3 Easy 4th of July Treats

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4th of July Banana Cream Pie

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, vanilla bean, and salt. Add cubed butter and shortening and then work between fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Pour in ice-cold buttermilk and then work it to form a dough. Shape the dough into a disc and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for 2 to 24 hours.
4. When dough is set, roll it out to ¼ inch thick and place it into a pie pan. Remove excess dough.
5. Use your fingers to make a fluted pie crust (PICTURE at 7:18). Prick the bottom and edges of crust with a fork.
6. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over the pie crust and then fill with uncooked beans. Wrap the beans and then egg wash edges of crust (PICTURE at 7:29).
7. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, take the beans out and bake for another 20 minutes.
8. Once baked through, brush entire crust with egg wash and bake for an another 3 minutes.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, salt, and cornstarch. Add yolks and ½ cup of milk and whisk until well combined.
2. In a sauce pan, combine 2 1/2 cups of milk and the seeds and pod of a vanilla bean. Whisk over medium heat util scalding.
3. Slowly pour heated milk onto the egg mixture while continuously whisking and then remove the vanilla pods.
4. Pour the mixture back into the sauce pan and whisk over medium heat until it thickens, about 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the mixture into the bowl. Add butter and whisk until shiny and smooth.
6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, pressing it to touch the pastry cream. Cool for 30 minutes.
7. Cut bananas at an angle to create thin coins. Line the bananas across the bottom of the crust and then pour in the pastry cream.
8. Create an American flag design with blackberries and raspberries and whipped cream (PICTURE at 11:30).

4th of July Cones

1. Place candy melts in a medium bowl and melt in microwave.
2. Coat the rim of a sugar cone in the chocolate melt.
3. While the chocolate is still wet, coat the rim in sprinkles.

Rice Krispy Fuit Kabob

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan on low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.
2. Combine marshmallow mix with cereal and carefully fold together until well combined.
3. Place mix on greased parchment lined sheet tray and allow to set.
4. Once set, use a cookie cutter to cut out stars.
5. Cut off hats of strawberries and insert into lollipop stick. Stack 2 blueberries and top with a puffed rice cereal star.
6. TaDa! These DIY 4th of July Treats are a dazzling display for Independence Day!