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Italian rainbow cookies are as delicious as they are beautiful, with their vibrant layers of almond-flavored cake sandwiched between sweet raspberry jam and coated in rich chocolate. Also called tri-color cookies, these festive treats proudly show off the red, white, and green of the Italian flag. They might look fancy, but they’re easier to make than you’d think—and totally worth the effort! Whether you’re baking for the holidays or just want a fun, nostalgic treat, these Italian rainbow cookies are sure to impress.
These Italian-American cookies have almond cake layered with raspberry jelly and a divinely sweet chocolate glaze. They’re gorgeous to look at and even better to eat.
If you enjoy classic Italian desserts, make these Amaretti cookies or try your hand at Italian fig Christmas cookies. Candied pecans are also delicious.
Why You’ll Love Them
Delicious: The combination of cookie/cake layers with jelly and chocolate is just phenomenal. Whether you have a sweet tooth or not, you’ll love how these sweet treats taste.
Straightforward to make: Don’t let the rainbow layering put you off! It’s really not hard to make Italian rainbow cookies and you can be proud of yourself for making such a pretty treat!
Authentic: If you’re looking for an authentic recipe reflecting Italian cuisine, you can’t go wrong with Italian rainbow cookies. It doesn’t matter if you have any Italian in your ancestry – absolutely everyone loves these!
Ingredients for Italian Rainbow Cookies
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Sugar: For sweetness.
Almond paste: Adds that wonderfully nutty flavor to the cookies.
Raspberry jam: Sweet and fruity, although you could use another flavor instead.
Chocolate chips: For the top and bottom layers.
Food coloring: If you want to be adventurous and make 4 or even 7 layer cookies, you might want to gather a collection of food coloring dyes!
How to Make Authentic Italian Rainbow Cookies
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Make the cake batter: Beat the egg whites until stiff in one bowl and the butter, sugar and almond paste in another bowl before adding in the powdered sugar, milk, egg yolks and almond extract.
Color the batter: Divide the batter between 3 bowls and add red food coloring to one, green food coloring to another and leave the third as it is.
Bake the batter: Spread each color of batter on to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, then let them cool completely.
Make the layers: Spread jam over the green layer, then add the white layer on top and spread jam over that. Put the red layer on top.
Chill the cookies: Cover the whole thing with plastic wrap and put a book, pot or something heavy on top of the cookies to press everything down. Refrigerate for 4 hours.
Trim and decorate the cake: Trim the cake down to get a rectangle, melt the chocolate chips and oil together, and spread this over the cake. When the chocolate layer sets, flip it over and cover the rest with chocolate. Cut the cake into 1 1/2-inch squares to make the cookies.
Substitutions and Variations
Almond flavoring: This Italian rainbow cookie can be made with different flavoring. If you aren’t an almond fan, you might like to swap the almond extract and almond paste for vanilla or something else.
Chocolate chips: You can also use sweet, semisweet or dark chocolate for the melted chocolate.
Different colors: You can also change the colors, using whichever you want for your Italian rainbow cookie recipe.
Serving Suggestions
With drinks: They’re great with anything from a Dalgona pumpkin spice coffee or Irish cream coffee to something more festive like Santa’s hat cocktails.
With other desserts: Plate these up with other sweet treats, perhaps lemon shortbread cookies or chocolate roll cake.
How to Store Rainbow Cookies
Store: Leftovers will stay fresh for up to 5 days if stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Freeze: Freeze the Italian rainbow cookies for up to 3 months.
Thaw: Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
Top Tips
Food coloring: Choose from liquids and gels. It’s best to add a little at a time until you achieve the right color.
Get creative: Have fun using different colors, trying different jam flavors or even mixing and matching more than one kind of chocolate.
Setting time: Make sure the chocolate layer has completely set before you cut and serve these.
Italian Rainbow Cookies FAQs
Once the tri color cookies are covered with chocolate, you might find you have some left. Keep it and you can use it to decorate cupcakes or cookies, or to drizzle over your next sundae or caramel apple cheesecakes.
Once you’ve stacked them put a baking sheet and heavy book or pot on top to press them down.
Classic Italian Rainbow Cookies Recipe
Italian Rainbow Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 1/2 Cups butter, at room temperature
- 1 Cup white sugar
- 8 Ounces almond paste
- 1 Cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 Cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoons almond extract
- 2 Cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 Teaspoon food coloring gel, red
- 1/4 Teaspoon food coloring gel, green
- 1/2 Cup raspberry jam, seedless
- 1 1/2 Cups chocolate chips, semisweet
- 1/4 Teaspoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Beat the egg whites until stiff.
- In a separate bowl, beat the butter, sugar and almond paste together until smooth, then add the powdered sugar, milk, egg yolks, and almond extract and beat until combined.
- Stir in the flour with a spoon, then fold in the egg whites.
- Divide evenly between 3 bowls. Add the red food coloring to one bowl and mix until well combined. Add the green to another bowl and stir until combined.
- Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper and spread out each color. This will take some work as the dough is thick and difficult to spread on parchment paper.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Remove and cool completely.
- Spread half the jam over the green side, then gently lay the white batter over the jam and spread the remaining jam over the white cookie. Lay the red cookie over the jam.
- Cover in saran wrap and place a pan over the cookies. Place a book on top and refrigerate for 4 hours.
- Trim the cake to a 7½ by 10½-inch rectangle. Melt the chocolate chips and vegetable oil together and spread over the top of the cookies. Let the chocolate harden, then carefully flip the cookie over and cover the other side with chocolate. Let the chocolate set completely and then measure and cut 1 ½ inch squares.
Notes
Get creative: Have fun using different colors, trying different jam flavors or even mixing and matching more than one kind of chocolate.
Setting time: Make sure the chocolate layer has completely set before you cut and serve these.
Nutrition
Italian rainbow cookies are truly delicious. They’re colorful and boast almond and chocolate flavors in every bite. They might look sophisticated but they’re not hard to make at all. In fact, they’re fun to make! So, if you’re looking for a festive cookie recipe, try Italian rainbow cookies – everyone is going to love them!
Other Recipes to Try
- Get in the festive spirit with a fun Antipasto Christmas Tree centerpiece.
- Impress your guests with this Easy Italian Christmas Zuccotto Cake.
- Festive Gingerbread Pizzelle Recipe offers a blend of spices and sweetness.
- Savor the decadence of these Chocolate Chestnut Tortelli Cookies.
- Chocolate Salami combines shortbread cookies, Amaretto and chocolate.
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
Will you describe the consistency you look for when pulling out of the oven?
Similar to sheet cake, insert a toothpick, skewer, or thin knife into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean or with just a few crumbs, the cake is done. If it comes out with wet batter, the cake needs more time in the oven.
They used to make these (at least in 70s and 80s) with ALMOND PASTE between sometimes even marzipan make not if you have nut allergies do not eat marzipan either.
Try vanilla paste or extract and pref raspberry or apricot are the common used
This year I am making my own ..not from scratch but box mixes with my own twist…I’ll just say the red level will be red velvet cake
Might make half with the marzipan the other with almond paste +way too many combos)
Can you cool in fridge longer than four hours. Like make the cake add the the jelly. Then refrigerated for next night to frost.
Yes, that should be fine to do.
SO GOOD! I moved to Florida 7 years ago and as an Italian New Yorker, we very much lack Italian bakeries down here! This recipe is LEGIT!!
I do have a question on what is the best method for defrosting them? I froze a bunch for xmas + I am not sure when I should take them out of the freezer <3
You can take them out the day prior or morning of the day you want to eat them. They don’t take too long to defrost.
If I triple the recipe what size pan should I use?
If you want to triple the recipe, I’d suggest just repeating everything 3 times (unless you happen to have 9 baking sheets!) The dough is quite dense and hard to spread out so I wouldn’t recommend making the layers any thicker. For this reason, use 3 baking sheets (one per color) for the dessert. And repeat to make more.
Easy to whip up and bursting with flavor—this one’s a keeper!
This is one of my go-to recipes of yours. Thank you!! 🙂
I can’t have just one. I am excited to make this again because my kids loved it!
What size baking sheet did you use to make the layers?
I used three 9 x 13-inch baking sheets
Wow, these Italian rainbow cookies truly embody the festive spirit with their vibrant colors! The blend of flavors and textures, from the almond paste to the layers of jelly and chocolate, seems like a culinary masterpiece. Thanks for sharing.