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Fruit Pizza is the ultimate summer dessert: a soft sugar cookie crust topped with fluffy cream cheese frosting, colorful fresh fruit, and a shiny apricot glaze. This easy fruit pizza recipe is beautiful enough for holidays and potlucks, but simple enough to make with basic baking staples and whatever fruit you love most.
Table of Contents
Kellie’s Note
My Home Slice
Fruit Pizza is a summertime staple I’ve been making for decades. It’s one of those throwback desserts I never tire of. I love to mix up the toppings every time I make it to keep guests on their toes but it all starts with my homemade Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie recipe.
It’s sweet, creamy, fresh, and completely customizable. Use strawberries and blueberries for a patriotic fruit pizza, make a rainbow design for parties, or pile on your favorite berries, kiwi, pineapple, grapes, and mandarin oranges for a showstopping dessert pizza everyone will love.
Truly, this is the summer dessert to bring to your next potluck, backyard barbecue, pool party, you name it. It’s as tasty as it is gorgeous!
What Is Fruit Pizza?
Fruit pizza is a dessert pizza made with a soft sugar cookie crust, a creamy frosting “sauce,” and fresh fruit arranged on top like pizza toppings. Instead of savory pizza dough, cheese, and sauce, this sweet version uses buttery cookie dough, cream cheese frosting, colorful fruit, and a glossy fruit glaze.
It’s a fun dessert for summer parties, cookouts, birthdays, Easter, Memorial Day, the 4th of July, Labor Day, baby showers, and brunch.
Why You’ll Love This Fruit Pizza Recipe
- Party-friendly: This fruit pizza slices easily and always looks impressive on a dessert table.
- Soft sugar cookie crust: Buttery, tender, and sturdy enough to hold the frosting and fruit.
- Fluffy cream cheese frosting: Sweet, creamy, tangy, and easy to spread.
- Fresh fruit topping: Use your favorite berries, kiwi, pineapple, grapes, mango, peaches, or mandarin oranges.
- Shiny apricot glaze: A quick brush of warm apricot jelly gives the fruit a glossy bakery-style finish.
- Easy to customize: Make it patriotic, rainbow-colored, holiday-themed, or simple and rustic.
Ingredients for Fruit Pizza
- Sugar cookie crust: All-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, egg, milk, and vanilla create a soft, tender cookie base.
- Butter: Use softened butter so it creams smoothly with the sugar.
- Cornstarch: Helps keep the sugar cookie crust soft and tender.
- Cream cheese frosting: Marshmallow fluff, cream cheese, and vanilla make the frosting fluffy, sweet, and tangy.
- Cream cheese: Soften it before mixing so the frosting is smooth and lump-free.
- Fresh fruit: Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, kiwi, pineapple, grapes, mango, peaches, raspberries, and mandarin oranges all work well.
- Apricot jelly: Warmed apricot jelly creates a shiny glaze that makes the fruit look beautiful and adds a little extra sweetness.
- Optional garnish: Fresh mint makes the finished fruit pizza look extra pretty.
Best Fruit for Fruit Pizza
The best fruit for fruit pizza is ripe, colorful, and firm enough to hold its shape. Choose fruit that will not release too much juice onto the frosting.
Good options include:
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Blackberries
- Raspberries
- Kiwi
- Grapes
- Pineapple
- Mango
- Peaches
- Mandarin oranges
Avoid very watery fruit like watermelon because it can make the frosting runny and soften the cookie crust. Bananas can be used, but they brown quickly, so add them right before serving or brush them lightly with lemon juice.
If using canned fruit, drain it well and pat it dry with paper towels before adding it to the pizza.
How to Make Fruit Pizza
- Make the cookie dough. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg, milk, and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients. Mix in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt just until combined.
- Chill the dough. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes so it is easier to roll and shape.
- Bake the crust. Roll the dough into a 1/4-inch-thick circle on a parchment-lined baking sheet or pizza stone. Bake at 350°F for 20–25 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden and the center is set.
- Cool completely. Let the cookie crust cool fully before adding the frosting.
- Make the frosting. Beat the marshmallow fluff, softened cream cheese, and vanilla until smooth.
- Frost the crust. Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled cookie crust, then chill until firm.
- Add the fruit. Arrange the sliced fruit over the frosting in circles, rows, or any design you like.
- Glaze the fruit. Warm the apricot jelly just until loose enough to brush, then lightly brush it over the fruit.
- Chill and serve. Refrigerate until ready to slice and serve.
Kellie’s Tips for the Best Fruit Pizza
- Cool the crust completely. If the cookie crust is warm, the frosting will melt and slide.
- Use room-temperature cream cheese. Cold cream cheese can make the frosting lumpy.
- Pat the fruit dry. Extra moisture from washed or canned fruit can make the frosting watery.
- Slice fruit small. Bite-size pieces make the fruit pizza easier to cut, serve, and eat.
- Do not overbake the crust. The edges should be lightly golden, but the center should stay soft.
- Add fruit close to serving time. For the freshest texture, decorate the pizza the day you plan to serve it.
- Chill before slicing. Chilling helps the frosting firm up so you get cleaner slices.
Fruit Pizza Variations
- 4th of July Fruit Pizza: Use strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries for a red, white, and blue dessert.
- Rainbow Fruit Pizza: Arrange fruit in colorful rows or circles using strawberries, oranges, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries, and grapes.
- Mini Fruit Pizzas: Bake the dough as individual sugar cookies, then top each one with frosting and fruit.
- Store-Bought Shortcut: Use refrigerated sugar cookie dough if you need a faster version.
- Citrus Fruit Pizza: Add a little lemon zest to the cookie dough or frosting for a brighter flavor.
- Berry Fruit Pizza: Use only strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries for a simple berry-topped version.
- Different Glaze: Use apple jelly, peach jelly, or a thin drizzle of honey if you do not have apricot jelly.
Serving Ideas
Serve fruit pizza chilled and sliced like a dessert pizza. It’s perfect for summer cookouts, pool parties, birthday parties, Easter, Memorial Day, the 4th of July, Labor Day, baby showers, and brunch.
For the cleanest slices, chill the assembled pizza until the frosting is firm, then cut it with a sharp knife or pizza cutter.
Make Ahead, Storage, and Freezing
- To make ahead, bake the sugar cookie crust up to 1 day in advance and store it tightly covered at room temperature. The frosting can also be made 1 day ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- For the best texture, frost and decorate the fruit pizza the day you plan to serve it. If you want to prep the fruit ahead of time, slice it and store it in the refrigerator, then pat it dry before adding it to the pizza.
- Store leftover fruit pizza covered in the refrigerator for up to 2–3 days. The crust will soften as it sits, so this dessert is best enjoyed the day it is assembled.
- I do not recommend freezing assembled fruit pizza because the fruit and cream cheese frosting can become watery after thawing. Do not reheat fruit pizza; it is meant to be served chilled.
More Fruity Dessert Recipes
If you love this fruit pizza recipe, try these easy fruit-filled desserts next:
For more summer dessert ideas, follow us on Instagram and Facebook!
Fruit Pizza Recipe
Equipment
- 1 pizza stone or baking sheet
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Crust
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes and chilled
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces marshmallow fluff
- 8 ounce cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Fruit:
- 8-10 strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 4-5 kiwi fruit, peeled and sliced
- 1 cup diced pineapple
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup blackberries
- 1 cup grapes, cut in half
- Mandarin oranges, optional
- Mint, optional
Glaze:
- 1/2 cup apricot jelly
Instructions
Make the crust:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla until well combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt mixing until combined. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet or pizza stone with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
- Roll the dough out into a circle approximately 1/4 inch thick. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
For the cream cheese frosting:
- Beat the fluff, cream cheese and vanilla until smooth with a hand mixture.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled crust and chill until firm.
- Once the frosting is chilled, arrange the fruit on top.
- Heat the jelly in a small bowl until loose enough to brush onto the fruit.
- Lightly brush the fruit with the jelly and chill until ready to serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Yes. Store-bought refrigerated sugar cookie dough can be used as a shortcut. Press or roll it into an even circle and bake until lightly golden. Let it cool completely before adding the frosting.
Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, kiwi, grapes, pineapple, mango, peaches, and mandarin oranges all work well. Choose fruit that is ripe but firm enough to hold its shape.
Avoid very watery fruit like watermelon because it can make the frosting runny and the crust soggy. Bananas can be used, but they brown quickly, so add them right before serving or brush them lightly with lemon juice.
Cool the crust completely, pat the fruit dry, and add the fruit close to serving time. If using canned fruit, drain it well and blot it with paper towels before arranging it on the frosting.
just wanted to say thank you for some awesome recipes…i like variety and many of your recipes have been delightful:) thank you so very much..judie