Tri-Color Italian Cookies

These Tri-Color Italian Cookies are delicious rainbow cookies! With amaretto, sponge cake, homemade almond paste, apricot preserves and chocolate. For a quicker option, you can buy the almond paste.

Are you ready for a little Christmas in July? I was going to wait until the holidays to post my son's tri-color Italian cookies, but he made them for a party this past weekend, and I figured I might as well share them now.

And, while it would have been nice for me to take pictures of the process, he was making them late at night, long past my bed time. (The older I get, the more I want to turn in by 9 p.m. I imagine I'll hit the sack right after lunch by the time I'm in my seventies.)

Anyway, these cookies, which actually are layers of sponge cake, are popular around the holidays, but can be found in Italian bakeries all year long. I guess they're more of an Italian-American thing, and are sometimes called "rainbow cookies."

Food coloring is added to the cake layers to mimic the Italian flag. You have to use your imagination a bit, since the flag is red, white and green, while these tri-colors are pink, yellow, and green.

But who cares, since they're out-of-this-world delicious? They're loved as much as these Italian Cookies in my family.

The predominant flavor here is almond, from the almond paste baked right in there. Plus, my son ups the ante by soaking each layer of cake with amaretto. Oh, yes.

Then, apricot preserves coat the bottom two layers, and glossy, semi-sweet chocolate serves as the icing on top. Oh, my, my.

And while it would be perfectly acceptable (and convenient!) to buy the almond paste to use in your tri-colors, my son makes it from scratch, which really gives the cookies a fresh taste.

He even blanches the almonds in a saucepan on the stove and peels off the skins.  (I don't have the patience for that, so recommend just buying blanched almonds.)

Then, he grinds the nuts, makes a honey simple syrup, processes them together into a paste, cuts in butter...it's a labor of love, I tell you! I've included all the almond paste details in the recipe, in case you're feeling ambitious.

Just one last note before I go eat more cookies — I mean tackle my to-do list. I'm providing the amounts needed to make 110 cookies, using a large, rimmed baking sheet (18x13) for each cake layer (using three baking sheets total).

Since my son makes these rainbow cookies for special occasions like Christmas or a party, and they freeze really well, it seems prudent for us to go with a large batch. It would take nearly as much work for just 36 cookies.

But, if you aren't looking for an Italian-sized yield, you can just use ⅓ of all the ingredients and divide your cake batter evenly among three 8x8 pans.

Va bene?

Enjoy!

More delicious cookies to try

• Italian Cookies
• Hazelnut Biscotti
• Italian Pizzelle Cookies
• Peanut Butter Cookies
• Chocolate Meringue Cookies

(Recipe Source: Almond paste slightly adapted from Jacques Torres Chocolate, MrChocolate, via Food Network. Cookies adapted from a recipe online that says it came from Good Housekeeping.

My Son's Tri-Color Italian Cookies

My Son's Tri-Color Italian Cookies are delicious rainbow cookies! With amaretto, sponge cake, homemade almond paste, apricot preserves and chocolate. For a quicker option, you can buy the almond paste.

4.43 from 7 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours

Servings: 110 Makes 110 cookies

Calories: 152kcal

Author: Mamma C

Ingredients

Almond Paste (if not using store-bought)

• ▢ 3 cups plus 3 tablespoons blanched whole almonds (without skin)
• ▢ 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup honey
• ▢ ⅓ cup plus 5 teaspoons water
• ▢ scant 4 tablespoons salted butter (nearly ¼ cup)

Tri-Color Cookies

• ▢ 21 ounces almond paste (divided use, see directions above or use store bought)
• ▢ 2 ¼ cups sugar (divided use)
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract (divided use)
• ▢ 2 ¼ cups (4 ½ sticks) salted butter (at room temperature, divided use)
• ▢ 9 eggs (divided use)
• ▢ 3 cups all-purpose flour (sifted, divided use)
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon salt (divided use)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon green food coloring
• ▢ ½ teaspoon red food coloring
• ▢ 12 ounces Amaretto (divided use)
• ▢ 2 cups apricot preserves (divided use)
• ▢ 9 ounces semisweet chocolate
• ▢ 1 tablespoon coconut oil (or vegetable shortening)
• ▢ parchment paper to line your 3 rimmed 18x13 baking sheets
• ▢ baking spray to grease your pans

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Instructions

• Set 4 ½ sticks of butter out on the counter to come to room temperature. To make the almond paste: In a food processor, grind the almonds into a course texture and leave them in the processor on off.
• Place the sugar, honey, and water in a saucepan and bring it to a strong boil over high heat. Turn off the heat and pour the sugar/honey mixture over the ground almonds in your food processor. Blend until smooth, which may take up to 10 minutes, depending on your machine. If the mixture is thick and your food processor is straining, add a little Amaretto.
• Wrap the almond paste in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer until it's no longer hot. When it has cooled off, cut in the butter with a dough cutter or fork, to help make the paste smooth and not sticky.
• For the cake layers, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three (18x13) rimmed baking sheets. After greasing them, line the baking sheets with parchment paper, smoothing the paper down into the pans. Grease the tops of the parchment paper, then flour them (or use baking spray with flour).
• Prepare the batter for one cake layer at a time. In a large mixing bowl, add 7 ounces of almond paste, ¾ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon almond extract, ¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks). Blend. Add 3 eggs and blend. Add 1 cup flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon green food coloring. Blend until mixed.
• Spoon the batter into one of the prepared pans. Spread the batter evenly with the back of a tablespoon. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the pan on a wire rack for about 30 minutes.
• While the green cake layer is baking, wash your mixing bowl and prepare your white layer. In the clean mixing bowl, add 7 ounces of almond paste, ¾ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon almond extract, ¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks). Blend. Add 3 eggs and blend. Add 1 cup flour and ¼ teaspoon salt. Blend.
• Spoon the batter into one of the prepared pans. Spread the batter evenly with the back of a tablespoon. Bake for 10-15 minutes, as you did for your first layer of cake. Cool the cake layer as directed above.
• While your white layer is baking, prepare your red layer. There is no need to wash out the mixing bowl beforehand. In your bowl, add 7 ounces of almond paste, ¾ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon almond extract, and ¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks). Blend. Add 3 eggs and ½ teaspoon red food coloring. Blend. Add 1 cup flour and ¼ teaspoon salt. Blend until mixed.
• Spoon the batter into one of the prepared pans. Spread the batter evenly with the back of a tablespoon. Bake for 10-15 minutes, as you did for your first layer of cake. Cool the cake layer as directed above.
• When the cake layers are cool to the touch, run the tip of a knife around the sides of the pans to loosen the cake layers. Flip the green layer onto a large, flat surface that can be refrigerated, such as a large cutting board or the back of an empty baking sheet. Gently pull off the parchment paper from the cake.
• Measure ½ cup of Amaretto. Brush all of the Amaretto onto the cake layer, evenly. Then, spread one cup of apricot preserves onto the cake.
• Flip the white cake layer on top of the green layer and press down gently to make it even. Gently pull off the parchment paper from the white cake.
• Measure ½ cup of Amaretto. Brush all of the Amaretto onto the white cake layer, evenly. Then, spread one cup of apricot preserves onto the cake.
• Flip the red cake layer on top of the white layer and press down gently to make it even. Gently pull off the parchment paper from the red cake.
• Measure ½ cup of Amaretto. Brush all of the Amaretto onto the red cake layer, evenly. There is no apricot used on this layer.
• To make the chocolate glaze: In a saucepan, heat the chocolate and coconut oil over low heat, stirring frequently, until melted. Immediately spread the melted chocolate on top of the cake only. (Do not use chocolate on the sides.)
• Refrigerate the assembled layers until the chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes. Use a long, serrated knife to trim ¼ inch from all the sides and set aside for snacking, if you wish. Cut the stacked layers into rectangular cookies that are about 1 ½ inches long and 1 inch wide.
• To store, place the cookies in a single layer in a container lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for up to one week or freeze for up to 3 months.

Notes

The batter will not look like enough when you put it in each pan. Keep spreading it out until it fits evenly. Similarly, the apricot and the chocolate will not look like enough, but keep spreading those as well.
Don't worry if a cake layer breaks when you flip it. Just press it into place, and the apricot and chocolate will cover it up and hold it together.
This makes a very large batch. If you want just 36 cookies, use ⅓ of the ingredients and divide the batter into three 8x8 pans.

Nutrition

Calories: 152kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 59mg | Potassium: 65mg | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 150IU | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 0.6mg

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