Italian Rainbow Cookies - Drop Cookie Style

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Italian Rainbow Cookies - Drop Cookie Style

I love Italian rainbow cookies, they are one of my favorite holiday cookies out there! So this year, I set out on making a drop cookie style version of the beloved classic rainbow cookie and here it is! I love the way this cookie came out! They taste surprisingly similar to the actual rainbow cookie with a little more softness and crispiness in the texture. I found that letting them cool for a day really brings those quintessential almond flavor and raspberry jam notes out. You could swirl these cookies to have a more marble effect but I like the way they looked as parallel lines, like the original rainbow cookie! These cookies are sweet, they are nostalgic and they are perfect if you are a fan of rainbow cookies!

These cookies have all the nostalgia and flavor of traditional Italian Rainbow cookies without all the heavy lifting.

Italian Rainbow Cookies - Drop Cookie Style

Serving: ~10 cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour (180 grams)

  • 1 cup bread flour (120 grams)

  • 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons almond flour (63 grams)

  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

  • 3/4 teaspoon salt

  • 2 sticks of butter, at room temperature (226 grams)

  • 1 3/4 cup of white sugar (350 grams)

  • 2 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

  • 1 egg

  • 1 egg yolk

  • A few drops of light red, green and yellow gel food coloring

  • 2 tablespoons of seedless raspberry jam (40 grams)

  • 1/3 cup dark chocolate chopped (56 grams)

  • Sprinkles for decorating

Method:

Cookie Dough

  1. Combine all purpose flour, bread flour, almond flour baking soda and salt and whisk until incorporated. Set aside.

    • 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour (180 grams)

    • 1 cup bread flour (120 grams)

    • 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons almond flour (63 grams)

    • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

    • 3/4 teaspoon salt

  2. In a stand mixer or with an electric mixer, beat the butter for about a minute on medium speed until fluffy and pale.

    • 2 sticks of butter, at room temperature (226 grams)

  3. Add the sugar to the butter and beat for another 2 to 3 minutes until light in color and creamy.

    • 1 3/4 cup of white sugar (350 grams)

    • Note: Scrape the sides of your bowl in between to ensure that everything is combined.

  4. Add the almond extract, the egg and the egg yolk into the creamed butter/sugar mixture and beat for 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture is well combined.

    • 2 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

    • 1 egg

    • 1 egg yolk

  5. In batches, add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and blend on low speed until just combined.

    • Note: Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to get any dry bits that haven’t been incorporated.

  6. Divide the dough equally into 3 portions into 3 separate medium sized bowls.

    • Note: If measuring in grams you should be able to divide the cookie dough mixture into 330 grams portions per bowl.

  7. Add the red food coloring, into one bowl of cookie dough and mix with a spoon or spatula until fully incorporated. Repeat this step with the green and yellow food coloring with the other two bowls of cookie dough.

    • Note: Start off with less food coloring than you think. You can always add more if needed to get your desired color.

  8. Scoop the green cookie dough into ten 1.5 tablespoon balls. Set aside. Clean and dry the cookie scoop. Repeat the process for the red and yellow cookie dough.

  9. Take the green cookie dough and make a small indent with your finger. Spoon a little bit of the raspberry jam, it shouldn’t fill the indent more than 3/4 way. Place the yellow cookie dough on top and repeat the same step. Finally place the red cookie dough on top.

    • 2 tablespoons of seedless raspberry jam (40 grams)

    • Note- If your jam is not easy to spoon, mix it a bit or microwave it for a few seconds until spoonable and runny.

  10. Shape the cookie dough into a rectangle. This helps keeps the colors of the cookies in cleaner parallel lines.

  11. Let the cookie dough chill in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes until slightly firm. Alternatively, you can chill these cookies overnight in the fridge and bake them off the next day, just make sure to let them thaw on your counter for about 15-20 minutes.

  12. Once the cookies have chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

  13. Place 5 dough rectangles on the baking tray, leaving about 2 inches or more of space between each and bake for 8 to 9 minutes or just until the edges of the cookie are set. It’s okay if they look slightly under baked in the center, they will firm up as they cool. While the cookies are still hot, scoot them with a cookie cutter to get round cookies. Theses cookies will spread so make sure to scoot them to condense them in size.

    • Note: Pulling them out when they look under baked will help keep them chewy and soft after they cool.

  14. Let the cookies cool for at least 30 minutes.

    • Note: I find these cookies taste even better if you let them cool overnight in an airtight container, the notes of almond and raspberry jam really meld together and have more of that Italian cookie taste.

  15. Once the cookies are cool, melt the dark chocolate in the microwave in increments until glossy and smooth. Pour the chocolate into a sandwich bag or a small piping bag and drizzle the chocolate on one side of the cookie.

  16. While the chocolate is still wet, decorate the cookies with sprinkles if so desired.

    • Chocolate jimmies or red, green, yellow sprinkles would look great.

  17. Let the chocolate harden and enjoy!