The Best Desserts to Make for Your July 4th Cookout

20200630-strawberry-popsicles-vicky-wasik — Vicky Wasik

It's practically your patriotic duty to stuff your face with hot dogs and potato salad on July Fourth, so we understand if you don't usually leave room for dessert. But after a big meal of smoky grilled meats, a little something sweet can be just the pick-me-up you need. Plus, entertaining is a great opportunity to whip up all sorts of tasty desserts you may not take the time to make just for yourself, such as pies, popsicles, cookies, and more. Below, you'll find our favorite desserts to whip up for Independence Day, including succulent grilled peaches, a juicy cherry pie, and refreshing strawberry popsicles.

July 2018

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Grilled Peaches and Pound Cake With Cider Vinegar Caramel Sauce

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

To really get the most out of that roaring fire in your grill, use it for your dessert along with your burgers. All three elements of this elegant dish—peaches, caramel sauce, and pound cake—are given some time over the fire, where they absorb a tantalizing whiff of smoke to complement their sweetness. We cut the peaches in half and dip them in sugar before placing them on the grates, allowing them to develop a crisp crust. You could certainly make your own pound cake, but the final dish here is so delicious that no one will notice if you go store-bought.

Grilled Peaches and Pound Cake With Cider Vinegar Caramel Sauce
Sunny Lemon Bars

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

These outrageously bright and tart lemon bars begin with a fully cooked custard made from equal parts whole eggs and egg yolks, resulting in a soft, rich filling that's just firm enough to slice without falling apart. The extra yolks help stabilize the custard without the need for cornstarch, and a bit of lemon zest added to the simple butter-and-sugar crumb fortifies the bars' citrusy flavor.

Sunny Lemon Bars
DIY Pudding Pops

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

A popsicle on a hot day is one of life's purest and simplest pleasures. It's hard to say no even to a plastic-wrapped pop from the freezer section, but these homemade takes on Jell-O's long-discontinued Puddin' Pops will truly blow the crowd away. What's more, they're easy to whip up, using a simple vanilla custard thickened with tapioca starch. To make them extra special, dip the pops in a mixture of chocolate and coconut oil to form a crispy shell, then coat in sprinkles, cocoa nibs, or another crunchy topping of your choice.

DIY Pudding Pops
Texas Sheet Cake

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Everything's bigger in Texas, and that includes dessert—this supersized cake keeps well enough that you could nibble on it for a week. The buttermilk-enriched chocolate batter is poured into a thin layer in a sheet pan, where it bakes up fluffy and moist. But the real magic happens when it's doused in molten fudge icing—the fudge seeps into the cake, turning the top of it delightfully gooey. A layer of toasted pecans adds crunch to a cake that's otherwise soft and fudgy®.

Texas Sheet Cake

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The Best Cherry Pie

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

You don't need any magic tricks to turn out a delicious, perfectly-thickened cherry pie—just the correct ratio. Pair the fruit (fresh or frozen cherries will work great) with 25% of its weight in sugar and 5.5% of its weight in tapioca starch, and the filling will come out thick but juicy every time. Using a mix of different cherry varieties—both sweet and sour—yields the best flavor.

The Best Cherry Pie
The Best Blueberry Pie

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

The best part about the above ratio from our cherry pie is that it works perfectly for many other fruit pies, too (though not all—apple and peach pies, for example, need a different treatment). Here, that means blueberries, preferably a mix of cultivated and wild for greater depth of flavor. As pretty as ceramic and stoneware pie plates may look, you'll actually get a crispier crust that's less prone to sogging with inexpensive tempered glass.

The Best Blueberry Pie
Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Delightfully salty-sweet, creamy, and crunchy, strawberry pretzel salad is a staple at picnics, potlucks, and holiday celebrations. Here, we opt for a no-bake cheesecake for a creamier, tangier filling instead of traditional Cool Whip. We also make the jello with a syrup from fresh strawberries and lemon juice, resulting in a more fruity, flavorful topping.

Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Strawberry Popsicles

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

These bright strawberry popsicles are a great way to stay true to the American theme on the 4th. Not only are they eye-catching, but they're also bursting with flavor thanks to fresh strawberries, strawberry jam, and freeze-dried strawberry powder—the latter being an optional ingredient that intensifies the strawberry taste. Although we recommend using fresh berries here for the best flavor, frozen ones with still lead to tasty results.

Ultimate Strawberry Popsicles

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Lemon Meringue Icebox Cake

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

On a hot July day, you'll want this tangy, mouth-puckering cake that tastes exactly like a lemon meringue pie. It's made with a combination of lemon curd, Italian meringue, and a secret ingredient that will have your guests guessing. (Hint: It's salty Ritz Crackers.) Best of all? No oven required.

Lemon Icebox Cake
Key Lime Pie

Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

Trust that the basics work for a July 4th cookout, and by basics, we mean our stunning yet simple version of Key lime pie. Be sure to use fresh citrus for a Key lime pie with a bright, tangy flavor.

Key Lime Pie
S'mores Brownie Bars

S'mores are a nostalgic crowd pleaser when the sun sets and the campfire starts crackling. But who says you have to wait until evening rolls around? Bring these sticky, chocolatey bars to your July 4th cookout and they'll be sure to steal the show.

S'mores Brownie Bars
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Chocolate chip cookies are an obvious crowd-pleaser, whether you choose to make our ultra-involved, best-ever cookies or an old-fashioned, quick and easy variety. But if you'll be celebrating the Fourth with anyone who eschews eggs, dairy, or both, this vegan recipe will make not only them happy but those with no such dietary restrictions, too. Here, an oat slurry stands in for eggs, coconut oil replaces the butter, and a mix of dry malt extract and nutmeg gives the cookies some of the toasty, nutty flavors that butter takes on in the oven. We add hand-chopped dark chocolate to the batter rather than commercial chips, for better flavor and to help thicken the dough.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Strawberry Cheesecake Bars

Serious Eats / Jen Causey

These handheld cheesecake bars with a strawberry swirl are as visually appealing as they are delightful to eat. This version blends cream cheese and goat cheese for a signature creamy texture and a pleasantly tangy twist.

Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
Cherry-Amaretto Tart

Serious Eats

We already included a cherry pie in this round-up, but who turns down a second cherry treat in its peak season? This bright crimson tart stars fresh pitted cherries and gets a gentle nutty boost from amaretto, a sweet almond liqueur.

Cherry Amaretto Tart
Kiwi and Passion Fruit Pavlova

Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

Is there anything more satisfying than cracking into an oh-so delicate pavlova with the back of a spoon? Now throw in a colorful combination of fruits—coincidentally, a nod to the pastry's Australian and New Zealand origins—and it's an instant potluck crowd pleaser. The trickiest part is baking the meringue (low and slow is the name of the game), but once you’ve mastered that, pavlovas will be in your regular dessert rotation.

Kiwi Passion Fruit Pavlova
Peach Galette

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Galettes are rustic, free-form tarts with infinite riffs and swaps – sort of like a pie with its insides cracked open. Since pledging allegiance to galettes, we've had Stella Parks' version with peaches on repeat. This recipe relies on a combination of sugar and tapioca powder, ensuring the peaches remain glossy and flavorful without turning to mush.

Peach Galette

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Strawberry Poke Cake

Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

Forget the box mixes and make this better version of a poke cake, with a vanilla- and lemon-scented cake, a jammy strawberry drizzle, and plenty of whipped cream topping.

Strawberry Poke Cake