Bring red, white, and blue to the dessert table with six patriotic themed treats for Veterans Day. Find a homemade sweet to serve after the parade!
Bite through a crisp pastry corner and you get warm apple butter, a little cardamom, and a stripe of cider glaze that sticks to your thumb. That’s my idea of a good start when you’re making patriotic themed treats for Veterans Day!
Pass those little pennant pies around after a November 11 ceremony, save a cherry-lime popcorn cluster for whoever loves salty sweets, and pull up a chair for coffee with the veterans you came to honor.
Patriotic Themed Treats for Veterans Day
1. Cherry Lime Popcorn Clusters with Blue Corn Chips
Take a bite from the craggy edge and you’ll hear popcorn crackle, then find a chewy piece of sour cherry tucked into lime-scented white chocolate.
I like to leave a few blue corn chips poking out at jaunty angles. They give each cluster a salty first bite and a handy little spot to grab it!
16 servings, 1 cluster each
Ingredients
- 3 cups plain popped popcorn, cooled, with any unpopped kernels removed
- 1 cup lightly salted blue corn tortilla chips, measured after breaking into bite-size pieces
- 1/3 cup (45 g) dried tart cherries, roughly chopped
- 8 ounces (225 g) white baking chocolate, finely chopped and divided
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest, from a washed and thoroughly dried lime
How to Make It
Line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside about 2 tablespoons each of the broken chips and cherries for topping. Put popcorn, remaining chips, and remaining cherries in a roomy bowl. I give the biggest popcorn pieces one gentle squeeze so a scoop will hold together.
Put three quarters of the chocolate in a dry microwave-safe bowl and heat at half power in 20-second bursts, stirring well each time. When just a few soft lumps remain, take it out, stir in the reserved chocolate until smooth, then add lime zest. Use just the green peel here. A squeeze of juice can turn smooth white chocolate grainy.
Pour over the popcorn mixture and fold from the bottom with a flexible spatula until each scoop has a little chocolate to hold it together. Divide into 16 mounds on the parchment, nudge loose pieces inward with a second spoon, and press reserved chips and cherries on top while still tacky. Chill for 25 to 30 minutes, until a cluster lifts in one piece.
Serving Suggestions
Set the clusters in paper baking cups so guests can carry one with their coffee, or slip a pair into a little treat bag once the chocolate feels firm.
2. Apple Butter Pennant Pies with Cider Glaze
These little triangular hand pies belong at the edge of a platter with their points facing down, like a string of red, white, and blue bunting.
Inside each shattery shell is a spoonful of spiced apple butter. Cardamom gives it a lovely citrusy lift, and a stripe of tart apple cider glaze catches in all those flaky ridges.
9 servings, 1 pie each
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (about 8 1/2 ounces), thawed in the refrigerator
- 1 to 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour, for rolling
- 6 tablespoons thick apple butter
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 large egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water
- 1/2 cup (60 g) powdered sugar
- 2 to 3 teaspoons apple cider or apple juice
- 1 teaspoon each red and blue sanding sugar
How to Make It
Heat your oven to 400°F with a rack in the middle and line a baking sheet with parchment.
On a lightly floured counter, roll cold pastry to a 12-inch square, then cut it into nine 4-inch squares. If it starts sticking or feels floppy, slide it into the fridge for 5 minutes so you can lift those corners cleanly.
Stir cardamom into apple butter and put 2 level teaspoons on one half of each square, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Brush that border lightly with egg wash, fold the opposite corner over to make a triangle, and ease out any trapped air before crimping with a fork. I’m firm about those level teaspoons because an extra dollop has a habit of making its own exit!
Arrange pies an inch apart on your lined sheet and chill for 15 minutes. If you need a second sheet, keep it cold while the first batch bakes. Brush tops lightly with egg wash, cut a small vent in each, and bake for 18 to 23 minutes, until tops are golden and the undersides feel crisp when lifted with a spatula. Move to a rack and give them 15 minutes to cool.
Stir 2 teaspoons cider into powdered sugar, then add more a few drops at a time until a ribbon from your spoon holds its shape for a second. Drizzle a broad diagonal stripe across each pie, sprinkle red sugar at one end and blue at the other, and leave a little white showing between. Let glaze set for 10 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
Arrange the pennants in a row on a long board and pass warm cider alongside. For a potluck, carry them in one layer so every guest gets a pie with its crisp corners intact.
3. Brown Butter Oat Bars with Raspberry and Blueberry Stripes
Brown butter gives these bars a toasted hazelnut aroma, and each square gets a tart raspberry stripe beside a mellow blueberry one.
For this crust, I reach for old-fashioned oats because their broad flakes stay chewy right up to those crisp, buttery edges. Read the oat research on PubMed.
16 servings, 1 square each
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons (142 g) unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cups (110 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (100 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/3 cup each thick raspberry jam and thick blueberry preserves
- 2 tablespoons finely shredded unsweetened coconut
How to Make It
Heat your oven to 350°F and line an 8-inch square metal pan with parchment, leaving handles on two sides. Melt butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat, swirling for 5 to 8 minutes total. Once the foam smells nutty and you see amber specks on the bottom, pour everything, including those tasty specks, into a mixing bowl.
Stir oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt into the warm butter. Squeeze a spoonful and, if it still falls apart, work in a teaspoon or two of water until it clumps.
Reserve 1/2 cup of crumbs and press the rest firmly into the pan with a flat-bottomed measuring cup, paying special attention to the corners. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the surface looks dry and the edges are just beginning to color.
Stir each jam separately to loosen it. Using two spoons or two small zip-top bags with a corner snipped off, run eight narrow stripes of jam from one side of the warm crust to the other, alternating colors.
Scatter reserved crumbs around the outer rim so you can still see the stripes, then bake for 17 to 22 minutes, until jam bubbles in a few spots and the rim turns golden.
While the jam is sticky, sprinkle thin lines of coconut where the colors meet. Let everything cool in the pan for 1 1/2 to 2 hours before lifting it out. Cut along the seams after the second, fourth, and sixth stripes, then make three evenly spaced cuts across them for 16 two-flavor squares.
Serving Suggestions
Pack the squares with parchment between layers for a coffee hour. I’d put a corner piece next to a mug of black tea so there’s a crisp, buttery edge to nibble between sips.
4. Cranberry Cider Pears with Maple Yogurt
Slip a spoon into one of these pears and you’ll see a sliver of ruby red around a tender, pale middle. Cranberry juice gives the fruit that pretty blush, while apple cider and cinnamon make the kitchen smell like a November orchard stand.
I’d serve each half on maple yogurt, with blueberries tucked into the hollow where the seeds used to be.
6 servings, 1 pear half each
Ingredients
- 3 large firm-ripe Bosc or Anjou pears
- 1 cup unsweetened 100% cranberry juice
- 1 cup sweet apple cider or apple juice
- 1/3 cup (67 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 cup (240 g) plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried
How to Make It
Choose pears that give a little when pressed near the stem. Peel them, halve lengthwise, and use a small spoon to scoop out each core and the tough thread leading up to the stem. In a deep 10-inch skillet, bring cranberry juice, cider, sugar, and cinnamon to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Set pears cut side down in one layer, cover, and turn heat to low so you see gentle bubbles around the edges. Poach for 15 to 30 minutes, turning halfway and spooning juice over any pale patches.
Check the smallest half first with a thin knife. When it slides easily into the thickest part, lift that pear onto a plate, even if its bigger neighbors need another few minutes.
Pour the poaching liquid into a heatproof measuring cup, remove the cinnamon, and return just 1 cup of liquid to the empty skillet. Save the rest for storing the pears or splashing into seltzer.
Boil the measured cup uncovered over medium-high heat for 8 to 14 minutes, checking early, until about 1/3 cup remains. Spoon a little over the pears and let them cool for about 20 minutes in all.
Stir yogurt, maple syrup, and vanilla until smooth. Swipe a generous spoonful across each of six small plates, settle a pear on top, and tuck blueberries into the hollow. Spoon the remaining reduced syrup over the fruit just before serving so a bright white rim of yogurt peeks out.
Serving Suggestions
These are lovely cool after a hot lunch, with crisp gingersnaps for scooping up the last of the maple yogurt.
To prepare them a day ahead, spoon the reserved poaching liquid over the pears in a shallow covered dish and refrigerate. Chill syrup and yogurt separately until serving.
5. Roasted Grape Shortcake Stars with Honey Ricotta
A roasted red grape tastes a little like a spoonful of warm jelly with its skin still on, and a dark grape beside it brings a deeper, almost plum-like sweetness.
Pile both into a tender biscuit star with lemony honey ricotta and you get buttery points worth snapping off to dip in every drop of purple juice!
8 servings, 1 shortcake each
Ingredients
- 2 cups (300 g) seedless grapes, half red and half black
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil and 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons honey, divided
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour, plus a little for cutting
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 3/4 cup cold buttermilk, plus up to 2 tablespoons more for the dough and tops
- 1 cup (about 245 g) whole-milk ricotta, drained if watery
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
How to Make It
Heat your oven to 425°F. Toss grapes with oil and pepper on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until skins wrinkle and a few grapes split. Fold in 1 tablespoon honey while juices are warm, then set the tray aside. I like to leave most grapes whole so they burst when someone takes a bite.
Meanwhile, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Rub in cold butter with your fingertips until the largest pieces are pea-size, then stir in 3/4 cup buttermilk with a fork. Squeeze a patch of dough and, if dry flour falls away, add extra buttermilk a teaspoon at a time until the dough just holds.
Turn dough onto a floured counter, fold it over itself twice, and pat it 3/4 inch thick. Use a floured 3-inch star cutter to press straight down, gently gathering scraps once to make eight stars. You can also trace a small paper star with a paring knife.
Arrange the biscuits an inch apart on a second lined sheet, brush tops with a little buttermilk, and bake for 13 to 16 minutes, until the points are golden and the centers spring back lightly.
Let biscuits cool for 10 minutes while you whisk ricotta with lemon zest and the remaining tablespoon of honey. Split each biscuit through its middle with a serrated knife, spread ricotta on the bottom half, then spoon on grapes and a little pan juice before settling the starry lid on top.
Serving Suggestions
For brunch, pass the warm stars in a napkin-lined basket and offer grapes and chilled ricotta in separate bowls. Everyone can spoon on as much fruit as they like, and the last biscuit keeps its crisp points.
6. Chocolate Malt Brownie Rounds with Powdered Sugar Stars
The edges of these little rounds bake up chewy like a brownie corner, while malted milk powder gives the soft chocolate middle a soda-fountain flavor.
A powdered sugar star is all the decorating they need, and a standard muffin pan gives everyone an edge piece. That should settle at least one family debate!
12 servings, 1 brownie each
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 4 ounces (113 g) bittersweet chocolate, about 60% cacao, finely chopped
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (40 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (about 28 g) plain malted milk powder
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder and 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, for the stars
How to Make It
Heat your oven to 350°F and line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Melt butter and chocolate together in a microwave-safe bowl at half power in 20-second bursts, stirring after each. Set aside until the bowl feels just warm against your palm.
Whisk eggs, granulated sugar, and vanilla for about a minute, until glossy. Slowly whisk in melted chocolate, then sift flour, malted milk powder, cocoa, and salt over the bowl. Fold with a spatula, scraping the bottom, and stop when the last pale streak disappears.
Divide batter evenly among the liners, about 2 generous tablespoons each. Bake for 14 to 18 minutes, checking at 14. Look for set edges and a toothpick with soft, damp crumbs when it goes into the center. If it brings up a streak of liquid batter, give the pan another minute and check again.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer rounds to a rack for 25 to 30 minutes. Don’t skip that cooling time because powdered sugar melts into a warm top! Meanwhile, cut a 1-inch star-shaped window from the middle of a 3-inch square of parchment.
Lay the stencil on a cool brownie, tap powdered sugar through a fine sieve, and lift the paper straight up for a sharp white star.
Serving Suggestions
Pile the brownies on a platter with raspberries and blueberries around the edge, or take them to a gathering in their paper liners and dust on the stars when you arrive.
For a coffee hour, my favorite pair of patriotic themed treats for Veterans Day is a tray of cider-glazed pennants and a tin of chocolate malt stars. You get a crisp, apple-filled corner with your first cup and a fudgy bite with your second.
If a veteran you love can’t join you, wrap up one of each with a handwritten thank-you. That’s a very good reason to save the last brownie!
