Fruit pizza is an easy, fun, crunchy and refreshing recipe made with a quick, homemade sugar cookie pie crust base, topped with dairy-free cream cheese and a mix of fresh seasonal fruit.

We add a layer of melted dark chocolate on top of the pie crust to prevent the base of this cake from getting soggy and to make the fruit pizza even more delicious.

fruit pizza on a marble table

Check out our best vegan summer recipes collection!

What is a fruit pizza?

A fruit pizza is a dessert made with a sugar cookie pie crust base, covered with a layer of cream cheese mixed with powdered sugar, and finally topped with fresh seasonal fruit.

slicing a fruit pizza
crunchy, creamy, and refreshing

It’s very similar to an Italian fruit tart, without a rim and without custard. It’s fun and easy to make and everyone will love it.

To prevent the base from getting soggy, we added a thin layer of melted dark chocolate on top of the pie crust. Once cold, the chocolate creates a shell that protects the base from the moisture in the cream cheese.

Ingredients & Substitutions

ingredients for the fruit pizza
  • Flour: you can use all-purpose flour. We also tried with wholewheat flour and first-clear flour and it turned out delicious. To make it gluten free, we recommend using a gluten-free flour mix.
  • Sugar: we use white sugar. Unrefined sugar works too.
  • Water: cold tap water is fine.
  • Oil: we use sunflower oil. Any other vegetable oil, except olive oil, works. We recommend choosing a refined oil, so you won’t taste the flavour of the oil.

    You can replace vegetable oil with vegan butter or margarine. In this case, multiply our oil measurements times 1.3.
  • Baking powder: to make the pie crust more crumbly and crisp.

For the topping

fresh fruit for the fruit pizza
you can pick your favourite fruit
  • Dark chocolate: any dark chocolate with chocolate content above 50% will work. Dark chocolate chips work very well too.
  • Cream cheese: we use dairy-free cream cheese. Some good brands of non-dairy cream cheese in the US are Tofutti, Trader Joe’s, Daya, and Follow your heart.

    If you are in Europe, good brands that make dairy-free cream cheese are VioLife, Simply V, Val Soia, Luve, Oatly and many others.
  • Powdered sugar: we use it to add sweetness to the cream cheese. It also adds a bit of structure to it.
  • Fresh fruit: you can pick any fruit you like, as long as it is not too watery, like watermelon. Play with colours and flavours. To save money, pick local and seasonal fruit. You can even do fruit pizza with just one fruit, like with green kiwi, or strawberries.

    For our fruit pizza, we picked strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, nectarines, apricots, grapes, raspberries and some mint leaves.

Equipment

You’ll need a rolling pin to flatten the pizza. Other than that, just a bowl, a spatula, and your oven’s baking tray lined with parchment paper.

How to make fruit pizza

For the pie crust base

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line your baking tray with parchment paper, and keep it our of the oven while the oven preheats.

In a bowl, add sugar, oil, water, and mix with a spatula for just a minute, to dissolve some of the sugar in the liquid. Add the flour and the baking powder and stir with a spatula till the flour absorbs the liquids.

TIP: to distribute the baking powder evenly, I like to sift it with the flour while adding them to the liquids. Alternatively, you could first mix flour and baking powder into a separate bowl, then add them to the liquids.

mixing the ingredients for the fruit pizza

Now, on a worktop, knead with your hands, gently, for a short minute. Just the time to bring all the ingredients together and form a dough ball. Do not over-knead.

Take the sheet of parchment paper and with a rolling pin, flatten the dough ball into a disc. It should look like a pizza base. To make sure it turns out round, rotate the disc often while you flatten it.

sugar cookie dough in a round shape

We like our fruit pizza quite thin so we flatten it down to 1/8 of an inch, or 3 to 4 mm. Also, I like to trim the edges with a pizza wheel to make it look very round.

Transfer the parchment paper with the pizza on it onto the baking tray, and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool down.

For the topping

This step is optional, but we always end up doing it. Shred the chocolate, then melt it.

shredded dark chocolate ready to be melted

You can do that in a bowl in the microwave, heating the chocolate a few seconds at a time. Or you can do it bain-marie, that is, put the bowl with the dark chocolate into a larger pot, filled with hot water. The heat of the water will melt the chocolate.

Spread a thin layer of chocolate on top of the fruit pizza base, then let it cool down till it’s hard. If you live in a hot climate, you can refrigerate the pizza base with the chocolate on it for 15 minutes to speed things up.

melted dark chocolate on top of the sugar cookie dough

In a bowl, mix the cream cheese with the powdered sugar. You can do that with a spatula or with a whisk by hand, or with an electric beater.

Just make sure to get rid of most lumps. You can even give it a quick blend with an immersion blender to make it lump free.

When the chocolate is hard, spread the cream cheese mix on top of the fruit pizza.

cream cheese spread on top of fruit pizza

Now you just have to add the fruit on top, cut a slice, and eat it. We like to slice or chop the fruit in small pieces, and add it randomly, without a pattern, on top of the fruit pizza.

fruit pizza with fresh fruit

Tips

  • Kneading: do not over-knead. Over-kneading a sugar cookie pie crust will make it hard, compact, and not crunchy. This happens because kneading develops the gluten in the flour making the crust tough and too compact.
  • Rolling: this pie crust will grow slightly while it bakes. So we like to roll it quite thin, about 1/8 of an inch max. That is 3 to 4 millimeters.
  • Baking paper: rolling pie crust can be difficult if you’ve never done it. To make things easier, roll the dough directly on top of a piece of baking paper. This way all you have to do after rolling is to move the baking paper with the dough into the baking tray.
  • Make it round: before rolling, make sure to make a dough ball that is quite round. This will help. Then, while rolling, turn the dough often, a few degrees, after each roll, and keep rolling. This should help you keep a round shape.

    Finally, if your fruit pizza base is still not round, then you can use a pizza cutter, or a knife, to trim the edges and make it rounder.
  • Chocolate: this is definitely optional, but recommended. With a little bit of extra effort you’ll have an even more delicious fruit pizza.

    Also, spreading a thin layer of melted dark chocolate on top of the sugar cookie pie crust, and letting it cool down, acts as a protective layer against moisture leaking from the cream cheese to the pie crust. This way you’ll have a crunchier fruit pizza for longer.
crunchy pie crust with chocolate and cream cheese

Frequently asked questions

How to keep fruit pizza from getting soggy?

The best way to keep a fruit pizza from getting soggy is to add a layer of melted dark chocolate on top of the pie crust, before adding the cream cheese.

As the chocolate cools down, it creates like a protective shell against moisture and it will keep your fruit pizza crunchy for longer. Also, it is best to only build your fruit pizza shortly before serving it.

What is the best fruit for fruit pizza?

The best fruit for fruit pizza is: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, kiwi, banana, apricots, grapes, peach, mango, nectarines. Avoid watery fruit like watermelon, melon, and pears.

Can I make fruit pizza gluten free?

Yes, you can easily replace all purpose flour with a gluten free flour mix for pies and tarts.

strawberry, grapes, blueberries, banana, kiwi topping

Optional glossy finish

Often you’ll see fruit pizzas and fruit tarts that are shiny and glossy on top. Most often, the glossy finish is made of gelatine.

This is intended to protect the fruit on top of the pizza from oxidising and turning dark. Gelatine acts as a protective layer against air protecting the fruit.

Since gelatine is usually made from fish or pork remains, we prefer to use a simple plant-based alternative. That is, apricot jam and water.

apricot jam melted with water

To do that, simply warm up three tablespoons of apricot jam – preferably one without fruit pieces – with a couple of tbsps of water.

Stir, then when the jam is liquefied, but not too hot, add it on top on the fruit pizza, and with the help of a brush, distribute it over the fruit creating a thin, shiny layer on top.

As the jam cools down, it will thicken up a bit, resembling gelatine. It will protect the fruit from turning brown, and also will add an extra pinch of fruity sweetness.

Variations

Fitness fruit pizza: for an healthier fruit pizza, replace all purpose flour with wholewheat flour, white sugar with coconut sugar, and cream cheese with soy or coconut yogurt. Quantities stays the same.

One-fruit fruit pizza: you can make a delicious fruit pizza even with just one fruit. In this case, we recommend a green kiwi fruit pizza or a strawberry fruit pizza.

You just need to slice 4 to 5 kiwis and arrange their slices on top of the cream cheese. Same thing with the strawberries. You’ll need about 1.5 cups.

Fruit tart: another delicious fruity recipe is our fruit tart made with plenty of custard, fruit and the same pie crust.

fruit pizza variation fruit tart

Storage

We recommend storing this fruit pizza for a max of 24 hours. After that, it will start to get soggy. You can refrigerate the pizza overnight if you need to store it.

Can I make fruit pizza in advance?

Yes, you can prepare all the elements for fruit pizza in advance: the pie crust base, the cream-cheese filling, and the fruit. However, it is best to assemble it shortly before serving it.

Be aware that some fruit, like banana, peach, nectarine, strawberry and apple, will turn brown if you cut it in advance. So we recommend prepping those fruit last minute. If you prep the cream cheese filling in advance, then store it in the refrigerator.

You can prepare the pie crust in advance, then you have several options:

  • Refrigerate the dough for up to a couple of days, wrapped in film. Then, when you need it, let it get closer to room temperature before rolling it flat.
  • Freeze the dough for up to 3 months. Then when you need it, thaw in the refrigerator.
  • Bake it and store it for for up to 2 days, but without adding the toppings. Keep it in a dry corner of your kitchen.

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Did you make this fruit pizza? Then, leave us a comment below – it makes us very happy and it helps us improve our recipes.

Recipe

fruit pizza

Fruit pizza

By: Nico Pallotta
4.67 from 3 votes
Fruit pizza is an easy, fun, crunchy and refreshing recipe made with a quick, homemade sugar cookie pie crust base, topped with cream cheese and a mix of fresh seasonal fruit.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Cooling down: 20 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American Italian

Equipment

  • Rolling pin

Ingredients

For the pie crust

  • 65 g sugar
  • 55 g sunflower oil
  • 60 g water
  • 230 g flour all-purpose or wholewheat
  • 6 g baking powder

For the topping

  • 230 g dairy-free cream cheese tofutti, daya, trader joes, violife
  • 30 g powdered sugar
  • 100 g dark chocolate or dark chocolate chips
  • 250 g mixed fresh fruit of choice* we usually use strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peach, apricot, kiwi, banana

Instructions 

For the pie crust base

  • Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line your baking tray with parchment paper, and keep it our of the oven while the oven preheats.
    In a bowl, add sugar, oil, water, and mix with a spatula for just a minute, to dissolve some of the sugar in the liquid. Add the flour and the baking powder and stir with a spatula till the flour absorbs the liquids.
    TIP: to distribute the baking powder evenly, I like to sift it with the flour while adding them to the liquids Alternatively, you could first mix flour and baking powder into a separate bowl, then add them to the liquids.
    mixing the ingredients for the pie crust
  • Now on a worktop, knead with your hands, gently, for a short minute. Just the time to bring all the ingredients together and form a dough ball. Do not over-knead.
    kneading the dough
  • Take the sheet of parchment paper and with a rolling pin, flatten the dough ball into a disc on top of it. It should look like a pizza base. To make sure it turns out round, rotate the disc often while you flatten it.
    We like our fruit pizza quite thin so we flatten it down to ⅛ of an inch, or 3 to 4 mm.
    rolling the dough
  • Transfer the parchment paper with the pizza onto the baking tray. Trim the edges to make it rounder if you want. I use a pizza wheel to do that.
    Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and let it cool down.
    trimming the edge of the pie crust

For the topping

  • This step is optional: shred the chocolate, then melt it. Spread a thin layer of melted chocolate on top of the baked fruit pizza base, then let it cool down till it's hard.
    If you live in a hot climate, you can refrigerate the pizza base with the chocolate on it for 15 minutes to speed things up.
    TIP: You can melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave, heating the chocolate a few seconds at a time. Or you can do it bain-marie, that is, pur the bowl with the dark chocolate into a larger pot, filled with hot water. The heat of the water will melt the chocolate.
    spreading the chocolate on the pie crust base
  • In a bowl mix the cream cheese with the powdered sugar. You can do that with a spatula or with a whisk by hand, or whit an electric beater. Just make sure to get rid of most lumps. You can even blend it with an immersion blender to make it lump-free.
    When the chocolate is hard, spread the cream cheese mix on top of the fruit pizza.
    spreading the cream cheese on top of the fruit pizza
  • Now you just have to add the fruit on top, cut a slice, and eat it. We like to slice or chop the fruit in small pieces, and add it randomly, without a pattern, on top of the fruit pizza.
    fruit pizza is ready

Notes

Measurements: we recommend using the metric system for this recipe.
* Where we live fruit is very cheap in summer, so we went for a mix of seasonal fresh fruit that included: 8 strawberries, 8 raspberries, 8 grapes, 20 blueberries, 1 green kiwi, 1 apricot, 1 nectarine, and some mint leaves on top. You can make a delicious fruit pizza even with just strawberries, and blueberries. Or even one with just one fruit, for example just green kiwi, or just strawberries.

Nutrition

Calories: 374kcal, Carbohydrates: 44g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 20g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 6g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 1mg, Potassium: 159mg, Dietary Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 17g, Vitamin A: 8IU, Vitamin B6: 1mg, Vitamin C: 15mg, Vitamin E: 2mg, Vitamin K: 2µg, Calcium: 38mg, Folate: 59µg, Iron: 3mg, Manganese: 1mg, Magnesium: 38mg, Zinc: 1mg
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Nico and Louise in the kitchen

Hi! We are Nico & Louise

Welcome to The Plant-Based School, a food blog with easy, tasty, and wholesome recipes.

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