Fruit Pizza with Cream Cheese

Author: JACLYN for cookingclassy.com

In this fruit pizza recipe you get a soft and tender sugar cookie base that’s covered with a rich cream cheese topping, and layered with a generous amount of vibrantly flavored fresh fruit.

Then it’s finished with a sweet apricot jam which gives the pizza the perfect finishing sheen.

Simply put it’s a staple summer recipe! I love to make it at least once every summer and top it with a colorful variety of seasonal fruit.

You just can’t go wrong with a cookie topped with a sweet and tangy frosting, lots of tasty fruit and a simple fruit pizza glaze.

And the possibilities of how it can be decorated with creative patterns are endless. Such a fun dessert that everyone will love!

Ingredients You’ll Need for Fruit Pizza

• Flour: I like to use unbleached all-purpose flour it has a better flavor.
• Baking soda and baking powder: These help the cookie crust rise.
• Salt: Added to keep the crust from tasting flat.
• Butter: Unsalted butter is recommended but if you only have salted then just omit the salt in the recipe.
• Granulated sugar: This is added to both the crust and the frosting.
• Egg: This binds the dough ingredients and helps give the crust a nice texture.
• Cream Cheese: The main ingredient to the frosting. The rich tanginess pairs perfectly with the cookie crust and sweet fruit.
• Vanilla extract: Adds a little extra flavor to the crust and frosting.
• Fresh fruit: Don’t use frozen fruit, stick with fresh for best texture and flavor.
• Apricot preserves: This adds a nice sheen to the fruit but you could skip it if you’d prefer. Another option would be just to brush with honey (mixed with a little water if needed to thin).

Can I use a store-bought sugar cookie dough?

Yes. Another option for the easiest recipe is to use a tube of store-bought sugar cookie dough (such as Pillsbury) instead of making the crust from scratch. Directions are noted in the recipe.

For the cream cheese frosting and toppings:

1. Blend icing ingredients in a mixing bowl: In a mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), whip cream cheese, 6 Tbsp granulated sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla until light and fluffy.
2. Top and decorate fruit pizza: Spread frosting over crust and top with fruit.
3. Brush with glaze: In a very small mixing bowl whisk together preserves and water. Brush mixture over fruit.

Best Fruits to Use

There are a lot of options here but these are my favorites:

• blueberries
• kiwis
• grapes
• mangoes or peaches
• mandarin oranges (bottled are fine if you drain well)
• pineapple (I used that to cut a star shape as well)
• raspberries
• strawberries

Fruit Pizza

You get a soft and tender sugar cookie base that’s covered with a rich cream cheese frosting, then that is layered with a generous amount of vibrantly flavored fresh fruit, and lastly it’s finished with a sweet apricot jam which gives it the perfect finishing sheen. Servings: 10 servings Prep Time 5 minutes Cook Time 14 minutes Resting time 2 hours Total Time 19 minutes

Ingredients

Cookie Dough

• 1 2/3 cups (236g) all-purpose flour, preferably unbleached (scoop and level to measure)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
• 12 Tbsp (170g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Topping

• 1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, nearly room temperature
• 6 Tbsp (38g) granulated sugar (or a little more to taste)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Fruit Layer

• 5 cups (approx.) assorted fresh fruit*
• 1/4 cup apricot preserves, pressed through a sieve to remove lumps
• 1 Tbsp water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a rimmed 12-inch pizza pan (without holes), line with a round of parchment paper and butter parchment paper.
2. For the cookie dough crust: In a medium mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer cream together 3/4 cup granulated sugar and butter until well combined. Scrape down bowl.
4. Mix in egg, then blend in 2 tsp vanilla extract. Scrape down bowl.
5. Add flour mixture then blend just until combined.
6. Drop batter onto prepared pizza pan, then spread into an even layer with hands coated in non-stick cooking spray.
7. Bake in preheated oven about 11 – 13 minutes until just baked through.
8. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
9. For the cream cheese topping: In a mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), whip cream cheese, 6 Tbsp granulated sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla until light and fluffy.
10. Spread topping over cooled crust.
11. For the fruit layer: Decorate pizza with fruit as desired.
12. In a very small mixing bowl whisk together preserves and water. Brush mixture over fruit.
13. Serve within a few hours of preparing for best results. Store in refrigerator.

Recipe Notes

*I like to use fresh fruit such as strawberries, kiwis, raspberries, blueberries, pineapple, grapes, mango, peaches or mandarine oranges). Avoid fruit that will brown quickly such as bananas or apples.

Store-Bought Sugar Cookie Dough Method

• Use 1 (16.5 oz) pkg. refrigerated sugar cookie dough.
• Keep all toppings the same.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a rimmed 12-inch pizza pan, line with a round of parchment paper and butter parchment paper (or alternately line with foil and spray foil with non-stick cooking spray).
2. Crumble cookie dough over prepared pizza pan and spread into an even layer to completely cover bottom of pan. Bake 13 – 14 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

Tips for the Best Fruit Pizza

• If you have a kitchen scale use that to measure ingredients for the most consistent results.
• If you find the dough is a little to sticky to work with you can chill it for 30 minutes before spreading into pan (then increase bake time by a few minutes).
• Don’t skip greasing hands, it will make the dough more manageable to spread into pan.
• Let crust cool completely or the icing will just melt.
• Use bright sweet fruits for best flavor, also choose those with rich colors to create pretty patterns.
• Source: https://www.cookingclassy.com/fruit-pizza/