Sugar Cookie 4th of July Fruit Tart

Hey Everyone!! Hope everyone is having a fabulous Monday. Me on the other hand, has a serious case of the "Mondays". I just can not seem to get going today for the life of me. Maybe a really cold shower will clear up my head. Going to have to experiment on that after I'm done with this post. I guess that is what I get for taking NyQuil at midnight. I just couldn't sleep, and NyQuil always nocks me out. But, I guess your suppose to be able to get a solid 8 hours of sleep or something like that when taking, and my boys that have decided to wake up at 6:30am. Every. Single. Morning. had other plans in mind. Food for thought when taking for next time.

But now that the week is officially started, time to get back to business!! I, for one, have a lovely pile of clean clothes that have been neglected all weekend. And when I say pile, I mean the equivalent of a small mountain. I know! I know! If I had never neglected it in the first place, it would have never gotten that bad. Well, in my defense... Um... Ok I have no excuse other then, I REALLY HATE laundry, ok!! It's not the putting it in the washer to the dryer that kills me. It's that fact that I spend all that time folding and hanging to put them away, and literally two seconds later my kids are looking for their 4th pair of clothes to wear for the day, and they all end up all over the floor anyways. Come on moms?! You know what I'm talking about!! But apparently, my husband is not a fan of "Mount Clothing" that has established a foundation on my side of the bed. (Sigh)

But enough of my Monday morning!! You gotta do what you gotta do, so there is no point in grumbling about it (even if it does make me feel better ;).

Anyways, here is a fabulous dessert that kind of kills 2 birds with one stone. (I'm in the mood to use the word fabulous an obscene amount of times btw, bare with me) The recipe I stole this idea from used the cookies in the tart as decor. But I was thinking, how great is it when you are crazy stressed getting ready for your holiday activities, and you all know you've been there, to not have to make a second batter. You could just double the tart crust recipe, roll out your cookies, and bam!! Two desserts for the 4th. A tart for the adults, and cookies for the kids. Or you can go ahead and put the cookies in the tart too, which looks fabulous too :) Either way, super fun, cute, and fabulous ;) dessert for the 4th!! Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Sugar Cookie Crust
     1/2 cup granulated sugar
     1/2 cup powdered sugar
     1 cups shortening
     1/2 teaspoon vanilla
     1 large egg, beaten
     2 cups + 2 tablespoons cake flour
     1/2 teaspoon baking soda
     1/2 teaspoon baking powder
     1/8 teaspoon salt
     sugar, for decorating (optional)

Filling
     14 ounce can (1-1/3 cups) sweetened condensed milk
     1/2 cup dairy sour cream or light dairy sour cream
     1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon or lime peel
     1/3 cup lemon or lime juice
     1/2 cup fresh blueberries
     3/4 cup fresh raspberries

Red, White, and Blue Sprinkles for cookie accent (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, add sugars and shortening.

Cream together. Mix on slow speed 30 seconds, then scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Increase speed to medium and mix 3 minutes. Slowly add vanilla and beaten egg while mixing.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl.

Mix on slow speed until just blended. Do not over mix.

Using floured hands, press 3/4 dough into a 9 1/2" tart pan with removable bottom. Set extra dough aside.

Lightly sprinkle crust with sugar, is desired, and bake at 350 degrees F for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden.

As soon as your crust is finished, you'll notice the middle has risen up. Using a spatula, lightly press center of crust back down. Place crust in pan on cooling rack to cool.

Meanwhile, roll out extra dough onto a lightly floured surface. Using a star cookie cutter, cut dough into different size stars. Place cutouts on an ungreased baking sheet. If desired, drop red, white, and blue sprinkles onto the center of uncooked cookies and press down very lightly. Sprinkle sugar over cookies if desired. Bake at 350 degrees F for 6 to 8 minutes. Place cookies on cooling rack to cool. Let cookies and crust cool completely.

For filling, in a mixing bowl combine condensed milk, sour cream, lemon or lime peel, and juice. Stir about 3 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Once crust has cooled completely, fill crust with filling, cover and place in fridge for 1 hour to allow filling to firm.

Before serving, assemble tart. Loosen and remove sides of pan from crust. Transfer crust to a platter, leaving bottom of pan under crust. Top filling with berries.

Decorate tart as desired by placing cookies either around, in filling, over crust, etc. Cut and serve.

Makes about 12 servings.

Printable Recipe

Cookie/Crust recipe adapted from www.food.com. Tart recipe altered from www.bhg.com.