These beautiful sugar cookie fruit tarts are made with sugar cookies, cream cheese frosting, and fresh fruit. This is the perfect summer cookie.
This is my version of the full size “fruit pizzas” from the 90’s (remember those?). I love that this version makes individual cookies so they are super easy to serve. Use your favorite mixture of fruit and adapt to suit your taste preferences.
Why you’ll love this recipe
Flavor: A classic vanilla sugar cookie, sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting, and juicy fresh fruit.
Appearance: These cookies are beautiful! You can place the fruit in a pattern or just pile it on like I do. Mix and match different fruits for various pops of color.
Easy to serve: These cookies are individually portioned and easy to serve. No knife or fork needed.
Recipe overview: 3 parts
*Full recipe below in recipe card*
- Sugar cookies: This recipe uses my favorite homemade sugar cookies. They bake up flat and soft and they are flavored with vanilla and a touch of almond extract.
- Cream cheese frosting: Whip up a small batch of traditional cream cheese frosting.
- Fresh fruit: Here’s where you can be creative! Use any combination of fresh fruit that you like.
Shortcut options
You can swap out the homemade sugar cookies for store bought baked sugar cookies or even store bought dough that you bake yourself. Just make sure the cookies are flat and large enough to hold the fruit; mine are about 3 inches across.
I highly recommend making the frosting from scratch. It tastes much more fresh than the stuff you buy in a tub – and it’s so easy!
Serving and storage
These cookies can be assembled up to 3 hours before serving and stored in the refrigerator. Serve chilled or briefly bring to cool room temperature right before serving.
More summer desserts
Recipe
Sugar Cookie Fruit Tarts
Ingredients
Cookies:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, slightly softened but still cool
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour, lightly spooned and leveled
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, for flattening
Frosting:
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar, sifted, if lumpy
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 -2 teaspoons milk, if needed
Fruit:
- 2-3 cups fresh fruit*, chopped/sliced, if necessary
Instructions
Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar for 1-2 minutes, until light and creamy. Add extracts and egg, and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until combined.
- Scoop dough by the heaping tablespoon (I use a 1½ tablespoon scoop), and place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheets. Space the dough balls about two inches apart. Sprinkle the top of each dough ball with a little bit of sugar, then use the bottom of a drinking glass to flatten each cookie.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets once during bake time, if necessary. The center of the cookies should still be slightly underdone when you remove them from the oven. If using portions of dough that are more or less than 1½ tablespoons, adjust baking time accordingly. Place the baking sheets on a rack to cool completely.
Frosting and assembly:
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar and extracts and beat until well combined. Add milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, if needed to thin out the frosting.
- Spread frosting onto the top of each cookie then top with fruit.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Monique
This looks amazing! 4th of July inspired??!!
Laura
thank you for this recipe, it is a great idea. I should have plenty of raspberry in the garden this summer, fingers crossed. Anyway, why just summer? Change season change fruit !!
Elizabeth
What a super summer dessert idea! Perfect for a garden picnic, this!
Emily
What a perfect Summer treat, they look gorgeous!
Valentina
Love these! They look like mini Pavlova. SO pretty!
Jovita @ Yummy Addiction
Love your selection of berries! These tarts look super summer-y and I am pretty sure they are crazy delicious too!
Christina Shoemaker
These are so adorable and perfect for summer! I love the idea of switching up the fruit too! So many fun things you could with these!
Tina
These are super adorable! I need someone to invite me to a picnic so I can bring these along 🙂
Roxana
These look gorgeous. What a nice idea!
Mary // Chattavore
These look so delicious. I love iced sugar cookies! And your video looks great!