Our Hopeful Home: Low Calorie Fourth of July Strawberry Cream Cheese Dessert

Today I'm sharing how to make a fun, delicious Fourth of July strawberry cream cheese dessert in 15 minutes with only 5 ingredients (and it's gluten free)! So let's get started!

red condiment cups filled with blueberries

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I'd love to take credit for this recipe but alas, I can not. It's actually from Martha Stewart's test kitchen and I found it on Pinterest. I can't say that she's the originator of the recipe since it's really pretty basic, but nonetheless, I found it on her website.

I was looking for a refreshing, low calorie dessert for Fourth of July since my husband and I have decided to try and eat more mindfully. That means cutting out things like unnecessary, bad-for-you sweet treats and junk food. This quick and easy recipe seemed just the thing to satisfy our sweet cravings yet not break the Weight Watchers' points bank.

Fourth of July Strawberry Cream Cheese Dessert

INGREDIENTS

6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (I used Philadelphia Cream Cheese 1/3 less fat)

4 tsp. confectioners' sugar

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (in hindsight I would add more)

12 strawberries, hulled

12 small blueberries

Directions

STEP ONE

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, confections' sugar and vanilla extract on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. [You can also use a regular beater.] Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip.

STEP TWO

Trim 1/4 - 1/2-inch from the bottom of each strawberry so that it sits flat. Use a small melon baller to scoop out the center of each strawberry. Pipe the cream cheese mixture into strawberries until it brims over the top. Finish each strawberry with a blueberry garnish. Store, covered lightly with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator up to two hours.

NOTE: Once you de-hull the strawberries, their shelf-life, so to speak, is not long. I recommend not de-hulling and filling the strawberries until shortly before you're going to serve them. Also, be sure to wash the strawberries! It is well-known that they are grown with more pesticides than most produce.

I used a basic melon baller utensil to scoop out the hulls, and a pairing knife to cut off the bottom tips to make the strawberries flat on the bottom.

After making the filling I transferred it to a disposable pastry bag set up with a 1-inch star piping tip. To see my technique for filling a pastry bag see How To Pipe Grass Icing.

The filling went into the strawberries without a problem. Once they were all filled I topped them off with small blueberries.

blue white porcelain plate strawberries filled with cream

It was fun filling them with an icing bag -- I love decorating cupcakes this way! And I loved displaying my stuffed strawberries on the living room coffee table on top of one of my vintage Blue Willow plates.

red condiment cups filled with blueberries on blue and white plate

I filled a red condiment cup with fresh blueberries and placed it on a lattice edged blue and white plate made in Portugal.

red strawberries hulled filled with cream cheese

rec cup blueberries porcelain plate holiday sparkler

The red condiment cups came from Dollar Tree, 3 for a dollar! The firecracker tinsel food picks also came from Dollar Tree.

strawberries filled with cream cheese and topped with blue berries

The Blue Willow plate is displayed on my DIY distressed wooden riser with beaded trim.

red white and blue dessert for Fourth of July

These tasty treats make a great dessert to bring to a summer get-together, or to make for a night at home with family. Either way, they're easy to make and delicious to eat, and the fact that they're low calorie is even better! They did not last long in my house!

Well, that's it for today, friends!

I hope you've enjoyed reading about my

Low Calorie Fourth of July Cream Cheese Dessert

and that I've inspired you in some way.

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