Fruit Pizza

Happy 4th of July!

I have been informed that Fruit Pizza is an “Ohio thing”. Along with veggie pizza, but I’m still in the dark on that one. With the in-season berries, I wanted to make something with fruit while entertaining co-workers of Mr. P’s.

My friend Google quickly turned up a recipe of Paula Deen’s for fruit pizza. While there wasn’t a stick of butter in the ingredient list, there was chocolate syrup and white chocolate. So if you’re looking for something really sweet and heavy, you can check out the original recipe. I lightened this up just a tad by omitting the chocolate and chocolate syrup, and by using reduced-fat cream cheese. And not to my surprise, it was a favorite among guests…and hostess 😉

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Fruit Pizza slightly adapted from Paula Deen

Pizza Dough:
1 roll store-bought sugar cookie dough

Toppings:
8 ounces light cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 pint blackberries or blueberries
2 large kiwi, peeled and sliced
1 large orange, sectioned
1/2 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
1 medium banana, sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Flatten cookie dough onto pizza pan and roll to ~13-14 inches in diameter.

Bake until firm to touch, about 11 to 15 minutes. Cool. In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese and sugar. Spread the baked cookie with the cream cheese mixture and decorate with sliced fruit. Slice and serve immediately. Yield: 16 servings.

Nutrition Information (per serving): 216 calories; 8.2 g. fat; 15 mg. cholesterol; 185 mg. sodium; 32.4 g. carbohydrate; 1.3 g. fiber; 2.4 g. protein

Result: A summer HIT! Everyone loved this! On the lighter side, but still curbs the sugar craving. People loved this – it’s colors are inviting and everyone loves pizza! This was simple to make, but should be made very close to serving time. You can make the “crust” (cookie) as thin or thick as you like, but I rolled it out fairly thin to serve plenty and keep the nutrition stats respectable 😉 Enjoy!

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I learned all about BBQ, brisket, and fried pickles when I lived in Tulsa. Now I know all about fruit pizza in Ohio!

To make this 4th of July appropriate, try using just red berries (strawberries and raspberries) and blueberries. If you’re lucky enough to find a star fruit, those would be perfect in celebration, as well. Even though they’re yellow 😉

I think it’s just now hitting me that June is gone and July is here. Man, how the summer passes by so quickly! Where ever you are, I hope you’re 1) not working and 2) having gorgeous weather! And hopefully you’ll be eating some great food, too 😀

Question: What’s your favorite dessert recipe that contains fruit?

Happy 4th!