Hellobee

There are so many great reasons to serve berries on the Fourth of July that I’m not inclined to break the tradition. With so few foods to choose from, a combination including blueberries is the best way to keep with the patriotic theme. They also happen to be in season and, well, delicious. If you’re looking for a way to beautifully incorporate blueberries and strawberries into your Independence Day dessert table, I have a crowd-pleasing recipe for you today: Fourth of July dessert pizza.

Dessert pizza is really just a giant cookie, perfect for slicing up at a party. For this recipe, I used homemade sugar cookie dough for the crust, but if you’re short on time you can opt for packaged cookie dough instead. Once baked and cooled, I top it with a not-too-sweet cream cheese frosting and decoratively arranged blueberries and strawberries. It’s ideal for the holiday not only because it’s on-theme, but because it’s so easy to make yet simultaneously impressive to guests. Oh, and did I mention kids love it??

Fourth of July Dessert Pizza

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla, divided use
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1 cup blueberries
1 cup sliced strawberries

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg, milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until just combined. Beat in the flour mixture just until the dough comes together. Use a spatula to move the dough to plastic wrap. Shape into a disc and wrap tightly. Refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375 degree F. Place the dough disc on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper and sprinkle with flour. Roll into a circle 10-11 inches in diameter. To make a perfect circle, top with an overturned plate and use a knife to trim away the excess. (Alternately, press the cookie dough into a pizza pan.) Bake until barely started to turn golden at the edges, about 15 minutes. Cool completely before topping.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beater together the cream cheese, honey, and remaining teaspoon of vanilla until light and fluffy. Spread evenly over the cooled cookie crust, and top with strawberries and blueberries as pictured or as desired.