Nerdy Nibbles & Captain America celebrate 4th of July!

Hey everyone! Amber here with another fun edition of Nerdy Nibbles! One of my absolute FAVORITE holidays is the 4th of July. I love the patriotism, the BBQs, the fireworks, and just the idea that for one day, we all come together to celebrate this great nation of ours. It’s so much fun! When I started planning this theme, I immediately knew what to do. Is there a better America-loving super hero than Captain America? I mean, he has AMERICA in his name! So, I have two great dishes you can whip up  to take to your 4th of July BBQ. These are great for the kids, but I promise, adults will love them too! And they’re decorated as Captain America’s shield. You know I can’t resist being a little nerdy in my recipes. 😉

First up, we have a fruit tray that will fit in at any BBQ next week. My kids went nuts for it. All you need is:

• 2 packs of red fruit. This can be whatever you love. We used strawberries and raspberries
• 1 pack of blueberries
• A white snack. You can use large marshmallows or we used white fudge covered pretzels. Yum!
• Fruit dip. This can be store bought, but I have the EASIEST 2 ingredient recipe ever. It’s my favorite of all time. One pack of softened cream cheese and a 7 oz tub of marshmallow creme. That’s it!
• A round serving dish or baking sheet
• A star shaped dish. I could not find one, so I ended up using a cookie cutter!

To start, whisk your cream cheese until smooth and add the marshmallow creme. Mix together and chill. Try not to eat it all with a spoon. Wash your berries and slice the strawberries.

Start arranging your fruit on the tray. The shield design is red-white-red-blue-white star. I put the center down and then worked toward it. Once you have the basic rings, you can go back and fill them in.

My youngest was a huge help and a great taste tester! 😉 This recipe is so incredibly easy, you should let your kids do it while you supervise (and snack on that yummy fruit dip!)

Next shield dish is just as easy! It’s a Frosted Cookie Pie! For this fun dessert, all you need is:

• Store bought cookie dough
• White frosting
• Red, white, & blue chocolate candies

See where I’m going with this? Preheat your oven to 350 and press your cookie dough into a pie dish. You can use your favorite cookie flavor. We’re a chocolate chip cookie family.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until center is set. Because the pie is thick, it may take longer than package instructions. Just keep an eye on it and pull it out once browned and set in the center.

Frost your cooled cookie pie and separate your candy colors. Once again, I used a small star cookie cutter for the center shape, but you can use a piece of wax paper cut into a star. Or fill it all in with blue! Or make a flag design! This cookie pie is so versatile, I’ll be using it quite often and just changing the decorations.

I left the white frosting instead of filling in with the candies, but you can do whatever you want! How cute is that? Soft baked cookie, creamy frosting, and a crunchy candy topping! The perfect summer dessert!

Captain America approves! I hope you take these adorably nerdy dishes to your 4th of July party this year.

Happy Independence Day!