3 easy last-minute 4th of July desserts you can make today

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Welcome to Best Bites, a twice-weekly video series that aims to satisfy your never-ending craving for food content through quick, beautiful videos for the at-home foodie. Check back on Tuesdays and Thursdays for new episodes!

Do you have a Fourth of July party coming up and still have no idea what to bring? No worries! On this episode of Best Bites, we'll show you some last-minute desserts that'll be the hit of the party.

Last-Minute 4th of July Desserts:

  1. Star Spangled Cookies

  2. Red, White and Blue Brownies

  3. Red, White and Blue Rice Krispies

Star Spangled Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 tube store-bought sugar cookie dough

  • 1 container of royal icing

  • gel food coloring (red and blue)

Protip: Royal icing is different from other icings in that it hardens, similar to melted chocolate.

Instructions:

  1. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and pre-heat the oven to 350° F.

  2. Unwrap the dough on a clean, lightly floured surface. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll out dough to roughly 1/4" thickness.

  3. Use cookie cutters to cut out star shapes and place cookies on greased baking dish.

  4. Once you've cut out as many shapes as you can, combine the scraps and roll out the dough again to cut more cookies.

  5. Place cookies in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.

  6. Allow cookies to cool completely before coating with red, white and blue royal icing glaze.

  7. To make the glaze: Pour royal icing into a bowl. Use a toothpick and dip it into the food coloring and then into the glaze (you only want a small dot of food coloring). Do this a few times with the blue food coloring and then with the red food coloring. Drag the toothpick through the food coloring and icing to mix, until it is slightly swirled and marbled looking.

  8. Holding your cooking at the base, dip the top surface into the glaze.

  9. Set glazed cookies on a cooled baking sheet or cooling rack to harden, at least 30 minutes or until glaze is set.

Red, White and Blue Brownies

Ingredients:

  • 1 pan of already baked brownies

  • 1 1/2 cup mini marshmallows

  • 1 1/2 cup red M&M's

  • 1 1/2 cup blue M&M's

  • 5 ounces white candy melts

  • 5 ounces red candy melts

  • 5 ounces blue candy melts

Instructions:

  1. Melt candy melts and add each to their own piping bag. Drizzle over cooled brownies. (You can also use a fork to drizzle each of the melted candy colors over the brownies.)

  2. Top with mini marshmallows, and red and blue M&M's.

Red, White and Blue Rice Krispies

Ingredients:

Instructions:

  1. Cut the straws in half and stick each one into the side of a Rice Krispie Treat.

  2. Melt candy melts and add each to their own piping bag. Drizzle over treats one color at a timee. (You can also use a fork to drizzle each of the melted candy colors over the treats.)

  3. Top each with sprinkles.

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