Fruit Pizza

Looking for a refreshing and easy-to-make dessert that everyone will love? You have to try this mouth-watering fruit pizza recipe! With a delicious sugar cookie crust, creamy frosting, and a colorful selection of juicy fruits, this dessert will have everyone asking for more.

Recipe Science

Using a sugar cookie crust provides a sturdy yet tender base that holds up well under the weight of the toppings while adding a sweet, buttery flavor.
Spreading a layer of cream cheese frosting creates a creamy, tangy barrier that complements the fruit’s sweetness and prevents the crust from becoming soggy.
Arranging fresh fruit on top not only adds vibrant colors and natural sweetness but also introduces various textures and flavors, enhancing the overall sensory experience of the dessert.

Why It Works

Here’s a fun and colorful dessert that will make your family and friends smile. This easy fruit pizza recipe is a giant sugar cookie topped with cream cheese frosting and fresh fruit. You can customize it with your favorite seasonal fruits.

I modified the dough from my sugar cookies recipe as the base for the sweet crust to make one jumbo cookie. It yields tender and thick slices, sturdy enough to layer with toppings. Have fun designing a stunning dessert pizza that’s sure to impress.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Cookie crust and frosting ingredients needed to make this fruit pizza recipe.

Cookie Crust: Use 1 pound of homemade sugar cookie dough to make the base. My recipe yields crisp edges with soft and chewy centers. As a shortcut, you can use store-bought premade cookie dough.
Frosting: Cream cheese frosting is sweet and tangy, with a rich consistency. The cheesecake-like flavor complements the pieces of fruit.
Fruit Topping: Select about 3 cups of fresh fruit to add on top of the cookie. Lightly dry the surface so it does not make the sugar cookie base soggy if refrigerated and not eaten immediately.

See the recipe card below for all ingredients and measurements (US and metric).

Ingredient Substitutions

This recipe for fruit pizza is easy to customize! Try these delicious and festive options:

Cookie Crust: Other cookie flavors like chocolate chip cookie, peanut butter cookie, or Snickerdoodle. Add in dutch-processed cocoa powdered to make a chocolate sugar cookie base.
Frosting: Try a classic vanilla cookie frosting, chocolate frosting, homemade Nutella, or stabilized whipped cream.
Fruit: Sliced honeydew, cantaloupe, mandarin oranges, green apples, pears, papaya, raspberries, blackberries, bananas, mangoes, dragon fruit, or cherries are a delicious addition.
Glaze: Brush the fruit with warm apple jelly, apricot jam, or orange marmalade to lightly coat the fruit, or drizzle some honey.
Nuts: Add chopped or sliced almonds, peanuts, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, or shredded coconut.
Herbs & Spices: Add mint leaves or fresh basil for an herbal note. Sprinkle on cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, or ginger.

How to Make Fruit Pizza

Stand mixer bowl with creamed butter to make a frosting.

Step 1: Mix the Wet Ingredients

Make the cookie dough using a stand mixer or hand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix the butter and sugar together.

Creamed butter, egg yolk, and vanilla in a stand mixer bowl.

Eggs help to bind the cookie and add color and richness. Vanilla extract boosts the sweet flavor and aroma.

Pro Tip: It’s important to use softened butter between 65 and 67ºF (18 to 19ºC). This ensures that air pockets form when creaming the fat and sugar together, giving a tender and tall cookie.

Sugar cookie dough formed in a mixer bowl to be used on a fruit pizza.

Step 2: Add the Dry Ingredients

Sift the flour and baking powder, then whisk the salt to distribute the fine ingredient particles evenly. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing to form a dough.

Step 3: Refrigerate the Dough

Form a 1/2-inch disk, then wrap and chill for 30 minutes to firm up the butter before baking. This recipe yields about 1 pound of cookie dough or a 10-inch crust.

Step 4: Preheat the Oven

Set the oven rack to the middle position and the heat to 350ºF (177ºC). Lightly grease a 12-inch pizza pan with baking spray. Alternatively, line with parchment paper, cutting into a circular shape.

Wooden rolling pin and flattened sugar cookie crust on a metal pizza pan.

Step 5: Shape the Crust

Use a floured rolling pin to create a 10-inch round crust, or use your fingers to press the dough out. The crust can also be baked in a large cast iron skillet or sheet pan. It can also be formed into a different shape, like a square, rectangle, heart, or star. The cookie dough will spread slightly, about ½ inch, but it will hold its characteristic shape.

Large round cookie baked on a pizza pan that's cooling on a wire rack.

Step 6: Bake the Crust

Bake the sugar cookie crust in the oven at 350ºF (177ºC) to create crisp edges with soft and sliceable centers. Don’t overbake, or it will be too hard and crunchy. Look for the surface to become dry, with a pale soft center and lightly golden brown edges.

The baking process takes about 16 to 18 minutes. Completely cool the pizza pan on a wire rack for 30 to 60 minutes. This will gently finish cooking the cookie and prevent the frosting from melting when spread on top.

Mixer bowl with a block of cream cheese about to be combined with butter and sugar.

Step 7: Make the Frosting

Cream the butter and powdered sugar first, then gradually add the cream cheese and vanilla.

Cream cheese frosting made in a stand mixer bowl.

This recipe makes about 1 ¾ cups, plenty to frost the pizza and have leftovers for another sweet treat. I typically use about 1 cup of frosting to spread on the crust.

Make sure to use room temperature butter and cream cheese, about 65ºF (18ºC). This temperature helps the fat crystals in the butter be pliable enough to whip while trapping air to keep the frosting from becoming dense. The cream cheese becomes creamy instead of clumpy, mixing better into the frosting.

Spatula spreading cream cheese frosting over a round sugar cookie pizza crust.

Step 8: Decorate the Fruit Pizza

Now for the fun part! My kids love helping to decorate. Spread a thick layer of the cream cheese frosting on the cooled crust, leaving about a 1/2-inch border around the edges. Use at least 1 cup of frosting, adding more as desired.

Top with a colorful array of sliced or whole fruit pieces. I made this summer dessert using a mix of tropical fruits. Strawberries, sliced kiwi, blueberries, grapes, diced pineapple, and orange segments add an island twist!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make mini fruit pizzas?

Make individual-sized cookies if you prefer not to slice the pizza. Roll out the cookie to 1/4-inch thick, then cut it into 2 ½ to 3-inch rounds or desired shape. Use my sugar cookie recipe for the baking instructions.

Should I use fresh or canned fruit?

You can use either! Use fresh fruit when they are in season for the best taste. Canned fruit is excellent for convenience or when the fruit is not as sweet or ripe.

Can I make the fruit pizza ahead of time?

The cookie dough and frosting can be prepared and refrigerated 5 days before baking. The cookie can be baked 1 day before decorating. The decorated pizza can be covered and refrigerated for 2 to 3 days, depending on the fruit added on top. You can freeze the cookie dough or baked crust and frosting for up to 1 month—Defrost before using.

What is the difference between a fruit tart and a fruit pizza?

A fruit tart uses a sweet tart dough that is rolled and shaped into a tart pan. The sides of the tart crust keep any filling like custard, cream, or lemon curd inside. A fruit pizza is made with a sugar cookie crust, is flat in shape, then topped with frosting. Both desserts add fresh fruit on top for decoration and flavor.

How do you keep bananas from turning brown on fruit pizza?

The enzyme polyphenol oxidase causes the browning of fruit. Immediately cover the assembled dessert with plastic wrap, removing as much air as possible, as oxygen speeds up color change. Then cover in foil, refrigerate, and serve the same day or within 24 hours. Brush the bananas with diluted honey or lemon juice or a combination. They both deactivate the browning enzyme. You can use the same methods to keep apples from turning brown.