There is something special about the famous combination of Neapolitan flavors…. Look Chocolate, Vanilla and strawberry are all good on its own but put them together and a magical flavor explosion happens!! Now imagine these in a cookies – magical Neapolitan cookies!!
These cookies really look impressive. So much so that my husband thought that I bought these. (Hey where’s the love? 🤔 ) But you will find they are rather easy to make even though they look “store-bought”. One batch of dough divided into 3. And each of these gets a separate flavor added to them. BOOM!! Magical Neapolitan cookies!
I made a slight change to this recipe, and it is optional. But it really made the strawberry part of the cookie pop with flavor. So just give it a try. And let me know what you think….
So, the secret to a very flavorful strawberry part is to add some jam. I added some much-loved cherry jam. Yeah, I know that this is not strawberry. But it really brings a nice touch to the cookie.
I do have a little warning that comes with these cookies…. They are SUPER addictive!
If you are looking for some cookie ideas to fill your cookie containers also try these two trusted, and loved recipes:
http://www.livingdelish.com/the-best-spritz-cookies-in-the-world/
http://www.livingdelish.com/sugar-spice-shortbread-cookies/
Enjoy!
Magical Neapolitan Cookies
Makes: +/- 60 cookies
Cooking time: +/- 12 minutes
Pre heat your fan assisted oven to 180 ˚C. Grease a baking tray and set aside
Ingredients:
Basic cookie dough
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter
250 ml white sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, both at room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
OPTIONAL: 1 tablespoon of water, egg white and course sugar for sprinkling on top.
Strawberry Dough
1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon strawberry jam or (substitute for cherry jam, this adds a great flavour)
½ teaspoon of almond extract
¼ teaspoon strawberry extract
Pink or red food coloring. (Or gel food coloring)
Chocolate Dough
1 ½ tablespoon of natural cocoa powder
28g semi-sweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
Instructions
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar until it appears light and fluffy. This will take about 2 minutes. Now add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix on high speed for about 1 minute. Remember to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl in between mixing.
Now add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on a low speed until combined. The dough will appear sticky and thick. Now, divide the dough into 3 equal parts. One of these doughs will be your vanilla layer, so there is no need to add anything to this, keep aside. One portion will be your strawberry flavor and the last portion will be your chocolate flavor.
Making the strawberry dough:
Place one portion of dough back into your mixing bowl. Add all the strawberry dough ingredients to the dough and mix well.
For the food coloring: Start by only adding one drop of food coloring at a time until you have reached the perfect pink color. I like using gel colors. The colors are usually very bright, and you only need a drop or two to get the perfect color.)
Making the chocolate dough:
Place the last portion of dough into your mixing bowl. Add all the chocolate dough ingredients and mix well.
Now that you have mixed all the flavors, it is time to put them together. Line a 9×5 inch loaf tin (this is your standard loaf tin) with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Remember to leave an overhang on the sides of the tin. This will help you to lift out the dough once it has cooled. Now you can layer your dough. Start with the strawberry at the bottom.
Adding the flavours
I rolled out the dough to about the same size as my pan. I then lifted the dough up and laid the layer down in the bottom of the pan. Use your fingertips to press and shape and level out the dough. Repeat this step with the vanilla dough. And lay this on top of the strawberry layer. Then finish with the chocolate layer on top.
Ensure to press each layer down firmly on top of each other. Cover your loaf tin with cling wrap and allow your dough to chill for at least 3 hours. If you are pressed for time you can place your dough in the freezer for an hour.
Time to slice and bake your cookies!! Once they are completely chilled you can lift your dough out of the pan using the overhang of foil or parchment paper. Slice your dough length wise in three. (you should have three 2.5 X 9-inch rectangles. Trim the sides slightly to neaten up the corners. Now slice each rectangle into ½ inch thick slices.
Arrange your cookies on the prepared baking tray.
If desired, mix the optional water and egg whites together. Using a pastry brush slightly brush each cookie with a thin layer of egg wash and sprinkle some course sugar over each.
Now place them in your preheated oven and bake for 10-13 minutes or until they are slightly browned.
Once baked. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes. Then transfer them to a cooling rack and allow to cool off completely.
