough log into ¼ inch thick slices. I then used a star shaped cookie cutter to create the fun patriotic shape!

Baked, cooled & sprinkled with sugar these cookies were ready for the 4th!

S’more Brownie Bites

I love s’mores because they remind me of cookouts, bonfires and summertime. They are also a fun treat. Fun, but messy. I decided to create something that allows you to enjoy the taste of a s’more without the mess: graham cracker crust, brownie batter baked into a mini muffin pan with a marshmallow on top!

I placed them back in the over under the broiler to get the authentic s’more taste with the crispy cooked marshmallow.

I drizzles red colored candy melts and added a blue star on top to incorporate the 4th of July theme. These bite sized treats are a great way to enjoy the wonderful taste of a s'more!

“Happy Birthday, America” Cupcakes!

The cupcakes that I decided to make this year for the 4th of July are bursting with patriotism! I used a simple white cake recipe, divided the batter into 3 bowls. I colored one bowl of batter red and another blue, leaving one white.

I lined a cupcake pan with white cupcake liners. I spooned in a small amount of the red batter into the bottom of each liner. I then added a small amount of the white batter on top of the red, and finally added the blue on top of the white. Careful not to mix the colors together, I gently placed these in the oven to bake!

After baking & cooling, these beautiful, bright, and patriotic cupcakes were ready to be frosted!

I decided to make white buttercream to frost these cupcake and added some coloring to the pasty bag so that when I frosted them, the red, white and blue colors swirled together.