Easy 4th of July Brownies
Looking for a creative, red, white, and blue, show-stopping dessert recipe for a 4th of July party? Easy 4th of July Brownies taste amazing, look spectacular, but are completely manageable to pull off.
Ingredients
1 9×13 brownie mix or recipe
Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting:
16 ounces cream cheese (2 packages)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream (or 2 cups Cool Whip)
6-7 fresh strawberries, washed and dried
1 pint fresh blueberries, washed and dried
Steps
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Preheat oven to 325ºF. Make the brownie mix according to directions. Cool brownies completely.
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In a bowl beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
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If using heavy cream, pour into a separate clean, large bowl. Beat on high until it holds shape and peaks form, about 3-4 minutes. Fold whipped cream (or Cool Whip) into cream cheese mixture until no streaks remain.
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Set aside 1/2 cup frosting if you want to pipe a decorative edge. Dollop cream cheese frosting all over cooled brownies and then gently spread. TIP: Evenly dispersing dollops all over first will avoid spreading frosting around too much and pulling up brownie crumbs into frosting.
How to Decorate 4th of July Brownies:
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Cut tops off strawberries and then slice lengthwise. Use 5 best slices for each of strawberry “stars.” Refer to recipe picture for placement. TIP: Arrange stars on brownies first before arranging blueberries. Place 1-2 blueberries in middle of strawberry “stars.”
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Use blueberries to arch “tails” from strawberry “stars,” ending in one corner point. TIP: Only have blueberry “tails” coming from first and last “star.” Leave the middle “star” as is.
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If decorating edge, put remaining cream cheese frosting in decorating bottle or piping bag. Pipe small swirls placed about 1.5″ apart around edge. Place a blueberry on top of each swirl. Refrigerated leftovers.
Recipe and photo from www.mamagourmand.com