*This post was created in collaboration with Arctic Zone .  All images and opinions are my own.

Cookie cakes bring back so many fond memories of childhood birthday parties, but they don’t have to be reserved just for celebrations! Much simpler than an actual cake, this Pepperoni Pizza version is inspired by Arctic Zone’s brand new lunch bag collection featuring designs and shapes that look like food. I thought it would be fun to create a dessert “imposter” pizza using all sweet treats to match the pizza slice tote.

With the sweltering temps of summer in full swing, lighter, fruit forward flavors sounded especially delicious! I started with a soft and chewy lemon cookie crust, and then topped it with strawberry jelly “sauce”, marshmallow and white chocolate “cheese” (the marshmallow even gives it the cheese pull effect), and fruit leather “pepperoni”. Of course, I couldn’t leave out a dash of cuteness, so I added some simple chocolate faces as well. This recipe is truly a piece of cake, and kid friendly (with adult supervision). You can even start with a roll of refrigerated cookie dough to cut down on time and ingredients. Any way you slice it, this pizza cookie is sure to be a new favorite!

Lunch totes aren’t only for school lunches either! I like to use mine to carry snacks when I got to the park, bring surprise treats to friends and family, and also for road trips (you can’t have a road trip without yummy snacks). I also love that Arctic Zone lunch bags are free from PVC, BPA, lead and phthalates, so you don’t have to compromise cuteness for quality (and they are easy to wipe clean as well). You can find the Pizza Lunch Pack at Arctic Zone, along with the full collection of lunch bags.

Ingredients: (Yields about 8-10 slices)

Lemon Sugar Cookie Crust:

(recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Blog Fruit Pizza, Sugar Cookie Crust)

12 inch nonstick pizza pan

Parchment paper

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon lemon extract

1 large egg

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

Zest of ½ lemon

Egg wash

Egg Wash:

1 large egg

2 teaspoons water

Granulated sugar for sprinkling* (optional)

“Pizza” Toppings:

6 tablespoons seedless strawberry fruit spread (I recommend a reduced sugar variety)

½ cup marshmallow fluff

Warm water, as needed, to thin marshmallow

White chocolate bar

2 inch round cookie cutter

4 Raspberry Fruit Leathers/2 Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups

1/8  cup chocolate chips

Toothpicks

Pizza cutter

Wax paper

Helpful Tips

*All cutting should be done by an adult.

Directions:

1. Let’s begin with my favorite part, the cookie crust! Cut a circle of parchment paper out to line your pizza pan (this will prevent the crust from browning too much while baking). Set aside.
   
2. Add the butter and both sugars to the bowl of a stand (or handheld) mixer, and beat on medium speed for 3-5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
3. Add the vanilla, lemon, and egg, and continue to mix until incorporated.
4. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the mixing bowl, and use the “stir” speed on the mixer to just blend everything together until it begins to form a dough (you don’t want to over mix). Fold in the lemon zest.
5. Wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F
6. Set aside ¼ of the dough and roll the remaining ¾ out onto your parchment paper circle.
7. Beat together the egg and water, for the egg wash, and brush it onto the top of your cookie dough. Roll the remaining ¼ dough out, into a log, and add it to the outer edge to form the “pizza crust” (pizza crust method inspiration from Hungry Happenings). Brush the crust with more egg wash, and sprinkle with sugar, if using.
   
8. Transfer the prepared pizza pan with cookie dough to the freezer for 10 minutes (to prevent spreading) before baking for 9-12 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to turn golden brown (the center may still look pale and very soft). Place the pizza pan on a wire cooling rack and allow to completely cool before decorating (the center will set more as it cools).
   
9. Use an offset spatula to evenly spread the strawberry jelly “pizza sauce” over the top of the cooled cookie crust.             
10. Fill a coffee mug with warm water, dip a spoon into the water and scoop the marshmallow fluff into a heatproof bowl. Add warm water to the fluff a little at a time, just until you can dip a spoon into the fluff and it starts to run off the spoon.
11. Drizzle the marshmallow over the top of the cookie pizza being careful not to cover all of the strawberry spread on the edges (that way you can still see the “pizza sauce”).
12. Grate the white chocolate over the top of the marshmallow “cheese” to look like Parmesan.
13. Use the cookie cutter to punch out as many “pepperonis” from the fruit leather as you can. I found that overlapping a fruit roll-up cutout over a piece of the fruit leather looked the most like pepperoni, but feel free to use 1 or the other.
14. Transfer the chocolate chips to a heatproof bowl, and microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power. Stir, and continue to heat in 30-second intervals until smooth and completely melted.
15. Dip a toothpick into the melted chocolate, and use it to draw the pizza slice faces onto wax paper. Allow to set.
16. Use the pizza cutter to cut the pizza into 8 or 10 even slices (depending on how large you’d like them), top with the chocolate faces (I used a toothpick to transfer the faces to the top of the cookie slices), and enjoy!!

Leftover pizza cookie can be covered and refrigerated (or even frozen for longer storage).

You can find this perfectly cheesy (in all the best ways) Pizza Lunch Pack at Arctic Zone.