American Flag Brownies

These 4th of July Brownies are a super easy, creative and tasty way to celebrate the 4th of July, Memorial Day, or any other patriotic holiday. Not only do they look stunning, they’re also totally delicious and a great simple dessert to make with the little ones.

Soft and chewy brownies are topped with cream cheese frosting and decorated with blueberries and sliced strawberries to look like the American flag. Of course if you want a yummy cheesecake brownie, you can skip the American Flag decor and top with your favorite fruit or berries, sprinkles, chocolate chips, or even nothing at all!

Jump to:

• 4th of July Brownies
• Key Ingredients
• How to Make 4th of July Brownies
• Decorating Tips
• Storing Instructions
• American Flag Brownies Recipe
• More 4th of July Desserts

4th of July Brownies

These American Flag brownies make a super simple dessert look totally impressive.  We start by taking a shortcut and using a good old-fashioned brownie mix.  Of course, you can make your own homemade brownies if you would prefer, but there’s no shame in using a box mix.

To make the “white” part of red, white, and blue, the baked brownies are topped with a rich, creamy, lightly sweetened, super fluffy cream cheese frosting.  For stars and stripes, we use blueberries and strawberries. Raspberries would work great, too. And don’t be afraid to let the kiddos help out here - in our experience, they absolutely love to help decorate.

Key Ingredients

• Brownie Mix - you can use any type or brand of brownie mix that you like - or make your own.  We baked ours in a 9” x 13” baking dish but if you want a slightly thinner brownie with more slices you could bake on a baking pan.
• Heavy Whipping Cream - cream whips best when it is very cold so keep it in the fridge until just before whipping.
• Cream Cheese - this will need to be room temperature in order to get it nice and fluffy.  If it’s not soft enough, you can transfer to a microwave-safe container and heat for about 10 seconds at a time until soft but not melted.
• Powdered Sugar - it’s a good idea to sift your powdered sugar before adding it.
• Vanilla Extract - pure vanilla extract tastes best.
• Blueberries and Strawberries - we used these blue and red berries for a 4th of July theme, but you could use any types of berries or fruit that you like.

How to Make 4th of July Brownies

1. Bake brownies.  Make brownies in a 9"x13" baking dish according to package instructions, then cool completely and set aside.
2. Make the cream cheese frosting.  In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form and set aside.  Add the room temperature cream cheese to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat using the paddle attachment until fluffy before adding the powdered sugar and vanilla.  Mix again until fluffy, then slowly fold in the whipped cream by hand until completely combined.
3. Decorate to look like the American flag.  Pour the cream cheese mixture onto the cooled brownies and spread it evenly over the top using a spatula or knife.  Decorate to resemble a flag using fresh blueberries and strawberries.
4. Refrigerate and serve.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until ready to serve.  Enjoy! 

Decorating Tips

You can have a lot of fun decorating these American Flag Brownies.  It’s a great way to get the kiddos involved, too!  Just prepare all of the fruit ahead of time and let them get busy.  

These tips are mainly for if you want to decorate for the 4th of July, Memorial Day or any other patriotic holiday.  However, you could make these with all sorts of fruit for any type of occasion that you’d like.

• Use a flat metal spatula, or a knife, to spread the cream cheese frosting evenly over the brownie, leaving a small edge around so you can see the brownie.
• Start by placing rows of blueberries in the top left corner to make the stars.  
• Slice strawberries however you’d like and line them up overlapping to create a few red stripes, alternating with the white frosting.
• If you want to get fancy, save a big of frosting and put it into a piping bag with a star tip.  You can pipe a festive design inside the “white stripes” or around the edges.

Storing Instructions

• Make-Ahead: this American Flag Brownie can be made up to 2 days ahead of time and stored in the fridge.  If you choose to do this, we recommend topping with the fruit just before serving.
• Refrigerator: to store any leftovers, cover, and keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
• Freezer: if you want to freeze this, hold off on adding the fruit and be sure and wrap very tightly with plastic wrap.  It can be held frozen for up to 1 month this way, then thawed out in the fridge overnight before decorating and serving.

More 4th of July Desserts

Looking for more patriotic recipes? Here are a few of our favorites:

• No-Bake Mini Cheesecakes
• Red White and Blue Rice Krispies Treats
• Red White and Blue French Toast Bake
• Brownie Waffle Cookies
• Strawberry Shortcake
• Blackberry Pie
• Fresh Strawberry Pie
• Strawberry Cream Pie
• Strawberry Pretzel Salad
• More Summer Recipes
• More Easy Dessert Recipes

These 4th of July Brownies (or Memorial Day Brownies) are the perfect quick and easy patriotic dessert.  They are made with a rich and creamy white cream cheese frosting topped with blueberry stars and strawberry stripes.

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