Fudgy flag brownie tarts with berries

These flag brownie tarts combine fudgy brownies with fresh berries and some delicious frosting, making them a great treat for your Fourth of July celebrations.

One of my husband’s favorite desserts is brownies. He actually prefers the box mix, and no matter what homemade recipe I’ve tried, he thinks they are too “cakey.” In an effort to please him, I’ve given up on making him homemade, from-scratch brownies and decided to decorate some up just for him.

The theme? The American flag. All the fresh fruit totally evens out all the chocolate in the brownies, right? He sure thought so and polished off at least half of these brownie tarts all by himself.

Start off by making the brownies according to the package directions or to your favorite recipe. Bake the brownies in a well-greased or nonstick 8 x 8-inch pan. You can also line your pan with parchment paper to make for easy removal.

Once the brownies are completely cooked, allow them to cool. Instead of slicing them into small squares, I sliced them into large bars in the shape of a flag, meaning more rectangular. See the left photo for a reference to size.

Next comes the frosting. I used from-the-tub cream cheese frosting — another preference of my husband’s. He detests plain vanilla and actually doesn’t really like the whipped either. And since these brownies were for him, cream cheese frosting was what I used.

I put the frosting into a frosting bag fitted with a #3 tip. You could also put the frosting into a small plastic bag and cut off the very tip of a corner.

Pipe stripes across the brownies, leaving a section blank for where the “stars” will go.

Where the “stars” will be positioned, pipe 4 large dots. Place 4 blueberries securely onto the dots.

Now it’s time to slice up some strawberries to create the red stripes on this dessert flag. First off, remove the stems. Next, slice the strawberries thinly from top to bottom, and then cut each slice thinly to form strips.

Place the strawberry strips onto every second line of the piped frosting lines to create the red stripes of the flag.

Finally, place some white chocolate chips on the remaining frosting lines to create the white stripes of the flag.

Repeat these steps until all the brownies are decorated like flags. And there you have it — a simple yet delicious brownie with fresh fruit and white chocolate made to look like the American flag.

By the way, my husband was very impressed with his treat.

Fudgy flag brownie tarts recipe

Yields 6

Ingredients:

• 1 box brownie mix plus the ingredients called for
• 1/4 cup cream cheese frosting
• 1 cup strawberries
• 1/4 cup blueberries
• 1/3 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch pan with parchment paper.
2. Prepare the brownies according to the package directions, and pour the batter into the lined pan.
3. Bake according to the directions, remove, and allow the brownies to completely cool.
4. Slice the brownies into large rectangles that resemble the shape of a flag.
5. Fit a frosting bag with a #3 tip, and fill it with either vanilla or cream cheese frosting.
6. Pipe 4 small dots onto the upper left-hand corner of the brownies, and then fill in the rest of the brownies with long lines resembling stripes.
7. Remove the stems from the strawberries. Slice them thinly from top to bottom, and then slice those pieces into thin strips.
8. Place the strawberry strips onto every second piped frosting line to create the red stripes of the American flag.
9. Next, place white chocolate chips on the remaining frosting lines to create the white stripes of the flag.
10. Repeat steps 6 to 9 until all the brownies are fully decorated.

More Fourth of July recipes

Fourth of July firecracker cakelette
Summer layered drinks
Candy kabobs