CiCi’s Cherry Pizza

CiCi’s Cherry Pizza is a heavenly blend of a crispy pizza crust, rich cherry pie filling, and a decadent streusel topping, all drizzled with a white icing glaze. It’s the perfect dessert for a weekend treat, family pizza night, or just when you’re craving something sweet and unique. It’s ideal for pizza and dessert lovers alike, this recipe will transform your dessert game to a new, delicious level.

Overhead view of copycat CiCi's cherry dessert pizza.


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What Makes CiCi’s Cherry Pizza So Good?

CiCi’s pizzas, how sweet they can be. Literally. Pizza fanatics looking for something a little different for dessert can’t do better than CiCi’s famous pizza buffet. Besides the usual varieties you can find in most pizzerias, the chain has come up with a few one-of-a-kind creations over the years.

Cherry Dessert Pizza was one of the most unusual. A traditional pizza crust topped with cherry pie filling, a streusel-like crumble, and a drizzle of vanilla icing may sound strange, but it is surprisingly delicious.

CiCi’s also has a chocolate pizza on the dessert buffet.

Why You Should Try This Recipe

Unfortunately, Cherry Pie Pizza is no longer on the official menu at CiCis, so if you want to try it, you’ll have to make it. But don’t worry. It’s not that difficult to make, has minimal ingredients, and is a real crowd-pleaser.

It’s perfect for your kids’ pizza party or your next game-day cookout. It’s bright fruit flavor makes it a wonderful summer pizza.

Cherry Pie Pizza Ingredients

For this Cherry Pizza recipe, you’ll need:

  • Pizza dough
  • Cherry pie filling
  • Crumb topping (see below)
  • Sweet Drizzle (see below)

Use your favorite premade pizza dough, or make this easy homemade pizza dough recipe.  

For the Crumb Topping, you’ll need:

  • All-purpose flour
  • White granulated sugar
  • Light brown sugar
  • Salt
  • Unsalted butter

For the Sweet Icing Drizzle, you’ll need: 

  • Powdered sugar 
  • Vanilla extract 
  • Whole milk 
Copycat CiCi's cherry dessert pizza ingredients on a tray.

How to Make a Cherry Dessert Pizza

To prepare the cherry pie pizza:

Prepare the pizza dough:

  1. Let the pizza dough come up to room temperature for at least 30 minutes. If the dough is too cold, it won’t roll out as well. 
  2. Lightly grease the work surface with a neutral oil. Using oil instead of a floured surface will prevent sticking, and you won’t have to worry about adding too much flour to the dough. 
  3. Press the dough ball into a disk and roll it into a thin round. If the dough springs back when you roll it out, wait about ten minutes and then try again. 
  4. Use the tines of a fork to prick the dough several times to prevent it from puffing up when you blind-bake it. 

To prepare the crumb topping:

  1. Allow the butter to soften on the countertop. 
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, white granulated sugar, light brown sugar, and salt.
  3. Use a pastry cutter or a serving fork to incorporate the butter until the mixture resembles cornmeal. 
  4. Cover the bowl and set aside. 

To make the sweet drizzle:

  1. Whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and whole milk.
  2. Cover the bowl and keep it for later. 

To make the pizza:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. If you plan to use a pizza stone, make sure it’s in the oven when you are preheating. Also, use a pizza peel to transfer the pizza to and from the pizza stone in the oven.
  2. Place the rolled-out and docked pizza crust on the center rack of the oven and cook for five minutes. This is just to help dry out the dough before adding the toppings. 
Baked pizza dough on a pizza pan.
  1. Take the crust out of the oven and spread the cherry pie filling on top of it like it was pizza sauce. Sprinkle the Crumb Topping over the cherry pie filling. 
Cherry dessert pizza before baking.
  1. Return the pizza to the oven and bake until the crust is golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. 
  2. Transfer pizza to a wire rack to cool slightly.
  3. Slice the pizza on a cutting board and pour the Sweet Drizzle in thin lines over the top of the pizza before serving. If the Sweet Drizzle is too thick to pour easily, whisk in a bit more whole milk. 
Copycat CiCi's cherry dessert pizza on a wood serving platter.

How to Store Cherry Pizza

Like any other pizza, this one is best served fresh right out of the oven. But you can certainly prepare each component of the recipe in advance and keep them in the fridge until needed. To keep the dough fresh, lightly oil a bowl and place the dough ball in it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid. 

You can loosely cover any Cherry Dessert Pizza leftovers in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. 

How Long Does It Last? 

You can prepare the Crumb Topping a day or two in advance and keep it in the fridge in an airtight container. Store Sweet Drizzle covered in the refrigerator overnight, but since it will thicken over time, add more whole milk before using. 

In the fridge, a cooked Cherry Pizza will stay fresh for two or three days, but the crust may get a little soggy.

You can freeze the cooked pizza wrapped tightly in two layers of aluminum foil. It will last up to 2 months in the freezer.

What Is the Best Way to Warm Up the Cherry Pizza?

You can eat a slice of cold Cherry Pizza straight from the fridge or try heating it in the oven:

  1. Preheat the oven to 365°F.
  2. Place the pizza on a baking tray and cover with aluminum foil. 
  3. Heat for 6 to 8 minutes until the cherry filling is hot. 
Copycat CiCi's cherry dessert pizza slices.

Favorite Cherry Recipes

Check out more of my easy pie recipes and the best copycat restaurant recipes on CopyKat!

Overhead view of copycat CiCi's cherry dessert pizza.

CiCi’s Cherry Pizza

You can make a Cherry Dessert Pizza just like CiCi's. 
5 from 4 votes
Print Pin Rate Add to Collection
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Cherry Pizza, Cici’s
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 323kcal

Ingredients

Crumb Topping

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons white granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup butter softened

Pizza

  • 1 pound pizza dough
  • 20 ounces cherry pie filling

Sweet Drizzle

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons milk

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 450°F and grease a large pizza pan.
  • To make the crumb topping, mix the flour, sugar, brown sugar, and salt. Add the butter and use a pastry blender or fork to combine until the mixture resembles cornmeal.
  • To make the pizza, spread the dough on the prepared pizza pan and prick with a fork 8 to 10 times. Place in the preheated oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, spread the cherry pie filling over the crust, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of crumb topping. Return to the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
  • While the pizza is cooking, make the sweet drizzle by combining the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of milk. Mix well. You may need to add an additional tiny splash of milk so the consistency is runny enough to drizzle.
  • When the crust is golden brown, remove the pizza from the oven and top with the sweet drizzle.

Nutrition

Calories: 323kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 510mg | Potassium: 82mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 325IU | Vitamin C: 2.6mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 2.1mg

About Stephanie Manley

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Anais

      5 stars
      I thought the same thing. So I used all of it and it worked really well. Was the most popular part of the dish w/my friends.

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