Looking for a patriotic red, white, and blue, show-stopping dessert recipe for the 4th of July? These easy Fourth of July Brownies taste amazing, look spectacular, but are completely manageable to pull off. No baking extraordinaire experience required!
Preheat oven to 325ºF. Make the Easy Homemade Brownie recipe according to directions or alternatively prepare a store bought brownie mix that yields enough for a 9X13 pan. Pour into a greased 15 X 11 inch jelly roll pan. Bake for 33-37 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool brownies completely.
In a small bowl beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth. Set aside.
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 the whipped cream (or Cool Whip) into cream cheese mixture until no streaks remain.
Set aside ¾ cup frosting if you wish to pipe a decorative edge. Dollop the remaining 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:
Cut the tops off the strawberries and then slice lengthwise. Use 5 best slices for each of strawberry "stars." Refer to recipe image for placement. TIP:Arrange the stars on brownies first before arranging blueberries. Place 1-2 blueberries in middle of strawberry "stars."
Use the remaining blueberries to arch "tails" from strawberry "stars," ending in one corner point. For best results, start at the "star" and line the the outline of the "tails" first, and then fill in with the rest of the blueberries. TIP:Only have blueberry “tails” coming from first and last “star.” Leave the middle “star” as is.
If decorating the edge, put remaining frosting in decorating bottle or piping bag. Pipe small swirls placed about 1 ½" apart around edge. Place a blueberry on top of each swirl. Refrigerate leftovers.
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Notes
Baking Without a Jelly Roll Pan
You may use another size cookie sheet, but it should have at least a 1 inch edge. Please note, the baking times will differ if you use a bigger or smaller pan, though. A larger cookie sheet will need less time and yield a thinner brownie. Using a 9X13 pan will require a longer baking time and you will have a smaller area to decorate. You may also want to place 2 stars, instead of 3, if using a 9X13 pan.
best TIPS AND TRICKS:
Although this calls for a 9X13 brownie recipe, they are actually baked in 15X10 to give room for the design and serve more guests.
The baking directions included in the recipe were tested with my easy homemade brownie recipe. If using a box mix or another recipe, you may have to adjust the temperature or baking time.
To avoid pulling up the top layer of brownies while spreading on the frosting, dollop the icing all over first and then gently spread.
Wash the strawberries and blueberries while the brownies are cooling and lay out on a dish towel to give ample time to dry.
For a less sweet taste, I recommend whipping heavy cream to fold into the cream cheese mixture. To save time, or have a sweeter frosting, substitute 2 cups Cool Whip whipped topping.
I use frosting decorating kit all the time for quick little frosting decorations. Alternatively, use a small plastic baggie with a corner snipped off. It doesn't have to be fancy, just something for the blueberry to sit on.