Before taking off for the holiday weekend, we share this delicious recipe for red, white and blue blondies from King Arthur Flour.

Well, they’re sort of red white and blue, if you count the beige blondie as the white color.

Otherwise, we have an addition to suggest:

 
 
RECIPE: RED, WHITE & BLUE BLONDIES FOR JULY 4TH

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square pan, line it with parchment paper or foil, and grease the paper or foil.

2. MELT the butter and sugar together. Add the vanilla and let the mixture cool to lukewarm.

3. MIX in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until combined, then fold in the berries.

4. SCOOP the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes if using fresh berries; 35 to 40 minutes for frozen berries, until the edges of the bars just begin to pull away from the pan.

5. REMOVE from the oven and cool for 20 minutes before lifting carefully out of the pan (see “tips,” below) and setting on a rack to cool completely.

6. STORE, refrigerated, for up to 1 week.
 
 
TIP FOR CUTTING THE BARS FROM THE BAKERS AT KING ARTHUR FLOUR

Cutting bar cookies in the pan can be cumbersome. Solve the problem by lining our bar pans with parchment before baking, with the extra paper coming up the long sides of a 9″ x 13″ pan. Secure the paper to the pan with metal spring clips.

After the bars are baked and cooled, free up the short ends with a dull knife or bowl scraper. Unclip the paper and use it to lift the bars up and out of the pan to a cutting board, where they’re much easier to portion neatly.

[1] Red, white and blue blondies (recipe and photo © King Arthur Flour).

[2] Dandies mini marshmallows have a bonus: They’re vegan. Check out all the varieties of Dandies (photo © Chicago Vegan Foods).

[3] Guittard’s white chocolate chips (photo © Lake Champlain Chocolate).

*NOTE: If you are using chips or marshmallows, change the portion of blueberries and raspberries to 1/3 and 1/3, respectively.

†Using fresh berries rather than frozen will keep the berries from shedding their juice. The juice from frozen berries can make bars look muddy.

[1] It’s red, white, blue and crunchy, for lovers of crushed ice drinks (photo © Due West | NYC).

[2] Due West used this rum in the drink. It’s 126 proof! We stuck with the 80 proof (photo © Worthy Park Estate).

When Due West, a popular gastropub in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan, sent us this photo (#1), we had to have one ASAP.

We couldn’t get downtown to Due West, so ran to the corner supermarket and bought pomegranate juice (we had all the other ingredients on hand). We dragged our ice crusher from the back of the cupboard and set to work.

All of the crushed ice turns this red, white and blue charmer into a frozen drink: perfect for a hot summer day.

Try it yourself, for a festive Fourth. After the weekend, you can play with the recipe. We’re thinking Aperol on the bottom and blood orange juice on top.
 
 
COCKTAIL RECIPE: RED, WHITE & BLUE FROZEN DRINK

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. ADD the blue Curaçao to a collins glass. Then fill with crushed ice.

2. SHAKE the rum, banana liqueur and lime juice together. Carefully strain over the ice.

3. PACK the glass with more crushed ice and slowly pour the pomegranate/hibiscus juice on top.

4. CELEBRATE responsibly.

________________

*Due used Worthy Park Rum Bar Overproof Rum (photo #2). That’s 63% A.B.V., or 126 proof. Whew. Overproof rum is used to raise the alcohol content in a drink. We’ll stick with conventional rum, 40% A.B.V., 80 proof, thank you very much.

July 2nd is National Anisette Day, celebrating a clear, anise-flavored liqueur that became popular in Italy in the 1800s.

It is usually made from aniseed, although it can also be made from fennel, licorice, star anise, or a blend.

Before commercial production, people made their own liqueurs (and made their own wine, brewed their own beer, etc.).

The first commercial anisette was introduced by Marie Brizard in 1755.
 
 
IT’S EASY TO CONFUSE

Many people confuse anisette with sambuca, another clear liqueur that is made with both green anise and star anise.

Other sweet anise-based liquors from France include Pernod and Ricard Pastis. Pastis is sometimes confused with anisette, but it is made with both aniseed and licorice root.

Confused yet?

While all licorice-like liqueurs are popularly served with after-dinner coffee:

 
Similar-tasting spirits, which can be sweet or dry, include:

 
 
USES FOR ANISETTE

Beyond cocktails, anisette is used in conventional foods, including:

 
> Check out these savory recipes for anise.
 
And by all means, try it in your coffee or espresso, hot or iced.

Lemonade with anisette is also a treat. Try it!

[1] A glass of anisette, garnished with star anise—which is used in some distillations (photo © Belchonock | Panther Media).

[2] Floranis, also known as Anis Gras, was created in 1872 in Algiers, Algeria, by the Gras brothers, using the anisette recipe that had been in their family for generations (photo © La Martiniquaise).

[3] Marie Brizard sold its first bottle of anisette in 1755. Two hundred years later they released this bottle, from the 1950s. You can buy it from The Whisky Exchange.