Fruit Pizza with Cream Cheese

This yummy fruit pizza with cream cheese is easy to make and fun for kids to help decorate! The tangy cream cheese frosting on a sugar cookie crust compliments the fresh fruit toppings perfectly.

This fruit pizza with cream cheese is perfect to serve at parties and celebrations. It looks super fancy thanks to the gorgeous fresh fruit, but doesn’t take much time at all to assemble. I love making this dessert for June Pride Month with rainbow fruits. This is also an excellent dessert for the 4th of July holiday by adding red and blue fruits with a simple, yet stunning design.

On a related note, my dear friend Rose made the most delicious Christmas sugar cookies for me and my husband last year. We couldn’t get enough of them. They were cooked perfectly, but without any browning on the bottom or sides of the cookie. The cookies were deliciously moist, not hard at all, and stayed that way for days! I needed to know her secret and she surprised me by describing her air pan cookie sheets. Why are these pans so great?! The design circulates hot air between 2 layers of metal for even heating with less scorching. The textured bottom heats up quick while retaining moisture to prevent the top from overheating. The results speak for themselves! Now, my sugar cookies & sugar cookie crust never come out of the oven overdone or brown.

Baking the best fruit pizza crust

In order to make the best fruit pizza crust, using an air pan is key. You can use other sheet pans, but watch closely so the crust doesn’t overbake. My sugar cookie pizza crust recipe is so simple with only five ingredients: flour, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. If you’re looking for a gluten free version, substitute the all-purpose flour for 1:1 Gluten Free Flour.

In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-low speed for 1 minute (for cookies that hold their shape the best). Beat in egg and vanilla extract just until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour and beat just until combined. Do not overmix. Form dough into a ball, then flatten slightly to form a disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm enough to roll.

If you don’t want to use the dough right away, you can refrigerate it or for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to a month, then thaw it overnight in the fridge.

Take the dough out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes to soften slightly for easy rolling. On a lightly floured surface (or between 2 pieces of parchment paper), roll the dough to a ¼-inch thickness approximately 11-12 inches wide. Place the dough on an air pan cookie baking sheet for best results. At this point, if your circle isn’t looking perfect enough for you, you can place a large 11inch bowl or circular pan upside down onto the dough and use it as a large “cookie cutter” to create the perfect circle. Just peel away the edges on the outside.

Topping your fruit pizza with cream cheese

My cream cheese sauce involves only five ingredients as well: cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. The powdered sugar gives a nice sweetness and structure to the sauce, but it is almost too sweet. To counterbalance this, the lemon juice is key. This sauce is tangy and delicious.

In a food processor, mixer, or by hand, cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth and well combined. Add in the sugar and mix until well incorporated, about 1 minute. Stir in the vanilla extract and lemon juice until well combined. Spread the sauce over your pizza, leaving about 1-2cm unfrosted on the edges of the sugar cookie crust.

Arrange the fresh fruit according to size and color for best visual results. I like to start from the center and create concentric rows out from that, much like a target. Alternatively, I sometimes start on the outside of the circle and work my way in, depending on what fruits I have. Feel free to design a monochrome pizza, patriotic pizza with colors of your flag, rainbow pizza, or make your own fun design! Cut into triangle pizza slices and serve the same day for best results.

What fruits should I use?

Be sure to cut your fruits into bite-size pieces that are easy enough to cut into. Make sure your fruit is perfectly ripe for the best flavors. Below are some examples of my favorite fruits to use.

• Berries: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, & golden berries.
• Stone Fruits: cherries, peaches, nectarines, plums
• Grapes: variety of green, pink, & purple colors
• Tropical fruits: kiwi, starfruit, pineapple, mango, papaya, oranges, kumquats
• Bananas or apples, toss them in lemon juice before adding or they will brown quickly

More delicious summertime recipes

• Vanilla Ice Cream topped with Fresh Fruit: This is the easiest vanilla ice cream recipe you’ll ever make! It’s so incredibly rich, creamy and full of vanilla flavor. And the best part? It’s made without eggs or an ice cream maker — and only requires three ingredients.
• Strawberry Banana Popsicles: These creamy and naturally sweet strawberry banana popsicles make the perfect healthy treat for a summer day.
• Peaches and Cream Crumble Bars: With a creamy pie-like filling wrapped in a sweet, crumbly crust, these peach bars are juicy, crunchy, and comforting.
• Chia Seed Pudding: Chia pudding is the perfect breakfast or light dessert. The cold and creamy pudding serves as a yummy base to top with your favorite nuts & fruits! It can be vegan and is naturally gluten-free. 

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Fruit Pizza with Cream Cheese

The perfect sugar cookie dough pizza with cream cheese sauce topped with fresh fruit.

YIELD 1 11-inch round pizza

Ingredients

Sugar Cookie Pizza Crust

• 1 ½ cups (210g) all-purpose flour*
• ½ cup (1 sticks/114g) salted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Sauce

• 4 oz (113g) cream cheese slightly softened to room temperature
• 2 tablespoon butter, unsalted, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ tablespoon lemon juice, approx. a quarter of a lemon

Fruit Toppings

• 2-3 cups (300-400g) various fresh fruit, washed and sliced

Instructions

Make the sugar cookie pizza crust

1. In a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-low speed for 1 minute (for cookies that hold their shape the best). Beat in egg and vanilla extract just until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour and beat just until combined. Do not overmix.

2. Form dough into a ball, then flatten slightly to form a disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm enough to roll.

3. If you don’t want to use the dough right away, you can refrigerate it or for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to a month, then thaw it overnight in the fridge.

4. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes to soften slightly for easy rolling. On a lightly floured surface (or between 2 pieces of parchment paper), roll the dough to a ¼-inch thickness approximately 11-12 inches wide. Place the dough on an air pan cookie baking sheet for best results. At this point, if your circle isn't looking perfect enough for you, you can place a large 11inch bowl or circular pan upside down onto the dough and use it as a large "cookie cutter" to create the perfect circle. Just peel away the edges on the outside.

5. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Bake cookies for 13-15 minutes, or until center of the dough appears fully cooked or golden brown at the edges. Baking time will vary and may take longer depending on the size of the cookies. Allow pizza to cool on the pan for 15 minutes, then gently transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. In the meantime, assemble your cream cheese sauce.

Make the cream cheese sauce

1. In a food processor, mixer, or by hand, cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth and well combined. Add in the sugar and mix until well incorporated, about 1 minute. Stir in the vanilla extract and lemon juice until well combined.

2. Spread the sauce over your pizza, leaving about 1-2cm unfrosted on the edges of the sugar cookie crust.

Fruit Topping

1. Arrange the fresh fruit on a pizza according to size and color for best visual results. I like to start from the center and create concentric rows out from that, much like a target. Feel free to design a monochrome pizza, patriotic pizza, rainbow pizza, or make your own fun design!

2. Cut into triangle slices and serve the same day for best results.

Recipe Notes

*If you’re looking for a gluten free version, substitute the all-purpose flour for 1:1 Gluten Free Flour.

The fruit pizza is best eaten the same day it is assembled. To make a day ahead, bake the crust and make the cream cheese sauce and store the sauce an airtight container in the fridge. Assemble the pizza before serving guests. Guests can even add their own toppings!

Store fruit pizza in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days if you have any left over.