Dessert connoisseurs and junk food lovers will find plenty of reasons to indulge in July.
In July, there are 27 national days celebrating sweets - including various fruits, ice creams, cookies, cakes, candies, and drinks. In addition, July is when we celebrate National Blueberry Month, Ice Cream Month, and Watermelon Month. That's a lot of sweet treats.
If July is the sweetest month, June is the runner-up with 22 days. And October is the loser with only seven days. National Months were excluded from the totals.
The days are grouped below based on the type of sweet treat. Whether you prefer fruit, chocolate, baked goods, or candy, there is likely a day for everyone.
Ice Cream
July 1 - National Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day
July 7 - National Strawberry Sundae Day
July 8 - National Ice Cream Sundae Day
July 16 - National Ice Cream Day
July 17 - National Peach Ice Cream Day
July 25 - National Hot Fudge Sundae Day
July 26 - National Coffee Milkshake Day
Start the month with an unusual ice cream flavor. Make your own or find a local ice cream shop serving interesting soft-serve flavors on the first.
Milkshakes are traditionally made with ice cream. The origin of the National Coffee Milkshake is unknown. However, the day is included on many national day lists. For best results, make your coffee milkshake with iced coffee.
Baked Goods
July 1 - National Gingersnap Day
July 5 - National Apple Turnover Day
July 5 - National Graham Crackers Day
July 9 - National Sugar Cookie Day
July 11 - National Blueberry Muffin Day
July 30 - National Cheesecake Day
Various baked goods have dedicated national holidays in July. On the 5th, you can even double up with apple turnovers and graham crackers.
Cheesecake is a controversial dessert. Is it cake? Is it a pie? Is it a tart? Despite having cake in the name and looking like a pie, the general consensus is that cheesecake is a tart. However, some refer to it as custard pie or flan.
Chocolate
July 3 - National Chocolate Wafer Day
July 8 - National Chocolate with Almonds Day
July 23 - Peanut Butter and Chocolate Day
July 28 - National Milk Chocolate Day
According to Candy History, the first chocolate bars were made in England in 1847. Before the invention of chocolate bars, chocolate was enjoyed as a drink for hundreds of years.
Today, chocolate is enjoyed in many forms. In addition to chocolate bars, chocolate is a flavor for cookies, ice cream, wafers, drinks, a coating for nuts, and more.
Have fun at the office by treating your workplace on one of these chocolate-themed days. Your coworkers will likely thank you for the chocolate!
Fruits
July 8 - National Blueberry Day
July 16 - National Cherry Day
July 22 - Mango Day
On these fruit days, enjoy the fruit in its natural form, dried, or as part of a delicious dessert.
Blueberries, sometimes referred to as a superfood, are one of the healthiest fruits when eaten raw. The Cleveland Clinic reports that blueberries are rich in antioxidants and contain vitamins and minerals. Also, these little berries can potentially help manage cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure.
Cakes
July 21 - National Lamington Day
July 31 - National Raspberry Cake Day
Lamington, an Australian dessert, are sponge cake pieces dipped into chocolate and then rolled in shredded coconut. In 2006, the Australian government declared July 21st National Lamington Day.
If you've never had a lamington before, put your baking skills to the test and try a recipe this year on National Lamington Day. Your family or friends may be thankful for the cake treat.
Also, there are many variations of raspberry cake. In some recipes, raspberries are mixed into the cake. And in other recipes, the raspberries are part of the filling in between cake layers.
Candies
July 15 - National Gummi Worm Day
July 18 - National Sour Candy Day
July 20 - National Lollipop Day
July 22 - National Penuche Fudge Day
July 31 - National Jump for Jelly Beans Day
In 1976, Jelly Belly released their first eight jelly bean flavors: Root Beer, Green Apple, Licorice, Cream Soda, Lemon, Tangerine, Very Cherry, and Grape. Currently, Jelly Belly offers more than 100 flavors.
Store-bought candy is a quick and easy treat. For something different, you may want to try Penuche fudge. Penuche fudge contains no chocolate. Its unique taste comes from vanilla flavoring and brown sugar but satisfies your fudgie fix.
Choose One Day or Many Days
Have fun celebrating any or all of these national days in July. Although with 27 sweet treat days, participating in them all could feel like a summer overindulgence.
One fun idea is to include the sweet treat of the day as a dessert at a summer dinner party or another event when it falls on one of these national days. Or you could plan a gathering based on your favorite national sweet food day in July. Your guests may thank you for the dinner and the fun dessert twist.
The abundance of National Sweet Food Days makes July an easy month to celebrate for everyone.
This article was produced by Media Decision and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.