Crumbl Fruit Pizza Cookies
These fruit pizza cookies are absolutely amazing! A miniature version of a classic sugar cookie fruit pizza with cream cheese frosting, this cookie tastes super fresh. A little cream cheese in the cookie dough gives it the perfect texture, and lemon zest in the frosting takes it over the top when paired with fresh fruit. With all the wonderful fruits in season during summertime, this might be the best summer dessert!
If you love fresh fruit, you’ll love my Greek Yogurt Fruit Bites and Cream Cheese Fruit Dip. Or, check out this post of my copycat Crumbl Cookie recipes and make more of your favorites at home!
Why This Recipe Works
- Mini fruit pizza. Everyone knows that food is more fun when you make it mini! This fruit pizza cookie recipe makes it so everyone can have their own individual fruit pizza. It’s a real crowd-pleaser, and you can even have people add their own toppings to customize it even more!
- Easy cookie recipe. Listen, I make a lot of cookies. So I’m speaking from experience when I say these cookies are a snap to make! The ingredient list for the homemade sugar cookie dough is relatively short, and while it takes time to chill the dough and chop fruit, it’s an uncomplicated recipe.
- Copycat Crumbl cookie recipe. I love all the cookie flavors that Crumbl comes out with. They’re so fun to try! And going and buying Crumbl cookies can be a fun experience. But honestly, I think the homemade versions always taste better, plus you get way more cookies. These mini sugar cookie fruit pizzas are a win-win!
Ingredient Notes
- Cream cheese: In many ways, this cookie is a typical sugar cookie, but a bit of cream cheese added to the dough adds a lovely texture and flavor. Cream cheese frosting is traditional for fruit pizza frosting, and it is delicious.
- Lemon zest: Lemon zest in the tangy cream cheese frosting is the perfect complement to the fresh fruit on top of the sugar cookie base, and it makes this cookie taste summery and fresh. Note that we aren’t using lemon juice at all, just lemon zest.
- Fresh fruit: It wouldn’t be a fruit pizza cookie without fresh fruit! I’ve listed the toppings I use in the recipe card, but you can top it with any of your favorite fruits. While a regular-sized dessert pizza typically uses fruit slices, we’ll chop our fruits to be small enough to top these cookies. Just remember, the more fruits, the better, for a colorful fruit pizza cookie!
- Vanilla extract: This cookie recipe uses a whole tablespoon of vanilla! Vanilla extract in both the cookie and the frosting enhances the flavors of these fruit pizza cookies.
- Unsalted butter: Butter does so much important work in baking when it comes to baking chemistry, in addition to adding flavor and richness to cookies. The cream cheese frosting also contains butter to help it be super spreadable.
- Granulated sugar: For sugar cookies, using only white granulated sugar is crucial for flavor and color, as well as maintaining the right balance of moisture. Brown sugar contains more moisture.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Prep oven and pan. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. If your oven heats quickly, you may choose to turn it on later, since the cookie dough has to chill for 30 minutes.
- Cream butter, cream cheese, and sugars. Mix one cup softened butter with 2 ounces softened cream cheese and 1 cup granulated sugar for two minutes. I just use an electric mixer and a large bowl.
- Add remaining wet ingredients. To your butter-sugar-cream cheese mixture, add 1 large egg and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Mix to combine.
- Add dry ingredients. Add 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, and ¾ teaspoon of salt to the rest of the ingredients. Mix until no flour streaks remain, but don’t overmix!
- Chill dough. Cover your bowl with the dough and place dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.
- Portion out dough. Use a ¼ cup measure to portion your dough into balls. Place 6 dough balls on a baking sheet, then press each cookie dough ball into a disc about ½ an inch thick. The cream cheese prevents these cookies from spreading a lot, and we want a good canvas for our mini fruit pizzas.
- Bake. Bake cookies for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for five minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. For best results, allow the cookies to cool completely before frosting.
- Make frosting. Whip together 6 oz softened cream cheese with 6 tablespoons softened butter in a medium bowl. Once that mixture is smooth, add 4 cups of powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, and the zest of one large lemon. Beat until smooth. If the cream cheese frosting is too thick, add milk or heavy cream a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.
- Frost and decorate. Frost the cooled cookies and top with chopped fresh fruit. Enjoy these cookies either at room temperature or chilled.
Recipe Tips
grapes, and strawberries. But you can do whatever you like! Pineapple, kiwi, or bananas would be yummy, for example. You could use red grapes instead of green grapes. Or use both kinds of grapes!
Make sure to use full-fat cream cheese, not Neufchatel. Low-fat cream cheese has less structure to it and will change the texture of this cookie. It will also make the frosting less stable.
If you’d like to make these cookies smaller, bake them for 8 minutes and then check for doneness.
Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing
Make Ahead: There are a couple of ways to make these cookies ahead of time. First, you can allow the dough to chill for a whole day in advance. You’ll want to let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes or so to work with the dough. Or, bake your cookies and store them, unfrosted, for 3-4 days. The frosting will stay good in the fridge for up to a week. Assemble cookies with fruit right before serving.
Storing: Because of the cream cheese in the frosting and the fresh fruit, store these cookies in the fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days. The cookies will get softer with time and fruit may brown. You can help the cookies stay fresher longer by not topping them with fruit until you plan to eat them.
Freezing: You can freeze the dough, the frosting, baked plain cookies, and frosted cookies without fruit! Just do not freeze the fruit. To freeze the dough, portion it out into ¼ sized balls, allow the dough balls to freeze on a baking sheet, then transfer them to a ziptop bag or airtight container. The dough will keep for 1-2 months. Frosting can be frozen in an airtight container or ziptop bag for 3 months. Once it’s thawed, whip it to make sure the ingredients are well mixed and to make the frosting fluffy again. To freeze baked cookies or frosted baked cookies, freeze individual cookies on a baking sheet, wrap them in plastic wrap once solid, and store them in an airtight container or ziptop bag for 1-2 months.
Recipe FAQs
Fruit pizza typically features a sugar cookie crust that is somewhat soft and chewy. Tart crusts are typically also sweet but more crisp. Also, tarts usually feature one or two fruits, while fruit pizza usually features several kinds of fruit. Finally, fruit pizza is so-called because of its pizza shape, versus a fruit tart.
You can use any fruit you like for this fruit pizza cookies recipe! My favorite toppings include green grapes, mandarin oranges, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. The only fruit I would recommend avoiding is bananas, since they turn brown after being cut.
Fruit pizza is popular and well-known in the Midwest, but supposedly it got its start in California when a chef added strawberries to a pizza. Depending on who you ask, fruit pizza has roots back in the sixth century, or it was created in the 1960s U.S. We may not know the exact origins of fruit pizza, but I’m sure glad it exists!
More Fresh and Fruity Recipes
More Copycat Crumble Cookie Recipes
- Salted Caramel Cheesecake Cookies
- Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies
- Mint Chip Ice Cream Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
Crumbl Fruit Pizza Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter - softened to room temperature
- 2 oz cream cheese - softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
Frosting
- 6 oz cream cheese - softened
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter - softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large lemon - zested (don't need the lemon juice, JUST the zest)
- 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream - or milk, as needed
Toppings
- blueberries
- raspberries
- green grapes
- mandarin oranges
- strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter, cream cheese, and granulated sugar for 2 minutes. Add the egg, and vanilla extract. Mix to combine. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix to until no flour streaks remain. Cover and chill dough for 30 minutes.
- Portion dough into ¼ cup sized balls. Place 6 on the baking sheet and, using the palm of your hand, press down on each cookie dough ball until it is a disk. (these cookies won’t spread much because of the cream cheese, so make sure you make the cookies even and press down so that they’re about 1/2 inch thick).
- Bake for 12-15 mins or until edges are lighly browned. Remove from oven, cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make frosting: Whip cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest. Beat until smooth.
- Frost each cookie then top with chopped fresh fruit. Enjoy at room temperature or chilled.
Welcome to this delicious corner of the internet! Here I share the recipes my family loves.
