At our house yesterday, we celebrated Fourth of July along with my youngest brother's birthday. His birthday is July 3rd so we always joke that the country got his birthday a day late with the fireworks and festivities. Not wanting to take away from his birthday celebration, I created desserts that combined classic American flavors with a birthday flair.

The Triple Berry Layered Lemon Cream Cake was the perfect combination of having a birthday cake for Mike plus a Fourth of July theme. And the Apple Pie Cookies were a quintessentially Americana recipe that I had pinned from Pinterest awhile ago that I had been dying to try out. Perfect for Fourth of July, no?

I can say with confidence that both recipes are a cinch (trust me on this) and are aaamazing. I followed both recipes to a T and did not have any disappointed guests. I tried to get as many photos of the process for both, but it was a little difficult, especially with the Apple Pie Cookies, because it got a little messy. Hope you all had a great Fourth! Enjoy!