ITALIAN RAINBOW COOKIE RECIPE
Happy 4th of July!
If you love sweets as much as I do you have to know what a rainbow cookie is. Maybe you refer to them as 7 layer cookies, Neapolitans, or Italian flag cookies.
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If you don’t know what a rainbow cookie is (have you been living under a rock?) they are little morsels of deliciousness.
Most traditional Italian bakeries sell them. They are a three layered almond flavored cake, traditionally red, white, and green, bathed in melted chocolate.
I’ve tried at least three different Italian rainbow cookie recipes and this one is the closest to the ones I get from the bakery.
ITALIAN RAINBOW COOKIE RECIPE
You will need:
- 1 can (8 ounces) almond paste
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs, separated
- 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- Food coloring (red and green if you want them to be traditional, but you can do any colors you want)
- Seedless raspberry preserves/jam
- 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
Cream together the butter, sugar, and almond paste until fluffy.
Add in the egg yolks one at a time. Once combined stir in the flour.
Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whites into the almond paste dough.
Divide the dough into 3 bowls. Try to put the same amount in each bowl. If you have OCD like some, feel free to weigh it out. Or divvy it up using measuring cups. It’ll be somewhere between 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups per bowl.
Color each dough the color of your choice. In this case I did one red and one blue layer.
Spread each dough onto a greased 13″ by 9″ by 2″ pan lined with parchment paper. If you don’t have 3 sheet pans you can bake the layers individually, it’ll just be more time-consuming.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes until the cake is slightly browned on the edges. Do NOT overbake. Transfer to a cooling rack.
Do not worry if the cookie cracks or has imperfections (my daughter poked a hole in the blue layer thinking it was play-do) you won’t even tell once they are layered and cut.
Once the layers are cool, start with you bottom layer. Spread half the raspberry jam on this layer.
Next put the middle layer on top of the bottom layer. Spread the rest of the jam on top of this layer.
Put the final layer on top. Now, cover the layers with plastic wrap so they don’t dry. Put something heavy on top, like a baking sheet with a heavy bowl on top.
Let sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. I can never wait that long.
Take the layers out of the fridge. Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave or using the double boiler method. Pour the melted chocolate over all the layers. If you want the bottom to be covered in chocolate too, wait until this layer cools, flip over, and repeat.
After the chocolate is set and you are ready to serve, cut up the cookies into the shape and size of your choice. I use a knife dipped in hot water for each slicing.
Customize the colors of your “rainbow” cookies for any holiday or occasion. Make them match the colors of your favorite football team, make them red and green for Christmas, or various shades of red for Valentine’s Day.
Enjoy!
Yum! And so pretty too.