Italian Rainbow Cookies
This Cookie Tradition Started with My Aunt Kathy
Baking beautiful desserts is a tradition in Italian-American homes, and Italian Rainbow Cookies are a classic treat. I first learned about them from my Aunt Kathy when I was a little girl, and have been baking my own ever since!
What Makes My Italian Rainbow Cookies Special?
This recipe makes cookies that aren’t really cookies. They’re more like tiny almond sponge cakes, cut into rectangles and served like cookies. This traditional Italian Rainbow Cookie (pasticcini arcobaleno) recipe will make you the star of your holiday dessert table.
The base for this recipe is an almond sponge cake, so you might expect that it's made with almond flour. Actually, it gets its flavor from almond paste. For a generous blast of sweet almond flavor, I like to make rainbow cookies with both amaretto liqueur and almond extract.
How to Make Italian Rainbow Cookies—Tips and Tricks
These cookies look fancy, but they're actually pretty easy to whip up and assemble. All you need is a little bit of patience!
You’ll basically make one cake batter and then divide that batter into three separate bowls. Next, you’ll apply food coloring. After the cakes are baked, you’ll layer slices with apricot and raspberry jam, and top it off with a layer of chocolate. The intense almond flavor combined with the jams and chocolate is just so out of this world. They’ll be gone before you know it!
Italian Rainbow Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces almond paste, broken into small pieces
- 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 3 large eggs, room temperature, separated
- 1½ cup (12 ounces) unsalted butter plus 2 teaspoons, softened
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 tablespoon amaretto liqueur
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon red food coloring or gel
- ¼ teaspoon green food coloring or gel
- ¼ cup apricot jam
- ¼ cup raspberry or cherry jam
- 1½ cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray three 9- by 13-inch pans with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper. Butter the paper with 2 teaspoons of softened butter.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the crumbled almond paste, ½ cup sugar, 3 egg yolks, and 4 ounces (1 stick) softened butter. Beat on medium until light and fluffy. If almond paste lumps are still present, stop the mixer and break them up with your fingers. Add the remaining 8 ounces (2 sticks) of softened butter. Mix until batter is smooth.
- In a small bowl, whisk together milk, amaretto, and almond extract. Add to the almond paste mixture and mix until combined. With mixer on medium- low, add flour. Mix until just blended.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. With mixer on medium speed, add the remaining ½ cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Increase speed to high and beat until soft peaks form when the beaters are lifted. Using a rubber scraper, fold the whipped egg whites, a third at a time, into the flour mixture until batter is nice and smooth.
- Divide batter equally between three bowls. Fold the red food coloring into one batter and the green food coloring into another batter. Keeping each batter separate, spread the batters evenly in the prepared pans. Each layer should be about ¼-inch thick. Bake until set; about 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer pans to cooling racks. Let cool completely.
- Place green layer on a tray, paper side up. Remove the paper and spread the apricot jam evenly over the cake. Place the white layer on top of the green layer, paper side up. Remove parchment paper and spread the raspberry jam evenly over the top. Place the pink layer paper side up on top of the white layer and remove paper. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and top with another sheet pan. Weigh down the sheet pan to compress the cake layers. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Remove the weights and plastic wrap. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl placed over a pot of simmering water. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat. Spread half of the melted chocolate over the cake. Do not spread the chocolate on the sides. Put cake back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set the chocolate. When solid, flip the cake over onto a cutting board. Remove parchment paper and spread remaining chocolate evenly on top. Place back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set chocolate.
- Once set, trim the cake into a 7½- by 10½-inch rectangle. Cut the cake into 1-inch by 1½-inch rectangles. Store in the refrigerator.
