Fourth of July Dessert Idea
Fourth of July Dessert Idea: Frozen Granola Bars
The Fourth of July has always been one of my favorite holidays.
As a kid, I'd end the day by enjoying my friend's mom's famous red, white and blue cake covered with juicy strawberries and fresh blueberries.
This year, I thought it would be fun to combine the older 4th of July tradition with one of my newer favorite healthy desserts, frozen granola bars.
Afterall, I've been enjoying THIS recipe for frozen granola bars from Clean Eating Magazine for several years as a tasty summer treat and am always looking for an excuse to enjoy it. It's time I let you in on my secret!
Fourth of July Dessert Ingredients:
- 1 cup whole-grain granola
I love THIS brand - 2 cups of fruit (frozen or fresh)
The batch shown on the right was made with mango and
cranberries, believe it or not! - 3 cups low-fat yogurt
I've used Greek and vanilla or a combo depending on what's in my fridge - 1/3 cup agave OR honey
Clean Eating says to use agave, but I ran out and used honey since we
always have that thanks to my
daily pancake needs and it worked just as
well - 1 tsp real vanilla extract
How to Prepare Your Fourth of July Dessert:
Step 1: Line an 8x8 inch freezer friendly pan with parchment paper. I recommend this over the original recipe's recommendation of tin foil as you may want to use a microwave to defrost your Fourth of July bars briefly so you can cut them into squares and tin foil would make that idea pretty dangerous!
Step 2: Pour your cup of granola into the pan and spread it out so it covers the bottom evenly.
Step 3: Place all remaining ingredients into a blender and blend until they are combined.
Step 4: Spread the fruit mixture evenly over the granola and place it covered in the freezer for four hours.
That's it! Get ready to enjoy this tasty treat as a nice way to cool off on a hot Fourth of July day.
Preparation tips and super fancy 4th of July ideas:
I usually cut the final product into sixteen square bars. If you have enough guests and want to be even more patriotic, you could make one batch out of red colored fruits and another batch out of blueberries or blackberries to really get into the 4th of July theme.
Stripes or stars of vanilla or plain yogurt could also be added to the pan before the bars are completely frozen, if you want to be super fancy!
BONUS for granola lovers:
If you're a granola fan who doesn't need cooling off or to stick to a Fourth of July theme, you might enjoy THIS recipe from our personal trainer, Amanda Lawrence.
Will you try out this Fourth of July dessert idea? What's your favorite patriotic treat to enjoy on the holiday? Share your thoughts with a comment below:
