4th of July Fruit Pizza decorated like Uncle Sam’s Hat

Show everyone how patriotic and American you are by making this 4th of July Fruit Pizza for your next party. Uncle Sam would be proud of how good his hat looks made with healthy strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries.

The 4th of July is always hot around here and when dining outdoors, it’s a good idea to serve a cool and refreshing dessert. My mom always made a strawberries and cream fruit pizza for our backyard bar-b-ques. I love the combination of a cookie crust with a cheesecake type frosting all topped with fresh fruit. And you know me, I can’t just sprinkle the fruit on a plain old round cookie, I’ve gotta get creative.

I’ve seen lots of Fruit Pizza Flags on the web, and I thought it would be fun to take that one step further and create a patriotic red, white and blue fruit pizza that resembles Uncle Sam’s hat. I cut a large sugar cookie into a hat shape, baked it, frosted it with cream cheese fluff, then topped it with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and apples. I’ve used several recipes to create my decorated fruit pizzas, and this one is by far my favorite.

4th of July Fruit Pizza decorated like Uncle Sam’s Hat

Ingredients:

Sugar Cookie Crust:
1 pouch Betty Crocker Sugar Cookies Mix (or use your favorite sugar cookie recipe)
2 tablespoons flour, plus more for dusting counter
1 stick butter, softened
1 large egg

Cream Cheese Fluff:
8 ounces Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 cup marshmallow fluff
8 ounce tub of Cool Whip frozen whipped topping, thawed

Fruit:
3/4 pound strawberries, hulled, and cut into small pieces
6-8 ounces blueberries
10-12 ounces raspberries
1 large Granny Smith Apple
a splash of lemon juice

Supplies Needed:

cutting board
2 sheets parchment paper
rolling pin
pizza wheel or knife
baking sheet
electric mixer
skewer, toothpick or knife
small star cookie cutter (1 inch – 1 1/2 inches)

Instructions:

If you are using Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix, I suggest you sift it before you begin. I often end up with small hard bits of dry ingredients if I don’t sift it.

Mix cookie mix, flour, butter, and egg together until well combined. Scoop dough out of bowl, shaped into a round disc, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Line cutting board with parchment paper. Dust the paper lightly with flour. Unwrap dough and set on parchment paper. Roll out to 3/8 inch thickness. Use a pizza wheel or knife to cut out a hat shape. If you need a guide, find an image on-line and print it out to use as a template. Remove excess dough and brush excess flour off parchment paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Move refrigerated cookie to baking sheet by lifting up the parchment paper and sliding it on the pan. Bake for 14-18 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely then move onto serving platter or nice cutting board.

Beat cream cheese and marshmallow fluff until well combined. Add Cool Whip and beat until fluffy. Reserve about 1/3 of this fluffy frosting for later. Spread 2/3 of the frosting over the cookie. Use a skewer, toothpick, or knife to draw the Uncle Sam Hat design you’d like to use. I added stripes a band and the brim.

Slice a thin piece off each side of your apple (very thin, you just want to remove some of the skin and give yourself a flat surface.) Then make 4 thicker slices from each side. Cut 4 stars from the slices. Dip or brush stars in lemon juice to keep them from browning.

Arrange fruit on hat. Actually before you begin, fill a pastry bag with the reserved frosting and pipe on the white stripes. I should have done that before adding the fruit. It would have looked nicer.

Add blueberries for the band, strawberries for every other stripe. Then add strawberries for the top of the hat and raspberries for the brim. Use a dab of frosting to “glue” the three stars on the hat, then cut one star in half and add it to the edge of the band.

You’ll want to make this Patriotic Fruit Pizza the day you serve it for the best results. That way the fruit will be very fresh and the cookie crust will have some structure and crunch.

Items used to create this project that are available on Amazon.com (commission earned for sales)

 

If you’re looking for other 4th of July Recipes, click the link and explore all my other Independence Day inspired food.