A couple of summers during my childhood, I flew to Arizona with my mom and brother. After a few days of science experiments and meetings in Phoenix, Mom drove us to the southern part of the state to spend the 4th of July with her parents.
As part of the holiday festivities, we sat on the back patio facing the left side of their property after the sun went down. With the flat desert landscape, we could easily see the fireworks show hosted at the local high school in their neighborhood, the colorful lights bursting and shimmering well above the cacti and mesquite trees in the black sky.
After dinner but before the fireworks, we always climbed into the car and headed to the Dairy Queen less than a mile away from my grandparents’ house. We joined the line of people waiting to order ice cream, and as we inched forward, we debated which treats to buy.
Although we spotted plenty of different options on the menu boards, we usually picked something simple and classic: a vanilla ice cream cone dipped in chocolate, a hot fudge sundae (with no nuts!), or a dilly bar (a round disc of vanilla ice cream on a stick and dipped in chocolate too!). We knew better than to ask for one of Dairy Queen’s iconic blizzards… Mom always told us those were much too big for us!
As we clambered back into the car, the challenge began… Could we make it to the house before the fireworks show started and without our ice cream treats melting? Or would we miss the first few minutes… And have to start licking at the stray drops that slowly trickled down the sides so we wouldn’t make a mess in the sedan?
Even though we turned on the air conditioning as high as it would go, we usually still ended up doing the latter… And by the time we sat down on the back patio, everyone’s desserts were missing a few bites!
In hindsight, a sweet and festive 4th of July treat like these Healthy White Chocolate Red Velvet Cookies might’ve been a slightly better option… We wouldn’t have to wait in line at the ice cream parlor and nearly miss the start of the fireworks show, and these definitely wouldn’t melt like our Dairy Queen desserts!
These healthy white chocolate red velvet cookies are supremely soft and chewy, and they’re really easy to make. You just need two bowls and a fork — no mixer required! They also have no eggs, butter, or refined flour (with an entirely dairy-free option too!) and just 92 calories!
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