Fruit Pizza

Great for a group! Not to mention a perfect summer accompaniment to BBQ! In each bite you get a bit of crunchy cookie, soft cream cheese frosting and luscious fruit. There’s a reason it’s retained its popularity over the years.

Fruit Pizza is a terrific choice when you’re wanting something light, pretty, quick and easy for a crowd. One (13” x 18”) half-sheet pan, cut into 4 rows by 6 rows, can serve 24 people.

Make it Quick, Easy and in Advance

Even with the frosting buffering them, a crunchy cookie and juicy fruit are not the best of friends for long term storage. Your pizza will be at its best if you assemble it within 4 hours prior to serving. But all is not lost in the make ahead department.   Assign the sheet pan cookies out to be pre-baked and frosted up to 24 hours in advance. You can also batch assign or pre-prep the kiwi and strawberries. Then just assemble several hours before serving. With all the ingredients pre-prepped, you can easily bring one together in less than 10 minutes.

If time permits, and you’re feelin’ the urge, you can make it look like this.

But it takes FAR less time, and I think it looks EVEN PRETTIER, jumbled like this.

By the way, frosting and decorating is a great job for youth volunteers. Just tell ‘em to use the jumbled fruit decorating method or they’ll be at it for hours!

Ever wonder how the fruit tarts in the pastry shops glisten like little jewels? Well, they often use a clear, gel-based liquid to give them that shine. We can go one better with a tasty jelly bath for our fruit. Note: don’t use jam or preserves. You don’t want the extra bits in jam or preserves.

This one is fun to make and even more fun to eat!   Let’s get cookin’.

5 from 1 vote

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Fruit Pizza for a Crowd

Prep Time

20 mins

Total Time

20 mins

 

Fruit Pizza is a terrific choice when you’re wanting something light, pretty, quick and easy for a crowd.  

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 24 people

Author: Betsy Edwards

Ingredients

For the Cookie

• 2 (16.5 ounce) rolls sugar cookie dough

For the Frosting

• 2 (8 ounce) cartons cream cheese, softened
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla

For the Fruit Topping

• 5 kiwi, peeled and sliced
• 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges
• 1 pint Strawberries, halved and quartered (same as a pound)
• 1 (6 ounce) container raspberries
• 1 cup apple jelly

Equipment

• 1 13" x 18" half sheet baking pan
• 1 long sheet parchment paper

Instructions

1. 1 hour before cooking: set cookie dough and cream cheese out to come to room temperature.

Make the Cookie and Frosting

1. Place 1 rack in the middle of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

   Line a 13 x 19 Half-Sheet Baking Pan with parchment paper.

   Break up dough and press evenly in bottom of pan to form crust. It should be no more than 1/4 inch thick. Bake 20 - 22 minutes or until golden brown. It will puff alarmingly as it’s baking. Ignore that. It will be fine.

   When done, remove pan from oven to sit on a cooling rack until completely cool, about 30 minutes.  

   While the cookie is baking/cooling you can make the frosting.

   In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Spread frosting over cooled crust.  

Prep the Fruit:

1. While the cookie is baking/cooling you can prep the fruit. Peel and slice the kiwi. Cut the tops off the strawberries and quarter or halve the berries.
   

Assemble:

1. Gently place all fruit topping in a medium bowl. Microwave apple jelly for 20 seconds. Stir jelly until smooth. Pour jelly evenly over fruit. Gently toss to coat all fruit. Scatter fruit over frosting. 
   

MAKE AHEAD NOTE:

1. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour and up to 4-5 hours. To serve, cut into 4 rows x 6 row squares. Cover and refrigerate any remaining pizza.
   

2. Variations:

   • Add grated orange zest to the frosting for a fun citrus kick.

   • Pineapple, mango and kiwi slices topped with shredded coconut and macadamia nuts make a festive tropical pizza.

   • You can also drizzle melted white or semi-sweet chocolate over the pizza to take it up another notch.

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