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You're the STAR Blog Hop & HOME Features

T his linky party is the perfect place to show off your creativity! Share your blog posts, for a chance to be featured next month!     WELCOME to the August 2022  " You're the Star " Blog Hop! Before we continue onto the Linky party I wanted to share from my blog: Keep cool during these last few weeks of summer with my delicious 3-Ingredient No Churn Ice Cream ! ___________________________ WELCOME to  HOME feature week of the August 2022  " You're the STAR " blog hop! Meet your HOME week Hosts   This week is HOME feature week Swing by the Home Hosts' Blogs: Bev from Eclectic Red Barn Cindy from Mom, the Lunch Lady Niki from Life as a LEO Wife This is a month long Linky party featuring YOU! There will be 4 different features each week and 4 different feature categories.  Just to be clear - this is NOT a themed party - you may link up ANY family-friendly blog posts any day of each month.   The "theme" occurs in our weekly features:

Lemon PEEPS Sugar Cookie Pizza

This Lemon Sugar Cookie Pizza recipe starts with a soft and tender sugar cookie crust, covered with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting and layered with luscious, vibrant fresh fruit. Marshmallow Peeps are nested atop toasted coconut, to add a festive touch.


Fruit pizza originated around the 1980s and it has become a super popular dessert. This type of tart is known for it's pizza shaped cookie crust, frosting and fruit toppings. Well known for their intricate fruit patterns, many people see fruit pizzas as a healthier dessert. Perfect for any celebration, this pizza bursting with fresh fruit is a perfect way to welcome Spring. After all who could resist a giant soft sugar cookie, cream cheese frosting and delicious fresh fruit? I know I sure can't!

I am all about great looking food. The old adage, "you eat with your eyes" is totally true for me. I have always been a visual person and anytime I see a recipe that looks amazing, you bet I want to try it out. Which is the case with fruit pizza. I love how colourful it is. I love that you can make any pattern you want, combining any colours you want. I love the contrast of the white cookie and frosting, to the bright jewel tones of the fruit. 

When I worked at the daycare center, one of the new snack items I added to the menu was a fruit pizza. Rather than make it on cookies, I made it on whole wheat naan bread. The kids happened to LOVE it and parents loved that it was a healthy snack. This only shows how versatile fruit pizzas really are. You can use different bases such a naan bread, snickerdoodle cookie dough, shortbread cookie dough- the possibilities are endless. Same goes with the fruit! Use a combination of fruit you and your family loves. Use the fruit that looks good in the store this week. Anything goes!

The fact that you can adapt this Lemon Sugar Cookie Pizza recipe is what makes it so special. It's the perfect recipe to make with the kids. If you can chop fruit, you totally can make this recipe. The different fruits add so many different textures in every bite. It's like a party in your mouth. The colourful beauty of this pie, makes it perfect for Spring and a wonderful addition to your Easter meal. It slices and serves perfectly and it really is a special treat for any special occasion.


What fruit should I use to make a Cookie Pizza?

There really isn't a rule to what fruit you can use on fruit pizzas. You can arrange the fruit is colourful patters, or if you 're less creative, just pile it all on top. If you do use fruit like apples and bananas, that tend to brown, make sure you brush them with lemon juice, to keep them looking fresh. Fruit like berries are great; we always love strawberries and blueberries on ours. Kiwi and red grapes add a gorgeous pop of colour. You can even use fruit like melons, star fruit, or oranges. That's the beauty of this dessert. You can customise it to your liking!

Is a Fruit Cookie Pizza hard to make?

Like I mentioned earlier in my post, if you can cut fruit, you can make this pizza. This is a great recipe to get the kids involved and get them practising safe knife handling. When my kids were younger, they used a nylon knife, but as they began to get older, I taught them the proper way to hold a chef knife and proper finger placement when chopping foods. 

For this recipe you start by making your cookie dough. I like to use a sugar cookie recipe, but chocolate chip cookie dough, snickerdoodle cookie dough and even shortbread cookie dough would also work beautifully. Alternately you can use store bought prepared cookie dough, with the same results. Next you spread the cookie dough into a pizza pan, onto a pizza stone, or you can even use a tart pan with a removable bottom. Make sure to spread the dough out evenly, so that it bakes evenly. The trick here is to refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes before baking, to prevent it from spreading. When the edges of your crust begin to brown, your base is done. 

Once the base of the pizza is baked, let it cool completely. You don't want your frosting to melt! You can get creative with the frosting as well. I added melted white chocolate in mine. You can add food colouring to make it colourful, or you can add citrus zest and juice to give the frosting an added pop of flavour. In this recipe, softened cream cheese is mixed with melted white chocolate and then cooled in the fridge. You can also make your frosting by beating cream cheese, with butter and powdered sugar, for more traditional cream cheese frosting. The frosting is spread over the cooled cookie base in an even layer.

While the base is cooling, chop your fruit. Slice strawberries from pointy end to round end, slice peeled kiwi, wash and dry your berries. If you are using toasted coconut like I did, you would spread it on a baking sheet, and place it in a 350 degree F oven for 5-10 minutes; until golden brown. Make sure to cool the toasted coconut before placing on the frosted pizza. 

The final step is decorating! Arrange the fruit in pretty patterns, or simply pile it on top. This would be a great way to teach kids about symmetry!

PIN IT!!!

Equipment needed for this recipe
  • pizza pan/pizza stone, baking sheet or tart pan
  • mixer
  • mixing bowls (3)
  • measuring cups and spoons
  • spatula
  • cutting board
  • sharp knife
  • sauce pot
  • baking sheet
  • wire cooling rack
Lemon PEEPS Sugar Cookie Pizza

1/2 C butter, softened
3/4 C sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1-8 oz package of light cream cheese
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/2 C cream
1 pkg yellow PEEPS chicks (2 rows of 5)
1 pkg white chocolate chips
1 C powdered sugar
assorted sliced fruit (strawberries, kiwi)
black berries
1/2 C unsweetened large flake coconut
2 PEEPS chicks
candy eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar, until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, until well combined. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix until a soft dough forms. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before baking  (dough will grow and over flow if you don't refrigerate before baking). Quickly pat cold dough out onto a pizza stone, 1/2 inch from the edge. Bake 8-10 minutes, until the dough begins to brown slightly. Remove from oven and let cool completely, on a wire cooling rack. Once cookie is removed from oven, place coconut on a rimmed baking sheet and place in oven. Bake for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally; until coconut is golden brown.


In a small sauce pot, add the cream and PEEPS and heat over med-low heat. Stir occasionally until the PEEPS have completely melted; about 5-10 minutes. Pour PEEPS cream over the white chocolate chips, in a bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir to combine. Let cool completely.

In a clean bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the lemon zest and juice, and the cooled white chocolate mixture; beating until smooth. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar and beat an additional 3 minutes. Spread onto the cookie, in an even layer.

Place the toasted coconut in a mound, in the centre of the cookie. Place fruit onto pizza, in a circular pattern, starting with strawberries, then black berries, followed by kiwi and more black berries. Chop remaining strawberries, and sprinkle around the outer edge of the pizza. Place two PEEPS onto the toasted coconut, along with a few candy eggs.

I'm sharing this recipe with these linky parties!


Comments

  1. Oh my goodness, I love this cookie pizza! It's so smart to put peeps on it and make it for Easter! This brings me back to my childhood when my mom used to make these! Yum!!

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  2. I love the use of peeps to make the frosting - sometimes that opened box of peeps can go a little stale, and now here's a use for them!

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  3. Okay that is super cute and I'll bet it tastes delicious too!

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  4. This is so gorgeous! I love the different types of fresh fruit and the little nest in the middle.

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  5. very cute! never thought of a fruit pizza, but I remember munching with jelly fruity pizza when I was a kid

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  6. I love a sugar cookie pizza! The addition of peeps is wonderful and colorful. Fun!

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  7. This is so colorful and fun. Perfect for Easter or any spring occasion!

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  8. How fun. Love the peeps nest. Thank you for sharing on the Classy Flamingos blog party.

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  9. I love making cookie pizza and your addition of peeps makes it perfect for Easter !

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  10. This cookie pizza was so good… and so easy to make! The kids loved it.

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  11. love this idea if cookie fruit pizza, enjoying both fruits and a cookie at the same time. Also good for sharing!

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  12. such a cute idea of this sugar pizza!! i looks just like a real cheezy pizza

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  13. Peeps in the dough? OMG you are a genius!

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  14. You just elevated the cookie pizza! Absolutely loved this. Thank you for the recipe

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  15. I've already save it for Easter. Making it would be just as much fun as an Easter egg hunt, now that the hunters are getting older. This cookie pizza is so vibrant!

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  16. I never thought to melt peeps! What a fun idea.

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  17. I’m on dessert duty for Easter, so I did a practice run! This was so fresh and delicious.! I can’t wait to show this off for Easter!!

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  18. super fun for easter ! i need to bring a dessert next week. this will be perfect!

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  19. Wow, this is such a great sugar cookie recipe and so lovely to make with the kids. Love it.

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