Fruit Pizza with Homemade Sugar Cookie Crust
Skip the store-bought dough. This from-scratch fruit pizza has a thick sugar cookie crust, tangy cream cheese frosting, and a colorful mix of fresh berries and mandarin oranges. Perfect for summer cookouts, potlucks, Mother’s Day brunch, and 4th of July.
Fruit pizza is one of those desserts that makes an appearance at every cookout, potluck, and holiday party from Memorial Day through Labor Day, kind of like my lemon raspberry crumb bars. The combination of a thick, buttery cookie base, tangy cream cheese frosting, and a pile of fresh fruit is genuinely hard to argue with.
Most versions call for a tube of refrigerated sugar cookie dough. This one doesn’t. The crust comes together with a hand mixer and presses straight into the pan, and the difference in flavor is noticeable.
It falls somewhere between a sugar cookie and a shortbread crust, though it’s closer to a sugar cookie. A homemade crust just tastes better, and this one is simple enough that there’s no real reason to skip it.
The Homemade Crust Is Worth It and It’s Not Complicated
Sure, store-bought dough is convenient, but it gives you a thin, somewhat bland base that can get lost under the frosting and fruit. This crust uses a full cup of butter, which makes it richer and more flavorful than anything that comes in a tube or tub.
The dough mixes in about five minutes and goes straight into the pan. There’s no chilling or rolling needed. It bakes up golden brown and thick, with just enough structure to hold a clean slice.
I recommend making it on some parchment paper to prevent sticking unless you know the pan doesn’t stick. It’s an easy extra step to make sure you get clean, pretty slices for the work you put in.
The Cream Cheese Layer Is the Secret Weapon
Most fruit pizzas use a basic sweetened cream cheese, and that works fine. I use butter alongside the cream cheese before beating in the powdered sugar, which makes the frosting thicker, richer, and more stable. It’s closer to a frosting than a spread.
It holds up well under the fruit and slices cleanly, which matters when you’re cutting this at a party. If your cream cheese or butter is too cold going in, the frosting will be lumpy, so plan ahead and let both sit out for at least 30 minutes before you start.
A Note on the Mandarin Oranges
The fruit topping uses a mix of fresh berries and kiwi, plus half a can of mandarin oranges. The mandarins need to be drained thoroughly before they go on. If you skip this step, they’ll release liquid straight into the cream cheese layer, which leads to a wet, sliding mess on top of your pizza.
That same logic applies to the fresh fruit: wash and dry everything well before it goes on. Wet fruit on top of cream cheese frosting is the number one reason fruit pizza goes soggy, and it’s completely avoidable. Dry fruit, cooled crust, and you’re in good shape.
Pour the mandarins into a fine mesh strainer and let them sit for a few minutes, or pat them gently with paper towels before arranging. Sometimes I’ll lay out some paper towels, wash the fruit, and let it dry on paper towels while I make the crust and cream cheese frosting.
How to Make Fruit Pizza
The full recipe with ingredient amounts is further down the page.
Make-Ahead and Storage
The crust can be baked a day in advance, cooled completely, and wrapped tightly at room temperature. The frosting can be made ahead and stored in the fridge. Just let it soften for a few minutes before spreading. Add the fruit the same day you plan to serve it so everything stays fresh and the berries don’t bleed into the frosting.
Leftovers keep in the fridge for up to 2 days. The fruit will start to release moisture as it sits, so the crust softens a bit by day two — it still tastes good, it just won’t slice as cleanly.
If you’re bringing this to a gathering, these strawberry blueberry granola parfait are another fresh-fruit dessert that travels and serves well for a crowd. And if you want something in a similar cream-cheese-and-crust family, our cherry cheesecake bars and key lime pie are both worth keeping in the summer rotation.
Serving Tips
Use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter and wipe the blade between cuts for clean slices, especially around the berries. The pizza cuts into about 12 slices. Serve cold straight from the fridge.
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 2 ¾ cups (344g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups (240g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Fruit Topping
- 7 ½ ounces mandarin oranges, drained well (half of a 15-ounce can)*
- ½ cup fresh strawberries, diced
- ½ cup fresh blueberries
- ½ cup fresh blackberries
- ½ cup fresh raspberries
- ¼ cup fresh kiwi, chopped (about 1-2 kiwis)
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Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.1 cup (226g) unsalted butter1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- Add the vanilla and egg and mix for another 30 seconds, or until well incorporated.1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 large egg
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix just until combined.2 ¾ cups (344g) all-purpose flour2 teaspoons baking powder½ teaspoon salt
- Press the dough onto a 12-inch pizza pan in an even layer (use parchment paper for easy removal). Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until lightly browned at the edges.
- Cool the crust completely before moving on, about 30-45 minutes.
Cream Cheese Frosting and Fruit Topping
- In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 2 minutes.8 ounces cream cheese¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until fully combined.2 cups (240g) powdered sugar½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Spread the frosting in an even layer over the cooled crust. Decorate with fruit. Refrigerate until ready to serve.7 ½ ounces mandarin oranges½ cup fresh strawberries½ cup fresh blueberries½ cup fresh blackberries½ cup fresh raspberries¼ cup fresh kiwi
Notes
Nutrition
*This recipe originally appeared on our sister site, More Than Meat and Potatoes.
My family has been making fruit pizza since the 80’s. The one addition is vanilla baking chips melted with HWC for the filling. It’s a game-changer. We like it much better than the sweetened cream cheese filling.
2 cups vanilla baking chips
¼ cup heavy cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
That sounds amazing! We’ve always done the sweetened cream cheese version, but melting vanilla baking chips with heavy cream sounds delicious. I may have to try that next time. Thanks so much for sharing!