Neapolitan Cookies offer the best of both worlds with different flavors and pretty colors! Have fun making these delicious cookies!
What’s in a Neapolitan Cookie?
These beautiful cookies are tricolored, multi-flavored, and a treat for the tastebuds. These tricolor cookies have all the flavors of Neapolitan ice cream.
- Granulated Sugar: Sweetens the cookies.
- Salted Butter: Adds rich, buttery flavor and moisture.
- Vegetable Shortening: Helps make these cookies soft and tender. In place of the shortening, you can use an equal amount of room-temperature butter.
- Eggs: Give these cookies structure.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the sweetness of the cookies and flavors the vanilla third of the dough.
- All-Purpose Flour: Gives the cookies structure.
- Leavening: Baking soda and baking powder give these cookies lift.
- Strawberry Extract: Adds strawberry flavor to the strawberry third of the dough.
- Food Coloring: Adds a rich pink color to the strawberry third of the dough.
- Cocoa Powder: Adds chocolatey flavor and a rich brown color to the chocolate third of the dough.
Pro Tip: Add a pinch of espresso powder to the chocolate dough for a mocha flavor.
Variations on Tricolor Cookies
- For gluten-free cookies, swap the all-purpose flour for an equal amount of gluten-free 1:1 baking flour.
- Add coconut extract or crushed nuts to the vanilla dough for a fun variation.
- Feel free to swap the strawberry extract for raspberry or cherry, if you prefer!
- You can use any unsweetened cocoa powder in these cookies, or try black cocoa for a deeper color.
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Neapolitan cookies are soft, chewy cookies marbled with the colors and flavors of Neapolitan ice cream: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.
Neapolitan means “pertaining to Naples”, a city in Southern Italy. Neapolitan is an adaptation of the popular Italian dessert, Spumoni, using popular American flavors instead of the more traditional pistachio, vanilla, and cherry.
While you can use any unsweetened cocoa powder you prefer, I like to use natural cocoa powder here because the baking soda helps to neutralize the acidity of natural cocoa powder, letting its rich flavor shine. You could also use black cocoa for an even richer color!
Chilling cookie dough before baking helps prevent the dough from spreading in the oven.
Absolutely! You can freeze the cookie dough or the baked cookies. Freeze in a single layer on a lined baking sheet until solid, about 1-2 hours. Transfer to an airtight container or Ziplock bag to store.
How to Make Ahead and Store
The Neapolitan cookie dough can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. If frozen, let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before baking.
Store leftover Neapolitan cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
How to Freeze
Freeze Neapolitan cookies in a single layer of a lined baking sheet until solid, about 1-2 hours. Transfer to an airtight container or Ziplock bag to store for up to 1 month. Let thaw at room temperature before enjoying.
Serving Suggestions
Serve Neapolitan cookies as is, or sandwich two together with some marshmallow fluff, Nutella, peanut butter, chocolate buttercream, or vanilla ice cream.
Neapolitan Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cookie Dough
- 1⅓ cups granulated sugar plus more for rolling
- ⅔ cup salted butter room temperature (1⅓ sticks)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
For the Vanilla
- 2½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
For the Strawberry
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon strawberry extract
- Pink food coloring
For the Chocolate
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale (optional)
- Stand Mixer
- 2 Baking Sheet
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar, butter, and vegetable shortening together on high speed until smooth, fluffy, and pale in color, about 1 minute. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until pale in color, about 1 minute.1⅓ cups granulated sugar, ⅔ cup salted butter, 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together.2 cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- Add the flour mixture into the wet mixture and beat together just until the flour is combined — do not overmix.
- Divide the dough evenly into 3 separate bowls (about 267 grams per bowl).
- In one bowl, mix in the flour for the vanilla portion. Mix only until the flour is incorporated.2½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- In a second bowl, mix in the additional ingredients for the strawberry portion, again, only mixing until the ingredients have been incorporated.3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon strawberry extract, Pink food coloring
- Add the cocoa to the last bowl and mix until combined.3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- Cover the bowls with plastic wrap and place them into the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.
- Once the doughs have chilled, remove them from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Preheat oven to 350°F and line 1-2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop a ½-tablespoon portion of each of the doughs and roll each into a somewhat of a ball. Place the balls together in a kind of triangle and roll them together into a ball. Slightly flatten the ball into a 2-inch disc. Roll in sugar until well coated. Place the dough discs onto the prepared baking sheet about 3 inches apart for spreading.
- Place the baking sheets into the oven to bake for 18 minutes. Turn the pans halfway through baking so that they bake evenly on both sides.
- Once baked, remove the pans from the oven and place the cookies onto a cooling rack to cool for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
- In place of the shortening, you can use an equal amount of room temperature butter.
- For gluten-free cookies, swap the all-purpose flour for an equal amount of gluten-free 1:1 baking flour.
- Add coconut extract or crushed nuts to the vanilla dough for a fun variation.
- Feel free to swap the strawberry extract for raspberry or cherry, if you prefer!
- You can use any unsweetened cocoa powder in these cookies, or try black cocoa for a deeper color.
- Add a pinch of espresso powder to the chocolate dough for a mocha flavor.
- Measure the flour using the spoon-and-level method to avoid dense, puffy cookies.
- Do not overwork the cookie dough after the flour has been added to avoid over developing the gluten which can create rubbery cookies.
- If the cookie dough is too hard to roll into balls after being chilled, let the dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before rolling.
- For a slightly flatter, more chewy cookie, bang the pan onto the baking rack a few times after the cookies have been baking for about 10 minutes or once they start to spread and puff up. Banging the pan will cause the cookies to fall in the center, helping to create the desired chewy texture.
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