Fruit Pizza

The jewel of all desserts! I would take this over anything, ANYTHING you might offer, and I'm a pretty big lover of all things sweet.

Essentially this is a giant sugar cookie with cream cheese frosting and fruit on top. If you don't like cream cheese, I have one thing to say: I am so, so sorry. Well, I actually I have something more constructive to add: you could substitute shortening for the cream cheese to make a more traditional frosting . . . but I can't vouch for the final product's awesomeness.

I make my own sugar cookie dough but you could probably use refrigerated dough from the store. This recipe is my absolute go-to recipe for sugar cookies. The recipe is double what you need for one pizza; you can make two, or make sugar cookies with the rest, or roll it into a log and freeze it for later.

FRUIT PIZZA

Crust:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (sometimes I use lemon extract)

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.

 Roll half of the dough onto a pizza sheet (for Easter I used a 10-inch springform pan). Poke holes in the dough with a fork. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden. (Watch it, because I really can't remember how long I left this in.)

Let cool completely before adding toppings. If you're using a pizza pan, just leave it there. If you're using a springform pan, remove after 10 minutes and place on serving plate.

(For cookies, roll dough into balls and roll in white sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 8 min. at 375 degrees.)

Cream cheese layer:

4 oz. Neufchatel cream cheese (1/2 of an 8 oz. block; use more if necessary)
1 cup powdered sugar (use more if necessary)
1 teaspoon lemon juice

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Beat all ingredients with a mixer until light and fluffy. Spread onto cooled crust.

Fruit layer:

Any fruits you love except bananas (I just don't want to deal with the browning), enough to cover the pizza; sliced

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Arrange sliced fruit on pizza.

If you're like me, you will love this!