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Rainbow Cookies Recipe

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I always bake these Rainbow Cookies two weeks ahead. That allows them enough time to "mellow," leaving them moist and full of almond flavor! —Mary Ann Lee, Clifton Park, New York

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Rainbow Cookies Recipe

Prep: 50 min. + chilling Bake: 10 min. + cooling

Yield: 48 Servings

50 10 60

Ingredients

1 can (8 ounces) almond paste
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
6 to 8 drops red food coloring
6 to 8 drops green food coloring
1/4 cup seedless red raspberry jam
1/4 cup apricot preserves
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Grease the bottoms of three matching 13-in. x 9-in. baking pans (or reuse one pan). Line the pans with waxed paper; grease the paper.
Place almond paste in a large bowl; break up with a fork. Cream with butter, sugar and egg yolks until light and fluffy. Stir in flour. In another bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into dough, mixing until thoroughly blended.
Divide dough into three portions (about 1-1/3 cups each). Color one portion with red food coloring and one with green; leave the remaining portion uncolored. Spread each portion into the prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.
Invert onto wire racks; remove waxed paper. Place another wire rack on top and turn over. Cool completely.
Place green layer on a large piece of plastic wrap. Spread evenly with raspberry jam. Top with uncolored layer and spread with apricot jam. Top with pink layer. Bring plastic wrap over layers. Slide onto a baking sheet and set a cutting board or heavy, flat pan on top to compress layers. Refrigerate overnight.
The next day, melt chocolate in a microwave; stir until smooth. Spread over top layer; allow to harden. With a sharp knife, trim edges. Cut into 1/2-in. strips across the width; then cut each strip into 4-5 pieces. Store in airtight containers. Yield: about 8 dozen.

Originally published as Rainbow Cookies in Country Woman November/December 1992, p29

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Reviews for Rainbow Cookies

Rainbow Cookies

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Reviewed on Dec. 11, 2010 by moogeymomma

I've been making these cookies for years, although my recipe calls them "venetians. Yes, they are time comsuming, but so worth the trouble. Have to make at least 3 batches at a time, and yes, the cookies do freeze well if you don't put the chocolate on them before freezing.

Reviewed on Feb. 22, 2010 by hook57

Unless you are making these for a dessert platter or entertaining, they are definitely time consuming! We found the measurement for the chocolate topping too much, it overpowered the taste of the cookie. I always thought 1 cup was 8 ounces, not 6 oz. as stated in the ingredients. A typo error maybe? 3/4 cup of chocolate chips would probably be better!

We're hoping time in the freezer will help with the taste.....

Reviewed on Feb. 01, 2010 by maggieaw

Yes, it is a time consuming recipe but the results are definitely worth the effort. I had none of these left on the cookie platters at the end of the night!

Reviewed on Dec. 21, 2009 by wrobelrm

I've made this recipe for years now and it is a family favorite! I follow the recipe exactly and I have no trouble with them at all. They are delicious and we usually store them in the fridge because we like to eat them cold.

Reviewed on Dec. 02, 2009 by Jetertwo

I've made this recipe for the past couple of year now and I have mastered it. I actually make them all year round, sometimes I change the colors. People now beg for them, the store or bakery bought can't compare.

Reviewed on Dec. 01, 2009 by RFurnari

I thought I would take the time to share with you that I do not use Almond Paste. I use Solo Almond Pie Filling I find the cookies come out moist and not as dry.

Reviewed on Nov. 09, 2009 by BrytEyz

This recipe (we call them "Ribbon Cookies," but the recipe as originally written uses the title "Neapolitan Cookies") has been a family favorite for well over 30 years. They are well worth the extra effort. Don't forget to weight down with a heavy cutting board in the refrigerator overnight; this important step helps to hold the layers together later.

Reviewed on Oct. 31, 2009 by alexpio

Right now my 3 layers are cooling before adding jelly. I'd probably do it again because I can tell by the crumbs that they're delicious. I think 'spread each portion into the prepared pans' gives no idea how much of a problem this is. By the time I got to the third layer I found a lot easier way. Cut (or fold) the waxed paper to the size for the pan. Grease it per instructions but don't put it in the pan. Put it on a cookie sheet, then put the dough on top. It helps if you put it in 3 or 4 piles. Lay a piece of saran on top of the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin. The waxed paper shows you the size. When it covers the paper, lift the whole thing and drop it into the prepared pan. Adjust it as necessary. I had to push the corners down. Then bake as usual. Actually, except for insuring the size, I'm not sure why we need the 9 x 13 pan. I'm tempted to just bake them on the cookie sheet next time. I didn't give 5 stars because I'm not finished yet.

Reviewed on Dec. 15, 2008 by asouth

I make 3 batches every Christmas. I've used the 7-oz. tube of almond paste without a problem, but prefer the 8-oz can.

I don't fill with too much jam because I find that the layers fall apart when cutting the cookies if I do. Make sure you pull out the big clumps of apricot in the apricot jam or you'll have lumpy cookies.

Immediately after chocolate is put on top, score with a knife to establish cutting lines. This will help to avoid breaking the chocolate after it has cooled.

These are also great for baby showers if you use blue and pink food coloring instead of green and red. Also graduations, using school colors (as long as they don't look too odd as cookies - don't think I'd do black and red, for instance)

Reviewed on Nov. 03, 2008 by jewelie1981

I also line the baking pan with aluminum foil.

I also only use one kind of jelly, and experimented with homemade blackberry jelly which turned out delicious. I tend to put in much more jelly than it calls for because that's my favorite part.

Oh, and a food processor will break up the almond paste beautifully. If you break it up a little bit and put it on 'pulse' a few times, it will really chop it up very finely. Also, you can add the rest of the ingredients and just use the processor. It mixes beautifully. That saved me a LOT of time when I made three batches last month.

And they freeze perfectly so you can make them a couple months in advance without issue.

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