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1 Dough Neapolitan Cookies Recipe

1 Dough Neapolitan Cookies Recipe
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Photos of 1 Dough Neapolitan Cookies Recipe

How To Make 1 Dough Neapolitan Cookies

With just 1 dough, you can make these soft and colorful Neapolitan cookies! They’re buttery and have vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry flavors in a cookie!

Preparation: 3 hours 20 minutes
Cooking: 12 minutes
Cool Time: 5 minutes
Total: 3 hours 37 minutes

Serves:

Ingredients

For Base Cookie Dough:

  • cupsall-purpose flour,spoon and leveled
  • ½tspbaking powder
  • ½tspsalt
  • 1cupbutter,(2 sticks) unsalted, softened to room temperature
  • 1cupgranulated sugar,(200 g)
  • 1large egg,plus an additional 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
  • tsppure vanilla extract
  • 1tbspwater and coarse sugar,optional, for sprinkling

For Strawberry Dough:

  • tbspall-purpose flour
  • 1tbspstrawberry jam
  • ½tspalmond extract
  • pink food coloring,or red food coloring
  • ¼tspstrawberry extract,for extra flavor

For Chocolate Dough:

  • tbspnatural cocoa powder,unsweetened, or Dutch process
  • 1ozchocolate,semi-sweet, melted, slightly cooled

Instructions

Base Cookie Dough:

  1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

  2. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes until creamed.

  3. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and beat on high speed for about 1 minute until combined.

  4. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.

  5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. The dough will be thick and sticky.

  6. Remove from the mixing bowl. No need to rinse out the mixing bowl.

  7. There are about 30 ounces of dough (1 lb, 14 ounces). Divide into three equal portions, about 10 ounces each.

  8. 1 portion is the vanilla dough. Nothing will be added to it. Set vanilla dough aside.

  9. The other two portions will be the strawberry dough and chocolate dough.

Strawberry Dough:

  1. Place 1 portion of dough back into the mixing bowl. Add all of the strawberry dough ingredients.

  2. Start with 1 drop of red or pink food coloring. Beat on low speed until the dough is combined.

  3. Add another 1 to 2 drops of food coloring until the desired pink color is reached.

  4. Remove from the mixing bowl. No need to rinse out the mixing bowl.

Chocolate Dough:

  1. Place the last portion of dough back into the mixing bowl. Add all of the chocolate dough ingredients.

  2. Beat on low speed until the dough is combined.

  3. Line a 9×5 inch loaf pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to lift the chilled cookie dough out.

  4. Layer the cookie dough into the pan in the following order: strawberry dough on the bottom, vanilla dough in the middle, chocolate dough on top.

  5. Using the hands, press each dough layer firmly and evenly into the prepared loaf pan.

  6. Cover the loaf pan tightly and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours (and up to 4 days) or 1 hour in the freezer.

  7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

  8. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.

  9. Lift the dough out of the pan using the overhang of parchment paper on the sides.

  10. Slice the 9×5-inch block of dough in half lengthwise so it makes 2 2.5×9-inch rectangles.

  11. Use a sharp knife to trim off the ends so the rectangles are 8 inches long. Slice each into 16 cookies.

  12. Each cookie is ½-inch thick. Trim the cookie edges to make neat rectangles, if desired.

  13. Arrange the cookies 2 to 3-inches apart on the baking sheets.

  14. If desired, brush each lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

  15. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges.

  16. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

  17. Once cool, enjoy the cookies or dip in melted chocolate.

  18. Cookies without chocolate coating will stay fresh covered at room temperature for 1 week.

  19. Cookies with the chocolate coating will stay fresh covered at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for 1 week.

Recipe Notes

  • Make-Ahead Instructions: Baked cookies, with or without chocolate coating, freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, if desired, before serving. Make or assemble the cookie dough in the loaf pan and chill in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. If desired, the cookie dough can be frozen in the loaf pan for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before baking.
  • Eggs: 1 egg plus an additional egg yolk will be needed for the cookie dough. Save the extra egg white and mix it with 1 tablespoon of water to make a simple egg wash. Brush this over each cookie, then sprinkle with the coarse sugar before baking. This gives the cookies a little extra crunch and sparkle.
  • Food Coloring: It is recommended to use gel food coloring in the strawberry dough instead of liquid food coloring. Liquid food coloring may alter the texture of the finished cookie. Start with 1 drop as directed, then add another 1 to 2 drops if desired.
  • Almond Extract: Almond extract adds a lovely flavor to the strawberry cookie dough. If desired, leave it out.
  • Strawberry Extract: Strawberry extract is highly recommended for added strawberry flavor. It can be found in the spice aisle of most major grocery stores.
  • Don’t add freeze-dried strawberry powder to the strawberry cookie dough. The strawberry cookie dough will spread all over while the other layers stayed put. The cookies were very lopsided. It’s the texture of the ground freeze-dried strawberries. It doesn’t work as nicely as the jam/flour/strawberry extract.
  • Neat Rectangles: It is recommended to trim the sliced cookie edges to make neat rectangles. This is completely optional. There will be some leftover cookie dough scraps. Discard or roll it out using a rolling pin and cut it into shapes. Bake as directed in this recipe.
  • Dipped Neapolitan Cookies: 1 ounce of semi-sweet chocolate will be needed for the chocolate cookie dough and most baking chocolate is sold in 4-ounce bars. Bakers or Ghirardelli brands are recommended, both sold in the baking aisle. Melt the remaining 3 ounces of chocolate from that bar, plus an extra 4-ounce bar for a total of 7 ounces of melted semi-sweet chocolate. Make sure to chop the bars before melting. Melt in a double boiler or in the microwave in 15-second increments, stopping and stirring after each until completely smooth. Dip the corner of each cooled cookie into melted chocolate. Allow the chocolate to set completely in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or at room temperature for 30 minutes.
  • Fun with Flavors: Spruce up the vanilla layer with ½ cup of crushed walnuts or ½ teaspoon of coconut extract. Switch out the raspberry jam and extract for the strawberry. Add 1 pinch of espresso powder to the chocolate dough for a mocha flavor.

 

Nutrition

  • Calories: 123.04kcal
  • Fat: 6.30g
  • Saturated Fat: 3.89g
  • Trans Fat: 0.23g
  • Monounsaturated Fat: 1.66g
  • Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.30g
  • Carbohydrates: 15.58g
  • Fiber: 0.43g
  • Sugar: 7.49g
  • Protein: 1.39g
  • Cholesterol: 21.06mg
  • Sodium: 45.67mg
  • Calcium: 10.26mg
  • Potassium: 22.85mg
  • Iron: 0.58mg
  • Vitamin A: 51.02µg
  • Vitamin C: 0.07mg
Want to share your experience making these classic Italian cookies or have any tips to perfect the recipe? Join the discussion in the Baking and Desserts forum and let's talk about these delightful Neapolitan treats!

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