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!
I originally published this recipe in 2014 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more helpful success tips. I also made a few improvements to the recipe, which are reflected in the printable recipe below.
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. Out of our entire list of desserts for a BBQ cookout and 4th of July desserts, fruit pizza is usually the first one I recommend.
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 dessert recipe, 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!
One reader, Sarah, commented: “I made a double batch for my niece’s graduation party. I’ve never had so many raves reviews for a dessert before! I did one with your frosting recipe here and one with your strawberry buttercream. Thanks for another winner—I’ve followed you for ages and you’ve never steered me wrong! ★★★★★“
Another reader, Severina, commented: “THIS WAS AMAZING!! My daughter turned 2 and isn’t the biggest fan of cake. She adores fresh fruit, so I figured what better than a fruit pizza in place of a birthday cake. It was a huge hit among the family and, most importantly, the birthday girl!! This recipe was super simple and turned out perfect. I will be making this fun summery recipe every chance I get! ★★★★★“
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 brick-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!
Pastry cream would also be a fantastic alternative to the cream cheese frosting—as would my strawberry buttercream frosting. 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 & Ice Cream Cake
- No-Bake Cheesecake (and mini no-bake cheesecakes)
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie
- Berry Cobbler or Berry Galette
- No-Bake Greek Yogurt Fruit Tart
- Strawberry Shortcake Cake
- Triple Berry Pie
See Your Fruit Pizzas!
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge!
Print
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 (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) 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 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons (43g) 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 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) 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.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Nonstick Pizza Pan or Baking Sheet | Icing Spatula
- 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I can’t have eggs, has anyone used something else in place of the egg?
Hi Vandan, we haven’t tried this recipe with any egg substitutes, but perhaps another reader can chime in if they have. If you’re interested, here are all of our egg-free recipes.
I lost this recepie 45 years ago & am so happy you have it for me… can add a glaze of lemon lemon juice/pineapple juice and I teaspoon cornstarch to make a glaze for the top of the fruit… keeps it fresher…
I made this for my sister in law because she was having a fruit pizza craving. She said it was the best thing she’s ever had and couldn’t get enough! Thanks Sally!!
I liked the balanced flavor for this fruit pizza! I only wished for a chewier sugar cookie, how could I go about getting a chewier crust?
Hi Cassie! That would require additional testing. You could try leaving out the cornstarch, switching to brown sugar, and perhaps using 2 egg yolks instead of 1 whole egg. Egg yolks and brown sugar usually add some nice chew to chocolate chip cookies, so that’s why I suggest them. Let me know if you try it!
This is so delicious! Writing this after I finished making & decorating it and it tastes just like a fruit tart I get from Wegmans. It’s so soft and just enough sweetness. I wish I could include a picture!
Hi Sally! What would the bake time be for miniature pizzas?
Hi Courtney! We’re unsure of the exact bake time–it will really depend on the size of the miniature pizzas. Keep a close eye on them and bake until the edges are very lightly browned.
I make something similar. Instead I use pastry dough for the base and I use bree cheese for the “sauce”. It’s best with a good fruit chutney to top it with.
Really great tasting tart! I like the crust a little bit firmer so I added 3 minutes baking time. And I brushed the fruit with apricot jam to prevent browning.
A family hit!!! I made this for my son’s birthday and it was gobbled up. A nice lighter summer dessert, happily decorated by my 3 year old granddaughter. Thank you Sally for another great recipe.
Sally saves the day again! This was the most delicious dessert for our family’s 4th of July picnic! I doubled the recipe and made it in my 12×17 jellyroll pan then topped with rows of strawberries and blueberries. So many compliments!
I need to make this for a party today. Is it a bad idea since I was not able to make the crust a day before?
I make this every year for our Independence Day picnic and make it a flag with blueberries for the stars and strawberries for the red stripes. Always a hit!
This was delicious! Thx for always feeding us so well!
Making this tmro! Do you think I could make two crusts and freeze one?
Can’t see why not!
The confectioners’ sugar was perfect at 1 1/4 cups. Perfect recipe!
I’ve been making fruit pizza for 30+ years!
I added in a tablespoon of triple sec to the cream cheese. It added in a lot of flavor!
Would i be able to use this recipe and make small cookies for mini fruit pizzas or would you recommend to use the regular sugar cookies recipe?
Hi Kat! Either will work. You could use this dough if you plan on making round cookies. If you want more intricate shapes, we’d recommend using the sugar cookies recipe instead.
It is always helpful for me to have nutritional info with a recipe. I try to estimate for servings. It is helpful for health issues in our home.
Hi Kathy! We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Made a double batch to fit in a sheet pan for a graduation party it looked so great and was so refreshing on a hot day! It was sure a hit as there was only a few crumbs left 🙂 I know I can always count on Sally’s Baking Addiction for tried and true recipes
We’re thrilled to hear this, Joleen!
I impressed myself! So good!
Best recipe by far! I make this all the time! My family requests it. 2 of my grandsons and my daughter always request this for their birthday cake!
Hi Sally! Will it work to use this cookie dough in mini tart pans?
Hi Jan, that should work just fine! We’re unsure of the exact bake time.
This recipe is excellent! My son-in-law does not like fruit pizza but loves this one!! WIN!!!
This was a huge hit! I brought the fruit pizza to a BBQ and everyone kept saying how good it was, needless to say I didn’t have any leftovers to take home. Thanks for a great recipe!
This was amazing! I made a bigger batch of dough – 1 1/2 times the amount. Patted it into a huge egg on a 17″ x 13″ cookie sheet. I had a little dough left, so I made a dozen sugar cookies from the remaining dough. The pizza and the cookies turned out amazing. The pizza was the hit of the party!
Can I use a pizza crisper pan with holes if I put parchment paper down on it first
Hi Jess, we don’t recommend the pizza crisper pans here.
Could I use a 14” cast iron pizza pan for this recipe?
Hi Laurie, yes, you can use that pan. Still shape it into a 9–10-inch circle. (And make sure you aren’t using a pizza crisper pan with the little holes/air vents in it!)
Hi! Can we make this in a 9×13 pan?
Hi Cat, sure can! Simply press the dough into a 9×13 pan. Bake time is about the same, usually a minute or two less if using a 9×13-inch pan.
How can I make a sturdy GF crust?
Hi Barb, any recipe made with all purpose flour can be replaced with any 1:1 ration gluten free flour. 1:1 ratio means 1part all purpose flour equals 1part all purpose GF flour. So no special mixes or additions ingredients. I have been gluten free for 10 years and I always replace this type of flour for my recipes. They always turn out great. I’ve used Bob’s Red Mill GF flour, King Arthur GF flour, and my local store has one also. I hope this helps. Enjoy!!!
This is such a good recipe and so delicious and easy to make. I’ve made it several times for birthdays and is requested more than cake! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
This is an excellent recipe. I used my 14″ diameter Calphalon pizza pan, lined with parchment, and rolled out the cookie dough to about a 12″ diameter. My only gripe, and I’m probably in the minority here, is I thought the cookie dough was too sweet. Next time I will cut back to 1/2 cup of sugar instead of the 3/4 cup in the recipe. I used strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Can’t wait to make it again!