Homemade Italian Rainbow Cookies

The most delicious and special homemade Italian Rainbow Cookies! These are a major treat for a special occasion, even better than Italian bakery cookies!

I'm always crushing hard on Italian rainbow cookies. Moist almond cake like layers filled with raspberry jam and covered in chocolate. They are constantly the first cookie to disappear from bakery platters and cookie boxes. It had never occurred to me that I could make them at home until some Christmases ago when I gave them a try. They are just as much work as they seem but the payoff is so sweet and rewarding. They require elbow grease and time. But they make a very large batch that can carry you through at least two parties so, winning.

P and I made these for Easter weekend and changed up the traditional red yellow and green for a more seasonal blue, pink and purple. They are really fun and adorable and, oh yeah, completely delicious and impressive.

Author: Rachel Humiston

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Homemade Italian Rainbow Cookies

The most delicious and special homemade Italian Rainbow Cookies! These are a major treat for a special occasion, even better than Italian bakery cookies!

Prep time: 1 H & 30 MInactive time: 12 HourTotal time: 13 H & 30 M

Ingredients

• 1 8 oz can almond paste
• 1 C butter, softened
• 1 C granulated sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 egg whites
• 2 C all-purpose flour, sifted
• red and green (or pink, purple and blue) food coloring
• 1/2 C seedless raspberry jam
• 8 oz semisweet chocolate chips or squares

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and line 3 13 x 9" pans with wax paper (or if you only have 1 pan, like me, then do one layer at a time).
3. Using a fork, break up almond paste in the bowl of a stand mixer.
4. Add butter, sugar and egg yolks, beating until fluffy at medium speed.
5. Slowly stir in the flour.
6. Move the mixture to a clean mixing bowl and set aside.
7. Rinse out the stand mixer bowl and dry completely.
8. Add the egg whites to the stand mixer bowl.
9. Beat egg whites until peaks form and then fold into the almond mixture.
10. Separate batter into 3 bowls and add food coloring of your choice to each bowl. Mix each completely.
11. Pour each batter into its own pan and bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are golden brown.
12. Invert onto wire racks and cool.
13. Once cooled, turn the cakes right side up onto a large cutting board and layer the cakes together, spreading a thin layer of raspberry jam between the middle layers.
14. Cover the layered cake with plastic wrap and weigh down with a heavy book. Refrigerate overnight.
15. The next day, melt chocolate and spread on the top of the cake. Let cool completely (you may place in the refrigerator to cool and harden).
16. Flip the entire cake over and coat this side with melted chocolate. Let cool completely and cut into 1-2 bite square cookies.
17. Note: I did not 'frost' the sides, just the tops and bottoms. I also shaved the sides slightly to get a straight edge.