It's mandatory, isn't it? Red, white, and blue dessert for the 4th of July? Well, I have just the ticket for you. These American flag cookie bars come together in a jiffy. It's a last-minute patriotic dessert that's adorable and delicious.
The base/topping is an almond-vanilla cookie dough. The base is topped with cherry pie filling and a square of blueberry pie filling to mimic the stars and stripes. The sweet cookie dough combined with the tart fruit filling just may make fireworks explode in your heart.
First, whip up the cookie dough. Reserve some for the topping.
Next up, press the dough into the pan. This is a sticky dough, so here's a tip: wet your fingers, then press the dough into the pan. Use an offset spatula to smooth.
Add the blueberry and cherry pie fillings.
With the reserved dough, make a small star for the blue section and dollop on the rest to make stripes. Bake it up.
Dust with sifted powdered sugar and you've got a red, white, and blue dessert that gets Uncle Sam's approval. (Well, it gets Mr. E's approval anyway.) :)
American Flag Cherry and Blueberry Cookie Bars
1 cup salted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/4 cup blueberry pie filling
1 1/4 cup cherry pie filling
powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl. Beat in the extracts. On low speed, add the flour, one cup at a time. Beat until combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
Reserve 1/2 cup of the dough. With wet fingers, press the large portion of the dough into an ungreased 9x13" pan. Smooth with an offset spatula.
Spoon the blueberry pie filling in the top right corner. Spread the cherry pie filling over the remainder.
Pinch off a section of the reserved dough to form a ball. Press flat to about 1/4" thick. Cut with a small star cookie cutter. Place the star over the blueberry section. Pinch off the remaining dough, forming stripes over the cherry area.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the cookie dough is lightly golden. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Dust with sifted powdered sugar.
Happy Independence Day, America!
(Be careful with those sparklers!)
