🧾 What You’ll Need

Equipment

• 9×13 baking pan: I like to use a metal 9×13 pan to bake these bars.
• Foil or parchment paper: To make clean up a breeze and easily remove the bars from the pan, I highly recommend lining the pan with foil or parchment paper and giving it a quick coating of non-stick cooking spray.
• Utensils: You’ll need a whisk and spatula to blend the crust and filling.
• Sift: Although optional, sifting the flour into the filling really helps to prevent lumps. Using a sift is a tiny extra step that will make a big difference in the texture of your bars.
• Chef’s knife: If you want bars with crisp cut lines, make sure to use a large sharp chef’s knife when cutting them.

Equipment

• Food processor: Use a food processor to grind the toasted pecans and combine the tart dough easily.
• Deep-dish tart pan: I made my tart in a 10×2-inch deep dish fluted tart pan. You could also make this recipe in a 9-inch deep dish pie pan or 9-inch springform pan.
• Tin foil and pie weights: When baking the crust, line it with non-stick aluminium foil and then fill the cavity with pie weights, dry rice, or dry beans. This helps the crust to bake evenly and prevents it from bubbling up.
• Whisk: You’ll need a whisk to stir the filling as it cooks and thickens.

💡 Tips and FAQs  

Make the most out of your homemade Strawberry Sauce with these helpful tips!

🧾What You’ll Need

Ingredients

The good news: this fruit pizza is made with common baking ingredients, so you probably already have most, if not all, of the ingredients you’ll need! Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you make this recipe. (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)

For the Cookie Crust

I love making fruit pizza with a homemade cookie crust. However, to save time feel free to use a premade storebought cookie dough in place of the ingredients below.

• Flour: Use all-purpose flour for the base of the cookie dough. Make sure to measure carefully, using a food scale if possible.
• Baking soda
• Unsalted butter and salt: Use unsalted butter that has been softened to room temperature. If you only have salted butter, omit the excess salt.
• Sugar: Use regular, white granulated sugar.
• Lemon zest: I love the fresh taste that a bit of lemon zest gives to the sugar cookie crust. If you don’t have 2 large lemons, you can swap in another citrus zest, like orange or grapefruit, or just omit it entirely.
• Eggs: It’s important to use large eggs (not extra large or medium). Bring them to room temperature before getting started.
• Cream: You can use either heavy cream or heavy whipping cream.
• Lemon extract: To flavor the cookie crust, use a high-quality lemon extract.

For the Frosting

Looking for a quicker way to frost the crust? You can use a storebought cream cheese frosting, other canned frosting, or even storebought strawberry cream cheese spread instead of making your own.

• Cream cheese: Use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese for the best flavor. Bring it to room temperature to make it easier to mix with the other ingredients.
• Strawberry jam: To flavor the frosting, you’ll need strawberry jam. Bring it to room temperature before mixing it into the frosting to prevent lumps. If desired, you can use other flavors of jam like raspberry or cherry.
• Powdered sugar: Helps to sweeten and thicken the frosting.

For the Toppings and Glaze

• Fresh fruit: You’ll want to gather ALL THE FRUIT — the more colorful and bountiful, the better! Feel free to use whatever is readily available to you, but my personal must-haves are lots of fresh berries, mangoes, clementine slices, and grapes. Combined, these have a lot of different colors and textures that make the fruit pizza look fresh and vibrant. If you have access to fun fruits like dragon fruit or star fruit (featured below!) that’s just the cherry on top…pardon the fruity pun. ;)You’ll need about 8 cups of assorted fresh fruit, washed and sliced. The only fruit I don’t recommend is bananas because of how quickly they brown.
• Apple jelly: To give the glaze a lovely shine, use apple jelly, or other light-colored jelly. It also prevents the fruit from wilting and drying out after it’s cut.
• Water: To thin the glaze.

Equipment

You’ll only need a few basic kitchen tools to make this Easter dessert. Here’s what you should know. (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)

• Microplane: Use a microplane to zest fresh lemons.
• Mixer: You’ll want a mixer to whip up the cookie dough and cream cheese frosting. I prefer using a stand mixer, but you can also use a hand mixer.
• Plastic wrap: It’s helpful to have some plastic wrap on hand to wrap the dough in before chilling it.
• Rolling pin: For easy rolling, place your dough between two sheets of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to smooth it out.
• Parchment paper: The easiest way to move a giant cookie crust around? Bake it on parchment so you can slide it right off the baking sheet, no awkward contortions required!
• Baking sheet: You’ll want to use a half-sheet pan (approx 13×18″) so you have enough room for the large cookie crust. Look for a sturdy one with a thick bottom so the bottom of the cookie doesn’t burn before it’s cooked through. I use and love these Nordic Ware baking sheets.
• Cookie cutters: If you want to cut shapes into some of the fruit slices, you can use small cookie cutters. You could use flowers, hearts, stars and more!
• Pastry brush: Use a pastry brush to glaze the top of the pizza.
• Pizza cutter: I like to use a pizza cutter for slicing up the fruit pizza. You can also use a large knife.

1. Beat cream cheese: Use a handmixer to beat 8 oz cream cheese until smooth and free of lumps.
2. Mix in jam and sugar: Add 1/3 cup strawberry jam and 6 oz (1 1/2 cups) powdered sugar, beat until well-mixed.
3. Prep the fruit: Time to get slicing! Prep your fruit right before you are ready to use it. Cut up any large fruit (strawberries, mangoes, star fruit, etc) into slices. For larger grapes and berries, you might want to cut them in half so it’s easier to decorate with them. Small berries can be left whole. If desired, use small cutters on some of the slices to make pretty shapes.

💭Variations

There are a million and one ways to make a fruit pizza! Consider some of these twists:

• Use another flavor in your cream cheese: Lemon, orange, and raspberry would all be delicious.
• Decorate for another holiday: Try a Fourth of July variation in the shape of a flag with red and blue berries. Halloween time? Make the base in the shape of a pumpkin, use pumpkin spice cream cheese, and fill the top with citrus fruits to keep the orange theme.
• Make the pizzas personal-sized: Mini fruit pizzas are the cutest! Make palm-sized cookie crusts so everyone gets their own. Use an egg cutter to make the mini pizzas look like Easter eggs!

Mason jars aren’t just for canning and Pinterest-inspired home decor: they’re also a fantastic tool for the home baker! They’re endlessly versatile. You can:

• Bake directly in them, like this Pear Pie in a Jar
• Fill them with mousse, pudding or custard, like with these Dirt Pudding Cups
• Assemble layered trifles in them, like these Red Velvet Jar Cakes and Doughnut Trifles
• …and so much more!

Best of all, Mason jar desserts are portable, single-serving, and–need I mention?–extremely cute! So as berry season approaches, I’m sharing a wonderful spring and summertime dessert: Mixed Berry Shortcakes in Jars!

Ingredients

Fittingly, the ingredient list for these shortcakes is blessedly short. You’ll need…

• Crescent dough: This recipe makes use of crescent dough as a shortcut to creating buttery, crisp shortbread rounds. Crescent dough is typically found in the refrigerated section near canned cinnamon rolls and biscuits.
• Berries: You’ll want about 3 cups of berries. Feel free to swap in whatever is available and fresh where you are. For a more tropical fruit jar, consider adding in kiwi, mango, or dragon fruit.
• Lime juice: Lime juice adds a little bit of tartness to the fruit mixture, and also helps them release their juices. (This release of juices is also known as maceration. See the tip section for more info.) Lemon juice will also work, and you can use either fresh or concentrated juice.
• Whipped cream: Nothing beats homemade whipped cream, but swapping in a tub of whipped topping is also perfectly acceptable!

🥄 Equipment

You’ll only need a few tools to make these little cuties. (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)

• Mason jars: This one is pretty obvious! You’ll want to use 8-ounce wide-mouth mason jars. You could also use smaller jars for mini desserts, just make sure the top opening isn’t too small to easily work with.
• Round cutters: You can use either a 2-inch or 3-inch round cutter. I recommend using a 2-inch cutter because the shortcakes will fit more easily in the jars. If you use a 3-inch cutter, you might need to cut a little excess off to make the cakes fit.
• Baking sheets: Heavy-duty baking sheets will keep the bottoms of the shortcakes from burning and help them bake evenly.
• Parchment paper: I never bake directly on my baking sheets–it’s all about the parchment, baby! Save time and cleanup by using silicone liners or parchment paper when baking.

📸 Photo Tutorial: How to Make Berry Shortcakes in Jars

Learn how to make Berry Shortcake in a Jar with this helpful photo tutorial! Full instructions are included in the recipe card above.

Assemble the Shortcake Jars

8. Get your jars. Place 3 8-oz wide mouth mason jars in front of you and assemble layer by layer.
9. Add first set of layers to the jars. For the first layer, place a shortcake followed by a little berry mixture followed by whipped cream inside of each jar.
10. Continue adding layer sets. Repeat this set of layers until the mason jars are full (about 3 sets).
11. Decorate the top. Finish the berry shortcakes with a little more cream, a few fresh berries and mint (optional). Repeat until you’ve assembled all the jars.
12. Enjoy!

💡 Tips and FAQs

Before you start assembling your shortcakes, make sure to check out these helpful tips and FAQs!

🍷 Sweet & Simple Pears Poached In Red Wine

Looking for the perfect ending to an elegant meal? Need a recipe that won’t take all day to make? Red Wine Poached Pears are your new dessert secret weapon! With their jewel-like color and complex flavor, this is a striking recipe that’s deceptively simple to make.

The idea behind poached pears is beyond simple: just simmer peeled pears in sweet, flavorful liquid, and in half an hour or so, they’ll develop a wonderfully tender texture and aromatic flavor. In our classic Poached Pear recipe, we keep things simple by using water and adding cinnamon, anise, and vanilla flavors.

However, if you want to get a little fancy, you can easily swap wine for the water. This one little change makes a BIG difference. The pears absorb some of the wine’s flavor and color, turning a festive, deep red color on the outside.

You can serve these pears in their own sweet-tart juices, or dress them up with soft whipped cream, a sprinkle of cinnamon, or a pair them with a slice of pound cake.

Ingredients

These beautiful pears only need a few ingredients, and very minimal supplies. Here are my top tips to keep in mind as you shop for this recipe. (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)

• Pears: Use pears that are ripe but still firm – if your pears are too soft, they’re more liable to fall apart while poaching. I recommend using Bosc or Anjou pears if possible, but other varieties will also work – see the best pears to use for poaching section below.
• Red Wine: The pears will take on the wine’s flavor, so my top tip is to use a red wine you enjoy drinking! Look for a fruity, medium-bodied red that won’t be too overpowering – think Pinot Noir, Merlot, or Zinfandel. Read more about the best wine to use below.
• Sugar: All you’ll need is regular granulated sugar to make the red wine sauce for the pears.
• Citrus juices: Orange and lemon juice brighten up the red wine syrup, adding a punch of flavor and keeping it from becoming too cloying or sweet. Whenever possible, I highly recommend using freshly squeezed citrus juices, but bottled is okay in a pinch.
• Vanilla extract: a touch of vanilla rounds out the flavor of the poaching liquid. Use a high-quality vanilla extract to get the best results.
• Cinnamon sticks: Cinnamon sticks provide a lovely, warm flavor to the red wine sauce. If you don’t have cinnamon sticks you can substitute 1/2-1 tsp ground cinnamon.

Equipment

• Saucepan: You’ll want to use a large saucepan that can accommodate 5 pears standing upright in the pan with the lid on. I like this 6 quart saucepan from Cuisinart.
• Vegetable peeler: A vegetable peeler makes quick work of peeling the pears.

💡 Tips and FAQs  

• For the best flavor, serve these pears warm or at room temperature.
• Red wine poached pears pair really nicely with whipped cream, pudding or ice cream.
• Feel free to experiment with adding more warm fall spices like cardamom, nutmeg and allspice. You can also try different extracts like almond, lemon or orange.

📋 How to Make Red Wine Poached Pears

Here’s an overview of how to make Red Wine Poached Pears! Full instructions are included in the recipe card.

1. Start by peeling the pears. Make sure to leave the stem on the pears.
2. In a medium sized saucepan over medium high heat, add the red wine, sugar, orange juice, lemon juice, vanilla extract and cinnamon sticks and bring to a boil. Make sure to stir occasionally so the sugar dissolves.

3. Once the wine mixture boils, add your pears. Place them in the saucepan with the stem side pointing upward. Bring the heat down to low and cover. Cook for about 30 minutes, or until the pears are tender.
4. Let the pears cool completely before serving. You can serve them with whipped cream and cinnamon, or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

🍐 Vanilla Poached Pears with Caramel Sauce

Apples might get a lot of attention come autumn (we see you, apple pie) but to me, pears are the unsung heroes of fall baking.

Pears pair beautifully with fall flavors like cinnamon and nutmeg, and they add a delicious, unexpected flavor to desserts that typically feature apples: think tart tatin, spiced cupcakes, and even pies.

🧾 What You’ll Need

Ingredients

The ingredients for Poached Pears are fairly simple. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you make this recipe. (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)

• Pears: Use pears that are ripe but still firm – if your pears are too soft, they’re more liable to fall apart while poaching. I recommend using Bosc or Anjou pears if possible, but other varieties will also work – see the best pears to use for poaching section below.
• Sugar: We’re using regular granulated sugar in both the poaching liquid and the caramel sauce.
• Spices: Cinnamon sticks provide a lovely, warm flavor to the the pear juices. If you don’t have cinnamon sticks you can substitute 1/2-1 tsp ground cinnamon. I also use star anise, which has a very sweet, licorice-like flavor. Feel free to omit the star anise if you don’t care for the taste.
• Vanilla: Use a high-quality vanilla extract to get the best results. You could also use a split vanilla bean pod instead, if you have that on hand.
• Cream and butter: You don’t need cream or butter to make poached pears, but you will need them if you want to make the accompanying caramel sauce. I recommend using heavy cream and unsalted butter if possible.

Equipment

• Saucepan: You’ll want to use a large saucepan that can accommodate 5 pears standing upright in the pan with the lid on. I like this 6 quart saucepan from Cuisinart.
• Vegetable peeler: A vegetable peeler makes quick work of peeling the pears.
• Silicone spatula: Silicone spatulas are my preferred tool when working with sticky recipes like caramel.

💡 Tips and FAQs

• The pears can be served warm, at room temperature, or even cold.
• You only need a little caramel sauce on these pears, since they are already sweet from being poached in sugar syrup.
• Warm up the caramel sauce before adding it to the pears – it’s easiest to drizzle when warm.
• If the pears won’t stand up straight when poaching, slice off a thin sliver from the bottom so they sit flat.

📋 How to Make Poached Pears Step-by-step

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how to make poached pears with caramel sauce. You can find easy-to-print instructions in the recipe card.

To Poach The Pears

1. Wash and peel the pears.
2. Place the pears in a large pot with the water.
3. Add the sugar, cinnamon, anise, and vanilla.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Allow the pears to simmer for 30-40 minutes until the pears are tender when pierced with a knife.

To Make The Caramel Sauce

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the granulated sugar over medium heat.
2. Stir constantly until the sugar forms clumps and turns into a thick amber colored liquid.
3. Once the sugar is melted, immediately add the butter, and stir until melted and combined. After the butter and sugar are combined, cook for a minute without stirring.
4. Slowly add the heavy cream. Be sure to add it little by little so that it combines smoothly. Let it boil for another minute, then remove it from the heat. Finally, stir in the salt.

🍽️ What to Serve with Poached Pears

Although Poached Pears taste delicious plain, they’re also extremely versatile, so get creative with one of these variations:

• Serve them with a sauce like Cinnamon Syrup or Honey Cinnamon Caramel.
• They would taste delicious with soft whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
• Experiment with adding other flavors to the poaching liquid. You can add different spices like nutmeg, cardamom or allspice, flavoring extracts like cinnamon or almond, or add a bit of alcohol like rum or brandy to the liquid.
• And, let’s not forget the presentation! You could slice them on top of yogurt, pancakes, oatmeal or ice cream. We also love these pears with a soft and light panna cotta.
• Wrap poached pears in puff pastry, like in this recipe for Puff Pastry-Wrapped Pears with Chocolate Espresso Sauce.