Italian Neapolitan Cookies
Italian Neapolitan cookies are fun tricolor cookies inspired by the classic Neapolitan ice cream and made from one cookie dough. They’re soft and chewy in the center while crispy on the outer edges.
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories: 178kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
For the vanilla dough:
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 16 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened (2 sticks)
- 1⅓ cups granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the strawberry dough:
- 1 Tablespoon strawberry preserves
- ¼ teaspoon pure strawberry extract
- Pink gel food color
For the chocolate dough:
- 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ounce semisweet bar chocolate finely grated
- Sparkling sugar
Instructions
For the vanilla dough:
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a medium-sized bowl cream together the butter and sugar with a hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. About 5 minutes.
- Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla; beat until combined.
- Add the flour mixture; beat just until combined.
- Divide the dough into 3 equal parts; set aside one portion of dough.
For the strawberry dough:
- Stir preserves, strawberry extract, and desired amount of food color gel into one dough portion until combined.
For the chocolate dough:
- Stir cocoa and chocolate into the remaining dough portion until combined.
Assembling the dough:
- Fit a 9X5-inch loaf pan with a parchment sling.
- Press chocolate dough into the bottom of the pan, followed by the vanilla dough, then the strawberry dough.
- Cover the pan with plastic wrap; chill for 3 hours or overnight. You may also freeze for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 °F. Line baking sheets with parchment.
- Remove the dough loaf from pan; cut into ¼-inch-thick slices. Place slices on prepared baking sheets; sprinkle with sparkling sugar.
- Bake cookies until edges are set, 11-12 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheets 2 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Notes
Storage: These Neapolitan cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. The Neapolitan sugar cookies can also be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Tips:
- You can chill the assembled dough for 3 hours or overnight in the fridge. If you’re in a rush, add the pan with dough into the freezer for 1 hour.
- The parchment sling helps to lift the chilled assembled cookie dough from the loaf pan with ease. Parchment paper won’t leave any wrinkles in the chilled dough, unlike plastic wrap.
- Allow the freshly baked cookies to cool on the baking tray for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. This allows the cookies to harden slightly so that they don’t break apart as you move them to the cooking rack.
- You can intensify the pink cookie dough by adding more food gel coloring.
- Serve these cookies at holiday cookie exchange parties or gift them to friends, family, and neighbors during the holidays.
- Make sure enough space is allowed between each cookie to allow for normal spreading while baking.
- To prevent cookies from spreading while baking, line the cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat instead of applying cooking spray.
Nutrition
Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 53mg | Potassium: 41mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 255IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg