One of my favorite internet pastimes is browsing through recipes, mostly because I love food, but also because eventually I would like to try some of those pinned recipes. This is especially fun to do right before a holiday, because the food gets even more creative.
Whether you’re in charge of dessert this year, or, like me, you just like to look, here is a roundup of my favorite 4th of July desserts from the internet.

These are so easy to make, yet so festive! All you need to do is dip the marshmallows in frosting or chocolate, dip in colored sugar or sprinkles, and viola! Also, I love anything with marshmallows, so this is obviously a favorite.

I’ve seen this firecracker cake on Pinterest a lot and the burst of colors inside and outside the cake are so eye-catching. You want to put the food coloring on top of the cake after it’s in the baking pan and smush it in a little to create the waterfall of red and blue.

This professional cake is just amazing and I had to include it here.

Cookies are a great idea if you’re looking for something easy that everyone will love. They’re especially great for younger kids who love to decorate!
If you’re looking for something that will stand out from the red, white and blue, then try a barbecue cake. This works great for any barbecue and not just the 4th of July. When I baked this cake, I used an extra cupcake that I stuck on top as the grill and the pool actually sunk in by itself, but if it doesn’t, just cut a bit out of the middle and that should work too! The minions could be switched out for regular teddy grahams, but who doesn’t love minions?

These strawberries have the triple benefit of being adorable, healthy and delicious. Keep it healthy and use whipped cream inside or switch out the whipped cream for some sweeter frosting.

This is another beautiful professional cake, but it can be easily reproduced without the white stars or with some candy. You can also use strawberries instead of raspberries.
I made this cake for another barbecue a few years ago and even I didn’t expect it to come out that well. It may look intimidating, but it’s surprisingly easy. It’s just like any other three layer cake but with different colored frosting.
There are lots of variations of this cake, and they are all easy ways to make a festive dessert. Make sure to use a lot of food coloring for the red and blue, otherwise you’ll end up with pink, white and light blue.

I really love that the pieces of watermelon are cut into stars. Now, even the fruit salad is celebrating Independence Day!

This is probably the most incredible pie I have ever seen. I never would have thought to use a cookie cutter for the top of the pie crust.

The giant cookie is a tasty alternative to cake.

More sugar and frosting/white chocolate, but this time on strawberries! The strawberries have the benefit of already being red, unlike the marshmallows, so you’ve got all your flag colors right there.

We move slightly away from dessert with this one, but you could always use pieces of cake or banana if cheese for dessert isn’t your thing. You could also keep in the cheese and serve it before dinner instead of dessert.