Allow me to introduce you to my absolute favorite cookie: Italian rainbow cookies! I think I like them so much because they’re actually cake. You know… disguised as cookies. (But wait, if you’re looking for an actual Italian rainbow cookie cake, you’ve gotta check this recipe out!)
I have been making these Italian rainbow cookies for years, guys — they take a while, but oh my god they are so worth it.
What’s In Italian Rainbow Cookies?
This rainbow cookie recipe may require some extra TLC to assemble, but the ingredients list is minimal.
All you need to make Italian rainbow cookies are eggs, sugar, almond paste, butter, salt, food coloring, and raspberry preserves. And semi-sweet chocolate to top it all off, of course.
Can I Make Italian Rainbow Cookies Without Almond Paste?
Besides switching up the flavor of jam used between the layers, I don’t recommend swapping out any of the ingredients mentioned above. Italian rainbow cookies are perfect as is — why mess with a good thing? Also, the almond paste gives these cookies their signature flavor. You can buy some online here.
How To Make Rainbow Cookies
- Divide the batter equally in thirds
- Add food coloring to create red and green layers,
- Bake them off one-by-one. This is honestly the most difficult part — spreading a very small amount of batter into thin, single layers. But it’s necessary for the signature look of Italian tri color cookies.
Once cool, spread a few tablespoons of your favorite jam in between the cookie layers. In the Well Seasoned household, this is always raspberry jam. However, apricot jam is another popular option. Heck, you could do one layer of each!
Next, store overnight in your refrigerator, weighing down with a couple heavy cookbooks on top (yes, really).
The next day, pour melted semi-sweet chocolate on both sides, cut into the cutest little bite-size cookies you’ve ever seen, and gift them to friends, family, and loved ones. Congratulations, you’re now a hero!
Read through the instructions fully before beginning (you should do this whenever cooking, but especially when baking), and try not to be put off by the lengthy text. Your hard work will be rewarded with almost 100 cookies. And there are lots of scraps for nibbling on along the way!
How To Store Italian Rainbow Cookies
Rainbow cookies should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
How Long Do Rainbow Cookies Last?
If stored properly, Italian rainbow cookies will last up to a week in the fridge. This recipe makes a lot of cookies (yield is 96 rainbow cookies!), so you’ll definitely want to give some as gifts or freeze for later!
To freeze rainbow cookies, layer in an airtight container with sheets of parchment in between (so the cookies don’t stick together). Allow cookies to defrost for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Tips For Making Italian Rainbow Cookies
The combination of almond paste and almond extract is what gives rainbow cookies their unique flavor and texture. You can’t get away with using ONLY paste or the extract — you must use both.
With that said, I don’t recommend adding more almond paste or extract than what the recipe calls for. Unlike the more forgiving vanilla extract, you really need to measure out almond extract, otherwise it’ll overpower whatever it is you’re baking.
To make cutting rainbow cookies easier, you’ll want to use a serrated knife that’s been run under hot water first. Trust me on this one!
If you make Italian Rainbow Cookies, please let us know by leaving a review below!
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Italian Rainbow Cookies
Equipment
- Stand mixer with whisk and paddle attachments
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs (separated)
- 1 cup sugar (divided)
- 8 ounces almond paste
- 1 ¼ cups 2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, (softened)
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- red food coloring
- green food coloring
- 10 ounces raspberry preserves warmed
- 7 ounces semisweet chocolate chunks, chips, or melting wafers
Instructions
- Prepare the sheet pans. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 F. Grease, flour, and line the bottoms of three 9- by 13- by 2-inch (quarter sheet pan) with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang.
- Beat egg whites. In the bowl of a standard electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites at medium-high speed until they just hold stiff peaks. With the mixer running on high speed, add ¼ cup sugar a little at a time, beating until whites hold stiff, glossy peaks. Transfer to another bowl, and wipe the bowl dry with a paper towel.
- Mix sugar and almond paste. Switch the mixer to the paddle attachment and beat together the almond paste and remaining ¾ cup sugar until well-mixed, about 3 minutes.
- Incorporate butter. Add butter and beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add yolks and almond extract and beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, then add flour and salt, mixing until just combined.
- Fold in egg whites. Fold half of egg white mixture into almond mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.
- Divide batter among 3 bowls. Stir red food coloring into one bowl and green food coloring into another, leaving the third bowl plain. Keep in mind the batter will bake up darker than it looks pre-bake. Pour the batter from one of the bowls into one of the prepared pans. (I only have one sheet pan of this size, so I just bake each layer off one at a time.) Using an offset spatula, spread the batter into an even layer.
- Bake the individual layers. Bake the layer for 8 to 10 minutes, until just set (the cake may look undercooked, but this is what you want). Repeat with the remaining bowls of cake batter and sheet pans, transferring each baked cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Assemble the layers with preserves. When all the layers are cool, invert the green layer onto a parchment- or wax paper-lined baking sheet. Peel off the paper from the layer and brush on half of the heated preserves. Flip the white layer on top of the green layer and peel off the paper. Spread with remaining preserves. Invert the red layer on top of white layer and discard the paper.
- Chill overnight. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place another quarter sheet pan on top, right side up. Evenly distribute a heavy weight on top of the sheet pan — I place heavy cookbooks on top! — and place in the fridge to chill for at least 8 hours or overnight.
- Bring the cake to room temperature. Remove the weights and plastic wrap and let the layer sit on your counter for a few minutes to come to room temperature. Melt the chocolate wafers in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second increments, until smooth.
- Pour on melted chocolate. Trim the edges of the assembled layers with a long serrated knife to even them out. Quickly (like REALLY quickly) spread half of the melted chocolate in a thin layer on top of the cake. Place the cake back in the fridge to firm up the chocolate, about 10 to 15 minutes. Place a sheet of wax paper on top of the chocolate layer, place another quarter sheet pan on top, then invert the cake and remove the paper. Quickly spread with the remaining chocolate. Freeze the chocolate-covered cake until just slightly firm, about 10-15 minutes.
- Slice cookies. Cut lengthwise into 6 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 16 pieces. It helps to use a sharp serrated knife that has been run under hot water to cut into the frozen cake. The cookies are much easier to cut when cold!
- The cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
Video
Notes
- To freeze: store baked, sliced Italian rainbow cookies between layers of parchment paper in freezer-safe containers. Cookies will keep up to 3 months.
- To defrost: allow cookies to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving. The cake layers defrost pretty quickly!
Nutrition
*Recipe adapted slightly from Nina Caldas via Food52.
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Oh my gosh, these are so fun to make and so so delicious. they’d make such a great gift. I made them for me though, so now I have a big stash of these cookies and might just have one with every cuppa from here on 🙂 Thanks for wonderful recipe, Ari
Marie, thank you!!! These are my absolute favorite cookies to make and gift during holiday! We usually make a few batches and gift to the kids’ teachers and our close friends. I’m so glad you enjoyed them as well! xo, Ari
Made these for my VERY Italian family (like my dad is off the boat Sicilian) and they LOVED them. I’m absolutely obsessed with this recipe and will probably never buy from a bakery ever again. Simple instructions and the flavor is so on point!!! I can’t rave about this recipe enough.
Alyssa, this is the best!!! We are crazy in love with this too, and are always so glad it makes enough to feed an army (or a large Italian family lol). Thanks for the review! xo, Ari
Absolutely delicious cookies. I loved the step-by-step photos. Such an awesome Christmas cookie plate cookie since this recipe makes so many!! Can’t wait to make it again!
So, so glad these turned out well!! Rainbow cookies are so perfect for holiday gifting and AGREE, the best part is that it makes so many!! xo, Ari
Easy to follow recipe and these came out delicious.I have never had these before and wanted to try something new.
Love hearing this, Jody! Thanks for making the cookies and leaving a review! xo, Ari
I can’t rave enough about how delicious this cookie recipe is. They make a good sized batch but they won’t last long. I bought quite a few of my ingredients from Europe and since I got enough almond paste left over i am making another batch tonight. So glad this was the first recipe I tried now its my go to forever.
Thanks, Mary! It’s absolutely one of our family’s favorites as well. It takes time, but they’re definitely not hard to make. That flavor and texture can’t be beat! xo, Ari
This recipe allowed my cousins to relive some of the best memories of their late father and Grandmother in NY. I cut the cookies into an 8×8″ cake plus cut lots of cookies that I shared with friends and neighbors. Everyone absolutely loved it! I substituted Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 flour to make the cake gluten-free as one of my cousins has Celiac disease. The texture was still perfect. I also doubled the recipe as I made my own almond paste (incredibly fast and easy) and it made 12 oz. of almond paste. This enabled me to pour an extra layer of cake (may not be traditional, but the purple, teal, plain, and pink layers were very pretty) and increase the height of the other cake layers by a very small amount. This recipe took time, but it was easy to follow and well worth all the effort. P.S. If you serve this as a cake, buttercream decorations make this even more decadent.
This all sounds fantastic, Catherine! Love that you were able to make these gluten-free friendly. And yes, it definitely takes a little foresight and planning ahead, but definitely easy to tackle. Thanks so much for the review!! xo, Ari
These are delicious! Everyone I gave them to loved them. I felt the pressure giving these to a big, very Italian family but they were all impressed! Definitely want to make these again.
The layers with the food coloring need to be cooked longer because of the extra liquid I’m guessing… mine came out raw in the spots and I had a piece it together😞 the white layer was fine. I would say cook the colored ones 2-3 minutes longer.
Hi Michaela, so sorry to hear this. I’ve made this recipe dozens of times and never had that experience (and have not received that feedback from others who have made it, either in person or who have left reviews here). I would advise folks to stick with the cook time as written in the instructions, but check the cake (as you would for any baking recipe) to make sure it’s done. The food coloring should not affect the cook time. More likely it’s variation in oven temperature or location of the sheet pan in the oven. Best, Ari