Mini Fruit Pizzas

I love fruit and sugar cookies, mix them together and you have what I would consider a perfect dessert. These Mini Fruit Pizzas were made a little differently than my other post for Mini Fruit Pizza Cookies because for that recipe I use a Jello no bake cheesecake and Jello vanilla pudding for the topping.

This time around I decided to make my own cream cheese spread for the topping. I have to warn you that my recipe makes a lot of topping. Next time I will definitely reduce it by half, but I am including the directions for the entire topping since some people will undoubtedly spread a thicker layer than me. The warning is out there, and I bet that if you make it all that you will have leftover cream cheese topping. Leftover topping is not a bad thing though, add more powdered sugar to thicken it up and use it on top of cupcakes or make more sugar cookies!

I slightly modified this Sugar Cookie Recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction The sugar cookies aren’t overly sweet which is great because they will be topped with fruit and the sweetened cream cheese spread, and they don’t spread out when baking. I used almond and vanilla extract, but lemon extract is an excellent substitute for the almond extract if you aren’t a fan of almond.

If you want to make a dessert pizza that’s large, roll the cookie dough out into a 1/4 inch thick pizza on a sheet of parchment paper and slide it onto a large sheet pan or pizza pan. Bake it at 350 degrees for 14 – 15 minutes, before checking to see if it’s cooked. It may take up to 20 minutes to cook completely.

Helpful hints, the fruit will juice as it sits on the cookies, for that reason I would make them the day that you plan to serve them. The cookies will soften up on day two. For me it’s not a problem because I make these cookies to serve at parties, and never have leftovers.

I use peach jelly for my glaze because it doesn’t have any seeds or pulp so when mixed with the water it leaves a beautiful shiny surface without any impurities. Any jelly will work so if you don’t have peach use whatever you have. Don’t add too much water or it will run all over the cookie rather than stick to the fruit.

I hope that you’ll try this recipe today and that you’ll leave a comment below. Also, please follow @lifeabovethecafe on Instagram and Facebook for daily updates!

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

• 2 & 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. of baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 3/4 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 – 1 cup of granulated sugar for sweeter cookies (I used 3/4)
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1/2 tsp. of almond or lemon extract
• 1 & 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract

For the cream cheese layer:

• 8 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 & 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. of vanilla extract
• (if needed thin with 1-2 Tbsp. of milk or heavy cream)

Suggested Fruit for the topping and jelly glaze:

• blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, grapes
• sliced strawberries, kiwi, peaches, mango
• Mix 1 – 2 Tbsp. of peach jelly mixed with a little water to thin it

Directions:

For the cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add the egg, almond and vanilla extract and mix everything together until incorporated.

In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together well to incorporate the dry ingredients.

Slowly mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture until incorporated, do not over mix.  Your dough should be firm but not dry, if it’s too damp then add a little more flour 1 Tbsp. at a time.  Also, if your butter is too soft it can cause a soft dough.  Try chilling it first rather than adding too much flower and causing overly dry cookies.

Split the dough in half and wrap it in plastic wrap.  I formed my two dough portions into logs and wrapped them up and let them sit overnight in the refrigerator.  I then cut cookie disks 1/4 inch thick.  If you prefer, cover the dough and use a cookie scoop.  By cutting disks, my cookies were all the same size and a perfectly round shape for the mini fruit pizzas.

Bake the cookies on the parchment lined sheet pan for 11 – 12 minutes or until the bottoms are slightly browned.  Cool for 2 – 3 minutes on the pan before moving to a plate or a cookie rack.

My dough made 20 cookies that were 3 – 4 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick.

For the cream cheese topping:

Mix the room temperature cream cheese until light and fluffy with the vanilla, add the powdered sugar and mix thoroughly.  If you feel the consistency  is too thick and won’t spread well add a little milk or heavy cream until you reach your desired consistency.  Likewise, if the consistency is too thin it will run off of the cookies, add more powdered sugar if this happens until you reach a spreadable consistency.  I will cut this topping in half next time because it made a lot, but I’m listing the full amount because some people prefer more frosting for the cookies.

Frost the cooled cookies with this mixture.  I leave an edge so that you can see the cookie as well as the cream cheese topping and fruit.

For the fruit and jelly glaze:

Wash and dry all fruit and slice it into thin slices.  Mix 1 – 2 Tbsp. or peach jelly with a little water to thin it slightly.  Don’t over thin the glaze or it will run off of the fruit rather than sticking to it.

Top the cream cheese with the fruit in a decorative pattern and then use a brush to put the glaze on the fruit.

I refrigerate the cookies until I am ready to serve them or serve them immediately.  These are best on day one so if you’re not serving a crowd I would only make the amount that will be eaten on day one.

 

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