4th of july

40 Easy Fourth of July Desserts

updated Jun 28, 2024
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
angled shot of the berry chantilly tiramisu in a baking dish with a few slices taken out of it.
Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe; Food Styling: Rachel Perlmutter

As much as I love all the burgers, grilled hot dogs, and classic BBQ sides, 4th of July simply isn’t complete without an easy dessert. Maybe it’s my sweet tooth or the fact that all the best summer fruit is currently in its prime. I look forward to the festive red, white, and blue sweets, no-bake delights, gooey s’mores, and classic fruit pies. There’s so much to choose from.

Whether you’re ready to break out the fresh berries for a classic flag cake, bake up a fruity cobbler, or dig in to a batch of freshly baked cookies, we’ve got a little something for every dessert lover. No matter what you’re craving, here are 40 easy 4th of July desserts that are perfect for the occasion.

Red, White, & Blue 4th of July Desserts

Red, white, and blue-themed desserts are perfect for 4th of July celebrations. Flag cake is a classic, though you can never go wrong with berry chantilly tiramisu, mixed berry shortcake trifle, or mini summer berry pavlovas.

1 / 10
Berry Chantilly Tiramisu

This tiramisu is perfect for warmer months! With strawberry syrup, fresh berries, and light creamy filling, it’s a refreshing and balanced take on the original.

Go to Recipe
2 / 10
Blueberry Dump Cake

You only need four ingredients for this summer dessert: blueberry pie filling, cake mix, butter, and fresh or frozen blueberries.

Go to Recipe
3 / 10
Strawberry Dump Cake

You don't need to be a baker to pull off this summer stunner. Dump the ingredients, bake, serve with vanilla ice cream and impress everyone.

Go to Recipe
4 / 10
Cherry Cobbler

A stunning dessert that highlights the best of this peak-season fruit. Dish it up with vanilla ice cream, freshly whipped cream, or a simple drizzle of cold heavy cream.

Go to Recipe
5 / 10
Giant Cherry Shortcake

This giant cherry shortcake is a fun take on the classic strawberry shortcake and couldn’t be easier to assemble.

Go to Recipe
6 / 10
Mini Summer Berry Pavlovas with Strawberry Sauce

Light and airy meringue shells are the base for a bright strawberry sauce, fresh whipped cream and handfuls of sweet summer berries.

Go to Recipe
7 / 10
Blueberry Crisp

From the sweet blueberry filling spiked with a hint of earthy ground coriander to the buttery, lemon-kissed crisp topping, it's impossible not to go wild for this summertime classic.

Go to Recipe
8 / 10
Red White and Blue Popsicles

Red, white, and blue popsicles are a summertime classic. While it’s easy enough to grab a box at the grocery store, making them at home is a fun way to make use of seasonal fruit like fresh strawberries and blueberries.

Go to Recipe
9 / 10
Red, White, and Blue Trifle

This festive trifle is really more fruit than cake, with cherries and raspberries and blackberries squeezed between homemade pudding and cream.

Go to Recipe
10 / 10
Surprise-Inside Flag Cake

This stately, whipped cream-gilded cake has a colorful surprise inside that makes this vanilla-cake-meets-berry-shortcake recipe stand out from the rest.

Go to Recipe

No-Bake Delights

Good news: you don’t need to turn on the oven to make a totally delicious and impressive dessert! These no-bake delights are always a hit at summer cookouts.

1 / 10
No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Delight

Just when you thought dessert couldn’t get any better than a warm chocolate chip cookie, this chocolate chip cookie delight has officially entered the chat. These party-perfect bars are packed with five layers of classic chocolate chip cookie flavor. The best part? This dessert is entirely no-bake.

Go to Recipe
2 / 10
No-Bake Strawberry Delight

Strawberry Delight is a charmingly pink no-bake dessert packed with six layers (yes, six) of creamy, dreamy strawberry goodness.

Go to Recipe
4 / 10
No-Bake Coconut Delight

Coconut lovers, this one’s for you! If your heart skips beat for all things coconut, especially old-fashioned coconut cream pie, you’ve got to try this triple-layer no-bake dessert immediately.

Go to Recipe
5 / 10
No-Bake Chocolate Delight

Packed with four dreamy layers of chocolate pudding, cream cheese, fluffy whipped cream, and shaved chocolate, this no-bake dessert is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

Go to Recipe
6 / 10
No-Bake Lemon Fluff Bars

Do you go wild for lemon bars? Are mile-high lemon meringue pies your absolute favorite? If the answer is yes, this dessert is for you.

Go to Recipe
8 / 10
Lemon Blueberry Delight

Packed with four dreamy layers of jammy blueberries, creamy cheese, fluffy whipped cream, and sturdy graham cracker base, this no-bake dessert will be the hit of your summer cookout.

Go to Recipe
9 / 10
No-Bake Cherry Delight

It’s a no-bake dessert with a cheesecake-like filling that’s built upon a graham cracker crust and topped with cherry pie filling.

Go to Recipe
10 / 10
No-Bake Ube Cheesecake Bars

These easy, no-bake cheesecake bars get a flavor upgrade with ube extract and ube jam, making it a fun dessert to serve at your summer party.

Go to Recipe

Cookies and Bars

Cookies and bars are the ultimate crowd pleasing desserts. You can’t go wrong with a pan of magic cookie bars, key lime bars, or a tray of s’mores cookies on the 4th of July!

1 / 10
Neiman Marcus Bars

Boxed cake mix never looked so delicious. These gooey six-ingredient bars are guaranteed to be devoured at your summer cookout.

Go to Recipe
2 / 10
Sour Cream Cookie Bars

These cookie bars might initially look like standard sugar cookie dough, but the sour cream in the dough makes them slightly tangy, and enticingly tender and lofty like a cakey cookie (think: Lofthouse cookie). Between the colorful frosting and sprinkles, there’s fun in every bite.

Go to Recipe
3 / 10
S’mores Cookies

An homage to the iconic campfire treat, these drop cookies strike the perfect balance between soft and chewy, and have a pull-apart marshmallow center.

Go to Recipe
4 / 10
Lemon Crumb Bars

If you love both lemon bars and bubbling fruit crisps, this is a sweet treat you’re sure to enjoy.

Go to Recipe
5 / 10
Magic Cookie Bars

If you’re looking for a dessert that’s stood the test of time, look no further than magic cookie bars. Part cookie and part candy, these bars feature a graham cracker crust, chocolate and butterscotch chips, shredded coconut, and pecans, which are magically bound together with sweetened condensed milk.

Go to Recipe
7 / 10
8 / 10
S'mores Bars

Making a graham cracker cookie into a s'mores bar that you can take anywhere.

Go to Recipe
9 / 10
Kitchen Sink Cookies

Thse easy and delicious cookies are loaded with everything but the kitchen sink: chocolate chunks, rolled oats, shredded coconut, and crushed pretzels.

Go to Recipe
10 / 10
Buckeye Cheesecake Bars

With a slightly salty Oreo cookie crust, a creamy layer of peanut butter-flavored cheesecake, and a silky topping of chocolate ganache flecked with flaky salt, these cheesecake bars are a summer cookout showstopper.

Go to Recipe

Classic Pies

Celebrate the 4th of July with classic pies like cherry pie, blueberry pie, and peach pie. They’re even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

1 / 10
Best-Ever Cherry Pie

An easy, foolproof recipe for a classic double-crust cherry pie, made with fresh, sweet cherries. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a 4th of July dessert that the whole family will love.

Go to Recipe
2 / 10
Sky-High Banana Pudding Pie

With a buttery Nilla wafer crust, a whipped mousse-like filling, pecan caramel, and fluffy whipped cream, this no-bake pie is a major upgrade to classic banana pudding.

Go to Recipe
3 / 10
Classic Blueberry Pie

This classic blueberry pie is packed to the brim with plump blueberries and has a flaky and buttery crust. Top it off with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Go to Recipe
4 / 10
Old-Fashioned Coconut Cream Pie

Coconut cream pie has it all: a flaky crust, creamy coconut custard, mountains of whipped cream, and crunchy flakes of toasted coconut. IT's the perfect treat for your 4th of July cookout.

Go to Recipe
5 / 10
Perfect Peach Pie

This no-frills peach pie lets the sweet fruit shine, highlighting its bright flavor and perfume-like aroma. Serve a slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and you have a perfect dessert for 4th of July.

Go to Recipe
6 / 10
Mississippi Mud Pie

Chocolate lovers, listen up! You’ll want to dive deep into the layers of Oreo cookie crust, chocolate pudding, chewy fudge brownie, and whipped cream of this chocolate pie.

Go to Recipe
7 / 10
Banana Cream Pie

It’s time banana gets a starring role. You can use store-bought or homemade pie crust (or you can sub in a graham cracker crust!).

Go to Recipe
8 / 10
No-Bake Chocolate Cream Pie

This silky-smooth chocolate cream pie made with an Oreo crust and topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings will be everyone's favorite on the 4th of July.

Go to Recipe
9 / 10
Peach Blueberry Pie

This sweet, flaky pie is the perfect way to put fresh peaches and sweet blueberries to good use.

Go to Recipe
10 / 10
No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie with Chocolate Whipped Cream

All three components of this no-bake pie — the crust, the filling, and the topping — are made in the food processor, meaning assembly takes just 10 minutes (it's so easy!).

Go to Recipe