My red, white and blue patriotic fruit pizza is delicious, naturally sweetened, dairy free and gluten free! The perfect sweet treat to bring along to a fourth of July celebration, or to enjoy at home with your family. The fruit pizza cookie crust is made using almond flour, and the dairy-free cream cheese mixture tastes like lemon cashew frosting. The kids couldn’t stop licking the bowl after making the cashew frosting! Add this healthier fruit pizza to your next gathering for any patriotic holidays – it will become a crowd favorite!
Red, white and blue dessert pizza
The fresh berries are so beautiful on this fruit pizza. I used blueberries and strawberries because I was going for a 4th of July theme here.
However, use any fruit that you have! Fresh raspberries, blackberries, or even mixing up the fresh fruit and going for mango would be a tasty twist with this delicious recipe.
We served our fruit pizza as an after-dinner dessert, but this is such a healthy one, I would give it to my kids as a snack too!
They wouldn’t complain one bit and I’d totally be the cool mom.
What makes this a patriotic fruit pizza?
Red white blue – that’s what makes this the perfect patriotic dessert!
You could line your rows of strawberries up to look like an American flag and use the creamy frosting for the white stripes.
It can definitely be baked on a round pizza pan, or turn the shape into a rectangular shaped flag fruit pizza for a memorial day, labor day, independence day, or even a birthday party dessert.
It would be a huge hit for any July party!
How we naturally sweetened it
Maple syrup is the main sweetener here. A small amount is used in the sugar cookies crust. Maple syrup is also used to sweeten our sweet cream cheese frosting made with cashews.
I wouldn’t suggest using honey for the pizza crust because it browns quickly in the oven.
However, I would definitely recommend honey as the sweetener in the cashew frosting! It would add a delicious flavor if you’re looking for a different natural sweetener to use.
Keeping it dairy free
A cream cheese frosting would be equally delicious here, but we kept it dairy free using cashews.
The lemon cashew frosting was 100% my favorite part here. Don’t skip the lemon juice and lemon zest. It adds such a delicious flavor!
Cashews blend perfectly into a creamy, dreamy frosting.
But if you can’t use nuts or have a hard time finding raw cashews at your grocery store, you can opt to use your favorite frosting, a whipped cream mixture, or cool whip,
Easy gluten free fruit pizza crust
For the sugar cookie base, it is 100% gluten-free as we’re using almond flour to create a nice and soft sugar cookie crust.
It is basically making a large shortbread cookie as the base.
The crust is naturally sweetened with maple syrup and uses coconut oil to keep it from becoming dry. It’s also super easy to mix up in 1 bowl. WIN!
Ingredients needed for this patriotic fruit pizza
- almond flour
- coconut oil
- maple syrup
- vanilla extract
- sea salt
- raw cashews
- lemon juice and zest
- coconut cream
- berries
How to make your red, white, and blue dessert pizza
Scroll down to view the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions.
The first step is to begin soaking your cashews in water to help soften them. Soak for 1 hour in a small bowl. If you are rushed on time, bring your water to a boil and soak them for 10 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees F. To make the almond flour pizza crust, combine the almond flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and sea salt in a medium bowl.
Mix well, and form the cookie dough mixture into a 10″ pizza shape on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
You can also use a 10 inch pizza pan instead of a baking sheet. If you opt to not use parchment paper, use a little bit of non-stick spray on the pan.
Bake the sugar cookie fruit pizza crust for 19-21 minutes, or until the cookie edge becomes golden and it is baked on the underside.
Allow the crust to cool fully at room temperature before topping.
To make the cashew frosting, drain the water from the cashews.
Add the cashews, maple syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest, coconut cream, vanilla and sea salt into a food processor. Blend until smooth.
Spread the lemon cashew “cream cheese” on the cooled crust to assemble your fruit pizza.
Add the berries to top in your favorite arrangement – use red and blue fruits for a July fruit pizza!
Substitutions
Below you’ll find a list of substitutions that will work well in this patriotic fruit pizza.
If you try something different out, please leave a comment below letting us all know how it turned out!
Almond flour – You could use almond meal to replace the almond flour or whole wheat flour.
Coconut oil – Butter or ghee are great substitutes.
Maple syrup – In the frosting recipe, honey works well as a substitute. I would suggest agave nectar to replace the maple syrup in the crust.
Raw cashews – A different nut will not work well to replace the cashews, so if cashews are not an option, use a different whipped topping or your favorite frosting recipes to replace the cream cheese frosting. You can also use an electric mixer and whip cream cheese with powder sugar for an easy homemade cream cheese frosting.
Lemon – Orange juice and orange zest are great substitutes. Lime as well.
Coconut cream – You can replace the coconut cream with heavy cream for a dairy-filled option.
Love naturally sweet treats? Try these easy recipes:
Red, White and Blue Patriotic Fruit Pizza (DF + GF)
Ingredients
Cookie Crust Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp sea salt
Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 3 tbsp coconut cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of sea salt
Topping
- 5 strawberries, sliced into rounds (or more!)
- ¼ cup blueberries (or more!)
Instructions
- The first step is to begin soaking your cashews in water to help soften them. Soak for 1 hour in a small bowl. If you are rushed on time, bring your water to a boil and soak them for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. To make the almond flour pizza crust, combine the almond flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and sea salt in a medium bowl. Mix well, and form the cookie dough mixture into a 10″ pizza shape on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. You can also use a 10-inch pizza pan instead of a baking sheet. If you opt to not use parchment paper, use a little bit of non-stick spray on the pan.
- Bake the sugar cookie fruit pizza crust for 19-21 minutes, or until the cookie edge becomes golden and it is baked on the underside. Allow the crust to cool fully at room temperature before topping.
- To make the cashew frosting, drain the water from the cashews. Add the cashews, maple syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest, coconut cream, vanilla, and sea salt into a food processor. Blend until smooth.
- Spread the lemon cashew “cream cheese” on the cooled crust to assemble your fruit pizza. Add the berries to top in your favorite arrangement – use red and blue fruits for a July fruit pizza!
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this fruit pizza recipe, I’d love it if you left a star rating and comment below letting me know how it turned out!
XO
Heather
Originally published June 2020. Updated June 2022.
