Enjoy the Sweet Taste of Spring with 8 Berry Desserts

There’s a lot to celebrate in the spring - warmer temperatures, flowers blooming, springtime holidays and last, but definitely not least, berry season! Strawberries are first to make an appearance on farms and in gardens, followed by blueberries, then blackberries and raspberries. Which of these juicy berries do you and your family look forward to the most? 

No matter which ones are your favorites, we have some ideas for new ways to enjoy them - in the form of deliciously sweet berry desserts. From indulgent dips and bite-sized treats to playful takes on classic sweets, we hope the eight dessert recipes below give you even more reason to get excited about berry season!

Berry Desserts with Strawberries

Strawberries are sweet on their own, but they also add a burst of freshness when incorporated into indulgent dishes. But, when you need to remove the leafy green tops for your berry dessert, it can take a bit of time and waste some of the tasty fruit. To avoid that, we have a handy tip! Use a melon baller or small spoon to quickly and easily remove the leafy top and pale flesh (also known as the hull). 

Now, put this tip to good use and try one of these three berry desserts!

Strawberry Mousse

This quick and easy dessert recipe is creamy, fresh and loaded with sweet strawberry flavor. Another sweet thing about it besides the taste is that it can be ready in just ten minutes. So, you can satisfy your sweet tooth in hardly any time at all!

Additionally, if you want to make this recipe and enjoy it a little bit at a time throughout the week, feel free to store this Strawberry Mousse in single-portion containers in the refrigerator. That makes it easy for you and your loved ones to grab one serving, top it with some extra whipped cream and enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Dip with Strawberries

Our second berry dessert idea is a unique way to enjoy the beloved flavor of cheesecake. Instead of a slice, this recipe is a sweet dip that’s perfect for dunking fresh strawberries into, as well as graham crackers, pretzels, animal crackers and apple slices.  

To make it, you’ll only need six ingredients, plus whichever items you choose for dipping, as well as 10 minutes to spare. That’s right! That’s all the time you need to whip up this Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Dip recipe. And when it comes to the handful of items in this dessert dip, here’s what you may need to add to your shopping list for your next trip to Food Lion:

• Unsalted butter
• Cream cheese
• Powdered sugar
• Orange
• Vanilla extract
• Mini chocolate chips

Before we move onto our next berry dessert, here’s a quick tip! Feel free to substitute lemon or lime zest instead of orange in your batch of cheesecake dip for a different citrus flavor.

Strawberry Cheesecake Cookie Cups

Since cheesecake and strawberries go so well together, we wanted to give you one more dessert idea with strawberries to enjoy with your family. These Strawberry Cheesecake Cookie Cups bring two classic desserts together with cookie crusts and fresh strawberry cheesecake filling. Made in mini muffin tins, this confection is bite-sized, sweet, creamy and buttery, a flavor combination that’s sure to put a smile on everyone’s faces when they take a bite.

And besides being delicious, there’s one more thing that makes this berry dessert even sweeter. You can make them the night before! That way, all you need to do before it’s time to dig in is add the mint garnish.

Want to give these bite-sized treats a try? View the full recipe here!

Berry Desserts with Blueberries

You now have a little inspiration for using fresh strawberries in desserts, so let’s move onto another popular berry - blueberries! But, we have a quick tip before we take a look at two berry desserts that feature blueberries. If you plan to do your shopping a day or even a few days ahead of time, hold off on rinsing your berries until right before using them. That’ll keep them looking and tasting fresh!

Ginger Citrus Blueberry Fruit Tart

A classic French dessert, fruit tarts are a fantastic way to enjoy seasonal fruits, including fresh blueberries. This specific fruit tart recipe also features crystallized ginger, adding candied sweetness and ever-so-slight spiciness. Besides this flavor, you can also expect to enjoy creamy yogurt with honey, a buttery graham cracker crust and juicy sweetness from the berries in this Ginger Citrus Blueberry Fruit Tart.

Want to incorporate another berry in this berry dessert? Add fresh raspberries and make a red, white and blue fruit tart, perfect for celebrating Memorial Day or the Fourth of July!

Blueberry Funnel Cakes

Bring a popular fair food into your home with this easy funnel cake recipe featuring juicy blueberries! Before you start cooking, you’ll need to grab a mixing bowl to prepare your batter, a deep skillet for frying, a funnel to dispense the funnel cake batter into the oil and a small bowl to mix up your orange zest icing.

Each funnel cake will cook for several minutes on each side until golden brown and crispy. Then, set them aside on a paper towel-lined platter until the excess oil has drained. At that point, you can pipe or spread your icing and top your funnel cakes with blueberries and powdered sugar. That’s all there is to it!

Now, head on over to our recipe portal to snag the full recipe for these Blueberry Funnel Cakes!

Berry Desserts with Multiple Berries

While you’re celebrating berry season, why choose to enjoy just one variety? You certainly don’t have to! In fact, the following three berry desserts include multiple berries.

No-Bake Chocolate Berry Pie

Do you and your family love chocolate? If that’s the case, then this creamy chocolate pie with chocolate cookie crust may be something you want to try. Plus, it’s topped with strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, three different types of berries that make this pie perfect for springtime.

When you’re ready to enjoy this berry dessert, here’s a quick tip before getting started with the prepping. Make sure to plan ahead because this No-Bake Chocolate and Berry Pie needs to set for at least four hours before it’s ready for slicing.

Berry Ice Cream Cake

This second berry dessert featuring a few types of berries is easy to make, sweet, creamy and oh-so refreshing! Made with creme-filled sandwich cookies, ice cream, sherbet, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries whipped topping and butter, this ice cream cake recipe is budget-friendly too. Talk about an extra sweet treat, right?

Similar to the No-Bake Chocolate and Berry Pie, you’ll need to allow for a little setting-up time before you can cut a piece to enjoy. In fact, we recommend for you to store the Berry Ice Cream Cake in the freezer for six hours or even overnight. Then, remove it 20 minutes before serving.

But, there’s a little more to prepping your frozen berry dessert. Find all of the step-by-step directions here!

Berry Shortcake Rice Krispies Treats

Our last berry dessert combines the fresh taste of strawberries and blueberries and whipped cream with one of our favorite childhood indulgent snacks - Rice Krispies Treats. And besides bringing back fond, sweet memories of times you enjoyed these marshmallow cereal bars in the past, it’s also an excellent opportunity to get the kiddos involved and make them together in honor of berry season!

When making these Berry Shortcake Rice Krispies Treats and you get to the step of making homemade whipped cream topping with heavy cream, vanilla and honey, there is a way to simplify this. Feel free to skip this step and use packaged whipped topping instead. You could even mix in a bit of vanilla extract for extra flavor before spreading it over the top of your dessert bars.

Are you excited about celebrating the arrival of spring and berry season? With these eight berry desserts, we hope we’ve given you even more reason to celebrate with recipe ideas your family will love. Now, you just have to choose which one (or ones) you’re going to make and head over to your local Food Lion to get the ingredients you need at low prices. And keep in mind that we stock a great selection of fresh berries year-round (and frozen, too)! So, you don’t have to wait for springtime to make these desserts.

We hope you and your family have an extra sweet spring season!