Colorful fruit pizza features a vibrant bounty of fruit atop a soft sugar cookie crust and thick, tangy cream cheese frosting. Choose your favorite fruits to customize this classic summertime dessert!
There’s just something so summery about a fruit pizza. Maybe it’s the bright, glossy colors… or the freshness of in-season fruits and berries… or the fact that it reminds me of a sunburst or a firework exploding in the sky. If you were to ask me to recommend a dessert to bring to a summertime BBQ, fruit pizza would immediately come to mind.
The combination of a soft, buttery sugar cookie crust with tangy-sweet cream cheese frosting and colorful fresh fruit is nostalgic AND irresistible!
Here’s Why You Need to Try This Fruit Pizza
- Completely from scratch, but easy!
- Tons of texture in each bite.
- Fun to make and decorate—a great one for kids to help.
- Endlessly customizable with various fruits + berries.
- Easy to slice and serve.
- It’s visually stunning without the need for any special decorating tools or skills.
- Slightly updated recipe is better than ever!
I originally published this recipe in 2014, but I’ve made some updates to the recipe, and want to share them with you. I also filmed a new video tutorial and you can find that in the recipe below.
This recipe was good before, but I knew it could be even better.
8 Ingredient Sugar Cookie Crust
No pizza dough or pie crust needed today! This fruit pizza’s sugar cookie crust is soft in the center with a slightly crisp edge. It’s like a thicker, larger version of classic sugar cookies. And it’s really easy.
You’ll use familiar sugar cookie ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, baking powder, and salt; plus, we’re adding cornstarch to make the cookie crust extra soft. This recipe used to call for baking soda in the cookie dough, but it really wasn’t necessary or useful, so we’re using just baking powder now. You can read about the differences on this Baking Powder vs Baking Soda page.
Success Tip: Chill the Dough for Just 20 Minutes
The easy dough comes together with a mixer. It’s quite sticky and soft because there’s so little flour, so chill it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before pressing onto your pan. We want the sugar cookie crust to spread some in the oven, but not so much that it escapes the pan! The crust holds its shape much better if the dough is slightly cold. Then use your fingers to press the dough onto the pizza pan, shaping it into a 9–10-inch circle. (A 12-inch pizza pan works perfectly. Just make sure you aren’t using a pizza crisper pan with the little holes/air vents in it.)
Sugar Cookie Crust FAQs
- Could I use another cookie dough for the crust? Yes! You could change things up and make a chocolate chip cookie pizza as an alternative to the sugar cookie crust. I think this would be delicious with frosting + strawberries or raspberries on top. Maybe a little drizzle of melted chocolate, too? Why not!
- Can I make this without a pizza pan? Yes, you can press this crust into a 9–10-inch circle or square on a regular baking sheet or press into a 9×13-inch baking pan. You can also double the recipe for a giant 12×17-inch fruit pizza. See recipe Note.
4 Ingredient Cream Cheese Frosting
We’re using a scaled-down version of this cream cheese frosting for the pizza “sauce.” It’s smooth, creamy, and spreads with ease. You need 4 ingredients including cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla extract. Use block-style cream cheese, not the cream cheese spread in a tub.
In the previous version of this recipe, the frosting was extremely sweet and yielded A LOT. I reduced the confectioners’ sugar from 2 cups down to 1 and 1/4 cups, and I also slightly reduced the butter. I kept the same amount of cream cheese and vanilla extract. The result is a less-cloyingly sweet frosting with just the right amount of tang to balance out the sweet crust and fruit. You could add a bit of lemon juice for a little extra zing!
My strawberry buttercream frosting would also be fantastic on top of this fruit pizza. A wonderful pop of color and flavor!
Best Fruits for Fruit Pizza
I especially like to use:
- apples, nectarines or peaches (brush with a little lemon juice to prevent from browning)
- grapes (2 colors to choose from!)
- kiwi
- plums
- cantaloupe
- mangoes
- oranges (or canned mandarin slices, drained)
- pineapple
- fresh berries like blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries
Fruits to avoid: I recommend steering clear of watermelon on fruit pizza because the water content can make the pizza soggy. Banana slices are fine to use, but they brown quickly, so brush them with a little lemon juice and serve the fruit pizza right away.
Whatever fruit you use, make sure to cut it into thin, bite-size pieces. When you slice the pizza, smaller pieces of fruit hold up better and are easier to serve (and eat). Small fruits like blueberries and raspberries are great choices because you don’t have to slice or peel them. It’s a prep-work shortcut you can always appreciate in recipes like blueberry pie.
Now Let’s Decorate!
The crust + frosting is your blank canvas, and now you get to make edible artwork! Decorate your fruit pizza in colorful patterns, get creative with elaborate designs, or simply just pile the fruit on top. You can really let your—or your child’s—creativity shine.
I usually make rings with the fruits, so that when the pizza is cut, each slice contains some of each fruit. If you’re in the USA, you could use strawberries and blueberries on top of the white frosting for festive holidays like Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day.
Here are a few more fun fruit pizza design ideas:
- Make a rainbow pizza with a stripe of each color made up of 7 different fruits. You could even tint the frosting blue with gel food coloring, and add fluffy marshmallow clouds!
- Make a sunburst design using all yellow and orange fruits.
- Create a funny face or a favorite animal—a colorful butterfly would be fun to design!
- Use small cookie cutters to cut shapes out of some of the larger, sturdier fruits, like apples, cantaloupe, papaya, or kiwi. Or simply slice up some star fruit—nature’s done the shaping for you!
More Favorite Summer Desserts
- Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
- No-Bake Cheesecake (and mini no-bake cheesecakes)
- Ice Cream Cake
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie
- Berry Cobbler
- Strawberry Shortcake Cake
See Your Fruit Pizzas!
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge!
Fruit Pizza
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: serves 10-12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Colorful fruit pizza features a vibrant bounty of fruit atop a soft sugar cookie crust and thick, tangy cream cheese frosting. Choose your favorite fruits to customize this classic summertime dessert!
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Crust
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping
- 8 oz (224g) full-fat block-style cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons (45g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 1/4 cups (150g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups (about 400g) assorted sliced fresh fruit
Instructions
- Make the crust: Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until combined and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. Once completely combined, cover the dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes and up to 1 day. (Let dough sit out at room temperature for 20-30 minutes if chilling longer than a couple hours because the dough will be quite stiff and flattening onto pan will be difficult.)
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 12-inch pizza pan with nonstick spray (even if it’s a nonstick pan). Remove chilled cookie dough from the refrigerator and press onto the pizza pan in a 9–10-inch circle, about 1/3-inch thick. Bake for 17–19 minutes or until the edges are very lightly browned. Avoid over-baking. Cool crust completely before decorating.
- Make the frosting: In a medium bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute or until creamy and combined. Yields 1 and 1/2 cups (about 390g) frosting. Spread a thick layer over the cooled sugar cookie crust. Decorate with fruit.
- Cut into slices and serve. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Prepare the cookie crust and frosting 1 day in advance—cover each tightly and keep the cookie at room temperature and the frosting in the refrigerator. Frost and assemble the day of serving.
- Pizza Pan: Make sure you aren’t using a pizza crisper pan with the little holes/air vents in it. The pizza pan I use is this nonstick pizza pan.
- Can I make this without a pizza pan? Yes, you can press this crust into a 9–10-inch circle or square on a regular baking sheet or press into a very thin crust in a 9×13-inch baking pan. Bake time is about the same, usually a minute or two less if using a 9×13-inch pan. No need to chill the cookie dough if using a 9×13-inch pan.
- Can I make this in a half sheet/jelly roll pan? Yes, but double the crust, frosting, and fruit. Press crust into a greased 12×17-inch pan. About the same bake time. No need to chill the cookie dough if doubling and pressing into a 12×17-inch pan.
- Cornstarch: You can skip the cornstarch if you don’t have any. No need to replace with anything.
- Adding Flavor to Frosting: Feel free to add 2–3 teaspoons of fresh lemon or lime juice, plus the zest of either fruit. Alternatively, you could add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract.
- Updated in 2022: The crust used to call for 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda (in addition to the baking powder in the recipe), but it wasn’t necessary so we no longer use it. Additionally, the frosting used to be extremely sweet and yielded a lot. I reduced the confectioners’ sugar down from 2 cups (240g) to 1 and 1/4 cups (150g). I also reduced the butter from 4 Tablespoons down to 3. The recipe above reflects these changes.
Keywords: fruit pizza
I made this and it was fantastic! I used a pampered chef small baking sheet since we don’t have a pizza pan. Best sugar cookie recipe I’ve ever worked with. Definitely going into “the book.”
★★★★★
Hi, would you recommend pizza pan with holes or without?
Without is best for this recipe!
Hi! What are your thoughts on using cookie cutters on the dough prior to baking? Thanks 🙂
Hi Alexandria, You could likely make simple shapes (i.e. circles for mini fruit pizzas!) but the dough will likely spread too much to hold an intricate shape. Let us know if you give it a try!
I told my kids that we were having fruit pizza for dessert. My 10yo son asked, skeptically, what kind of tomato sauce was on it.
It turned out great!
★★★★★
Love this ‘frosting’! It’s a little something special. Makes the whole pizza extra good. Only recipe I’ll use now.
★★★★★
Whenever I make this recipe, there are NO leftovers! Everyone raves about it! In my oven, I only bake the crust for 15 minutes. I use a 12 inch round pizza pan. I also get an empty, large pizza box from our local pizza joint, if I’m bringing it to a party. This is now my favorite thing to bring to any get together!
★★★★★
What a fun idea, April! We’re so glad this fruit pizza is a hit for you.
This is my go-to fruit pizza recipe that is ALWAYS a huge hit!
★★★★★
Hi Sally,
I am going to make this fruit pizza recipe next weekend for Memorial Day. There will be at least ten people there and I was curious to know how many people the traditional recipe feeds? I have made other fruit pizzas before but this recipe sounds absolutely a must make because the cream cheese frosting recipe sounds much more buttery then others I have used in the past!
Hi Erica, This recipe serves 10-12 (depending on the size of your slices!). Enjoy!
Hi Sally, I’m wondering if I can make this in a tart pan for a prettier presentation than my pizza pan??? Thanks, Deb
Hi Deborah, I don’t see why not! You may also be interested in this fresh fruit tart recipe. Happy baking 🙂
Hi Sally! This looks absolutely delicious and oh so pretty! I’m wondering if this recipe could be made into mini fruit pizzas?? I’m going to a summer barbecue and figured that’d be easiest for such a crowd. Thoughts??
Yes, definitely!
I love this fruit pizza recipe. Sometimes in my area I can’t get very good fruit, especially this time of year. I was wondering if frozen fruit would work or if it would get to soggy.
Hi Debbie, frozen fruit would likely get pretty soggy and the colors would bleed onto the top of the pizza. You could try thawing the frozen fruit first and then draining the excess liquid. If serving shortly after that, it shouldn’t be much of a problem!
Hi Sally, I made this fruit pizza, followed the recipe to the T and for some reason my cookie came out hard, over browned, I cooked it for 16 min. at 350 degrees. What did I do wrong??? The cream cheese frosting was the absolute best!!
★★★★★
Hi Mary, I’m concerned it would nearly burn after only 16 minutes. Are you baking in a fan-forced oven (convection) or is the rack positioned close to the top of oven? If using a fan-forced oven, it’s always best practice to lower the oven temperature by 25 degrees F. Bake this on the center rack.
Hey Sally,
This looks wonderful and I’d love to make it! However, I’m trying to watch my fat intake, so I was wondering what you would suggest as a substitution for full-fat cream cheese. I know another person mention using 1/3 fat or fat-free and you said that should be fine, but I was wondering if you think there’s something else that would work better? I’m also concerned with the taste not coming out as good if I use fat-free, but I suppose that’s just a sacrifice you have to make when you cut back!
Thanks in advance!
Klaire
Hi Klaire, you could certainly use a lower fat cream cheese but you’re exactly right- the taste won’t be the same. We haven’t tested any other alternatives so if you do, let us know how it goes. Happy baking!
This was so delicious! And beautiful! My kids loved decorating it. I used a cookie sheet and baked about 17 minutes, the cookie was chewy and soft, perfect thickness.
★★★★★
Love this recipe!! I’ve made the full size one many many times! I recently just made mini ones for a friends bridal shower! They turned out so well, I just baked them a little less time so they wouldn’t burn but they turned out beautiful!!
★★★★★
I made this recipe into a rectangle last year and decorated it like an American flag for 4th of July. It was great! This year I think I’m going to try cutting the dough into small rectangle cookies and doing mini flags instead. I’m hoping it’s going to work out??
Will definitely work. Cool the sugar cookie crust completely before cutting and decorating.
This sounds great. What fruits would you recommend for fall/winter?
Pears, plums, figs, apples, citrus, yum!
I just made this for my daughters 15 th birthday.
Thanks for sharing!
Perfect recipe.
Delicious!!!
Oh, the icing is amazing enough just to have alongside chopped fruit.
I’ll be making this again.
Hi, I was wondering, can I use a cupcake pan and turn it into cup sizes instead of using the pizza pan? And what would the cook time be if the cupcake pan is what I’m using. And how thin do I need to spread the dough onto the cupcake pan?!
Hi Nina, I’ve never tried it that way so I’m unsure of the amount of time and cookie dough. Though I’d say maybe fill each 1/2 way with cookie dough so they are a little thicker and don’t become too crispy.
made this several times and it is an all time favorite!!! Absolutely the best dessert for company!!!
I made this as a reward with the kids in my class. We used flavored cream cheese as it was on sale, and a bag of mixed frozen fruit (thawed). This allowed me to have the items needed on hand for a reward the next day after they earned it without worrying that I was forgetting an ingredient. This was so good we made it a second time! Thank you.
Great recipe! Made it for the 4th with strawberries and blueberries and came out perfect! Will definitely be making again. Thanks! 🙂
Not only was this recipe AMAZING, she did an amazing job explaining exactly what needed to be done. I’ll be following her blog and making more of her recipes in the future!
Hey Sally! Love all your recipes! avid recipe follower/baker! Quick question– I am wanting to make this fruit pizza for the 4th of July with blue berries & strawberries! But I am wanting to bake it on a large rectangular baking sheet– would you suggest doubling the recipe? as well as the frosting? and just increase the bake time a tad? Thanks so much!
You can double this crust for a larger rectangle sheet– the bake time will be just a tad longer. Enjoy!
Thank you for the delicious recipe! I was trying to decide what to bring for my work potluck party, and I thought fruit pizza sounded tasty. I haven’t liked any sugar cookie recipe that I’ve made before, but I didn’t want to use a packaged dough. Your recipe saved me! It was absolutely delicious! Thank you for posting it and sharing with us.
I made this tart for Easter and it was DELICIOUS! Everyone enjoyed it and sadly, there were no leftovers. The sugar cookie crust is AMAZING, and I love making a cute design out of the fruit! Thanks so much Sally for the delicious recipe. I’ll definitely be making this again!
DELICIOUS! I loved the cookie base and frosting. Thanks Sally!
I doubled the recipe and used two 9×13 pans. It was perfect. The area of a 12 inch pizza pan and 9×13 pan are very similar. I did feel like there was a lot of frosting though and didn’t use all of it.
Hi Sally!
Could these be made into mini fruit pizzas? Sort of like your mini pecan pie tarts but mini fruit tartlets with this sugar cookie base… perhaps using a mini muffin pan? How would I do that?
I’m sure that could work – it will make a ton of them, though. Let me know if you try it.
I made this today and it was absolutely delicious!
I used only 3/4 of the dough for the crust and made a batch of cookies out of the rest because I made it for just my parents and me 😀 we all ate two huge slices so theres only one left. I need to make it again really really soon!
Btw I used reduced fat cream cheese (but not low fat) and the frosting was a little thin but I think that was just because i used too much cream. It tasted so delicious I could have eaten it right out of the bowl ;D
This recipe is SO. GOOD. I converted it to gluten-free and vegan and made it yesterday for a dinner with some family friends, and everyone *loved* it. Great job, Sally. This recipe is gold. 🙂