Gluten-Free 4th of July Dessert Board

The 4th of July is almost here and with more people getting together with friends and family for picnics, barbecues and the like, I thought it would be fun to create a festive red, white and blue GLUTEN-FREE dessert board!

In fact, I created several boards as you’ll see below because I wanted to show you how you could design boards easily to your tastes.

You can easily  use more or less fruit and more or less sweet treats, and it would still look fabulous and offer an array of yummy desserts.

Regardless of the combination you choose, a dessert board is always a great idea because it offers something for everyone, and looks festive and fun!

This board is made with 3 crowd-pleasing treats plus lots of red, white and blue summer fruit:

New! White Chocolate Covered Pretzels with red, white and blue sprinkles (recipe below)

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies (these use almond flour)

OR Better than Boxed Brownies (these use just a little gluten-free all purpose flour and have a fudgy option)

Best Sugar Cookies with red, white and blue sprinkles

Cherries

Blueberries

Raspberries

Blackberries

Watermelon

Red Grapes and

Strawberries.

Let me show you how easy it is is to make the board smaller and/or to make it with different combinations of fruit and treats according to tastes.

Then I’ll show you how easy it is to make the White Chocolate Covered Pretzels with sprinkles.

Here’s a smaller board with all the baked goods and a combination fruit, similarly balanced to the larger board.

If you’re looking for a board with mostly fruit and a sweet treat, you could try something like this:

Or this…

If you want less fruit and more baked goods, try something like this…

No matter which combination you choose, you can’t go wrong!

Let’s take closer look at the sweet treats, starting with the Fudgy Chocolate Brownies.

I have the full recipe, along with a cooking video, for the brownies by clicking here.  So, this will be just a brief description….

These gluten-free almond flour brownies are the ultimate brownie— crackly top, then perfectly fudgy, chocolatey, soft and chewy center.

Plus, there’s an option to make extra chocolatey!

Best part? It’s a super simple recipe so these could be yours in no time!

Next, the Best Sugar Cookies with red, white and blue sprinkles!

Again,you can  click here for the full recipe and cooking video for the cookies  so this will be a brief description.

These gluten-free sugar cookies are a year round fan favorite!

Crispy edges, chewy center and you can decorate them for any occasion!

Plus, they are easy to make, can be made ahead, freeze well and…. drum roll please… they keep their soft & chewy texture over time!

And last, but certainly not least, let’s make the White Chocolate Covered Pretzels with red, white and blue sprinkles!

These are simple to make but there are a few tips I learned along the way they make it easier!

All you need is:

White chocolate (I always find it easier to melt white chocolate bars than chips)

Gluten-Free Pretzel Twists

Colored Sugar (I used a combination of red, white and blue sparkling sugar)

The first tip is about melting the chocolate. If possible, I love to use a double boiler.(amazon link) A double boiler is a pan that has two pots, one that is filled with water, and the second which sits on top. I own a Faberware one (Amazon link).

It allows the chocolate to be warmed and melt slowly without being next to direct heat.

A double boiler runs about $40 is a good investment if you tend to make lots of treats with melted chocolate, especially white chocolate as white chocolate seizes up quicker than dark chocolate.

Even with a double boiler, be sure heat is on low and let the chocolate melt slowly so it is silky smooth.

Once the chocolate is melted, remove from heat and dip half or the entire pretzel in the melted chocolate. I liked to make a combination of half pretzels and full pretzels just for fun.

Tip 2: Place the chocolate dipped pretzels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The chocolate will drip off a bit but not harden immediately.

Then sprinkle the red, white and blue sugar crystals….

Tip 3: I greatly preferred using colored sugar versus sprinkles. The sprinkles tended to clump up more and the flavor overwhelmed the chocolate covered pretzels

That’s it and they’re super fun!

Scroll down for recipe and leave a comment if you try them.

PIN it!

OR PIN it!

Scroll down for gluten-free dessert board details and leave a comment if you make a board!