The first recipe I ever cooked in front of a live audience was a sugar cookie fruit pizza. “Cooked” is a generous term—that fruit pizza recipe involved a tube of pre-made cookie dough and a jar of marshmallow fluff. While my fruit pizza cookie methods have changed (today’s mini Fruit Pizza Cookies use homemade ingredients), my love for this sweet, simple, summery dessert has not. To my high school Foods teacher: I hope I have done you proud.
“Foods” was the name of our high school cooking class. It along with “Sewing” and “Parent and Child,” the class in which we carried around a heavy, conspicuously floppy plastic baby that would cry at night and in the middle of class, were the three home economics classes offered by my high school. I’m not sure what my college admissions officers thought when they read “Foods” listed directly beneath “AP Calculus” on my transcript. I did receive a few acceptances, so I can only assume they viewed me as well rounded.
Or they heard I bake a serious batch of fruit pizza cookies.
About These Fruit Pizza Cookies
If you aren’t familiar with “fruit pizza,” best clear your plans, soften a block of cream cheese, and load up on fresh fruit, because you need to try this Midwestern staple. A dessert “pizza” comprised of a sugar cookie crust, sweet cream cheese sauce, and fresh fruit toppings, fruit pizza is a simple but stunning dessert.
Separately, the fruit pizza cookie components taste lovely. Together, they taste of that heavenly, eternal bliss so particular to summer: blue skies, long afternoons, and fruit so juicy it runs down your chin.
In place of a single, giant sugar cookie crust, I made individual fruit pizza cookies, which are easier to serve at summer get togethers and oh so cute. A touch of cream cheese in the dough makes the sugar cookies melt-in-your-mouth tender, and lemon zest adds bursts of summery freshness.
Though fully cream cheese-frosted and berry-topped is how I love these fruit pizza cookies best, the sugar cookies still taste outstanding with only the cream cheese frosting, or even plain with a cup of coffee or tea. In the summer, I plan to keep piling the fruit high, but in months when fresh berries are less widely available, this recipe will still be my sugar cookie go-to.
More Cookie Recipes with Fruit
- Banana Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips
- Melt in Your Mouth Orange Cookies with Cranberries
- Apple Oatmeal Cookies
- Lemon Coconut Thumbprint Cookies
Tools Used to Make This Recipe
- Offset spatula. Makes frosting cookies and cakes a breeze and is perfect for smoothing batter in baking pans too.
- Beater blade (a must for bakers using a stand mixer). This handheld mixer is wonderful too.
- Cookie sheet
Fruit Pizza Cookies
email me the recipe!
By signing up, you'll join our email list and can unsubscribe anytime. Already registered? Log in.
Ingredients
For the sugar cookies:
- 1 ¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour*
- ½ teaspoon baking powder I recommend aluminum free
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons light cream cheese (1 ounce) (do not use fat free—you will need 1, 8-ounce brick of cream cheese total for the recipe)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 large egg at room temperature
For the frosting:
- 7 ounces light cream cheese, use the remaining cream cheese that you did not put in the cookies above
- 1-2 teaspoons milk any kind you like
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat mat . In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and cream cheese until light and fluffy, about 3 full minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract, lemon zest, and egg, stopping to scrape down the bowl again. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture, beating just until incorporated.
- With a small cookie scoop or spoon, scoop the dough by tablespoonfuls and roll into a ball. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. With your fingers, lightly press the cookie balls to a 1/4-inch thickness. If the dough is sticky, dampen your fingers slightly.
- Bake the cookies for 9 minutes, until the edges barely begin to brown. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then gently transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make the cream cheese frosting: In a medium mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese on medium speed for 2 minutes, until smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low, beat in 1 teaspoon milk and vanilla extract until combined. With the mixer running gradually add the powdered sugar. Once the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the mixer speed to high and beat for 1 full minute. Add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at at a time, if you desire a thinner frosting consistency.
- Spread the frosting over the cookies, then top with fresh fruit. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Join today and start saving your favorite recipes
Create an account to easily save your favorite recipes and access FREE meal plans.
Sign Me Up
I’m over the moon about fruit pizza, but I love that these are a cookie version so I can ultimately eat more of them!! :) Your fruit looks absolutely gorgeous in the photos, Erin!
These look so sweet! Perfect for a picnic or BBQ, or, y’know, just me by myself eating a whole lot of them ;)
I like option number three Jill ;-) Thank you so much!
These look adorable and so delicious! For my 20th birthday, I made a whole wheat sugar cookie from scratch and layered it with cream cheese, fruits, and a cinnamon apricot glaze. :) I’ll try sharing the photo to your Facebook page. Love this post!
LOVED that photo Kori (and love that it was whole wheat too!) Thanks for sharing it!
hey girl these look so yummy! I had Home Ec. in High School ,and we had to carry around an egg in a basket and try not to break the egg! Which I did once on accident but I got to have another one. Crazy times in the 90’s! ha,ha
Too funny Shawnna!
I love the idea of putting cream cheese in the actual cookie! I tried to make a fruit pizza for my daughters birthday last year but I was distracted and left it in the oven for waaaaaaay too long! She ended up with a store bought Kit Kat M&M cake haha! These look so delicious , I think it make be time to give it another try!!
Yes, Erin you have “done me well,” I remember the sugar cookie pizza you made in Foods class.
Congratulations on your success !!
Mrs. Warren, I cannot tell you how much your comment made my day! I had no idea that you follow my blog :-) It’s wonderful to hear from you and to know that my fruit pizza was memorable. Thank you so much, and I hope that you are well!
I did a test run of these cookies today in anticipation of these healthy fruit pizzas being one of our desserts later in the week when we have step-nephews visiting from out-of-state. So they’ll have something to do and use those creative minds making their cookie pizza!! This should occupy about 3 minutes, I figure, sigh! I made the recipe as written except I forgot the lemon zest :/ . The dough is indeed sticky but I was able to pat the rounds flat with damp fingers. The cookies are very good and I’m sure the frosting/”sauce” will be delicious as well! Thanks, Erin! (I’m also making fudge popsicles for them as well)
Joanie, your step-nephews are lucky boys!! I hope you all love the cookies :) Thanks for sharing!
Couldn’t subscribe….message said your mailbox was full. Rosekibit@msn. Com
Sorry for the hassle Rosemarie! I’m not sure what could have happened. I went ahead and added your email to the list, per your request. Thanks for signing up, and I hope you love the recipes!
In you’re opinion, could these be made the morning of a baby shower. Travel to the baby shower….with the fruit on top without getting too soggy…the fruit weeping onto the topping?
Hi Mary Beth! I would be a little concerned about this, because the frosting is quite soft, and the fruit might weep and move across the frosting a bit. My thought would be to top the cookies with the fruit once you arrives and store them in the refrigerator beforehand. Because the frosting is soft and can “mess” easily, you might also want to use a firmer one like the cream cheese frosting on this lemon layer cake. I hope that helps!
Not impressed with these cookies.
Deanna, these are a favorite of ours, but I know it’s disappointing to try a new recipe and now have it come out. I’m sorry these didn’t 100% hit the spot for you!