New York Rainbow Cookies

Name: New York Rainbow Cookies
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 96 cookies
Ingredients: 1 (8 ounce) can almond paste; 1 cup butter, softened; 1 cup sugar; 4 eggs, separated; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 6 -8 drops red food coloring; 6 -8 drops green food coloring; 1/4 cup seedless red raspberry jam; 1/4 cup apricot jam; 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Submitted by Lizzymommy

"I grew up eating these from a little Italian bakery in the neighborhood. When I came across a recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook, I just knew I needed to make these to give a taste of my childhood to my kids and husband. Terrific! I make them 2 weeks ahead to allow them enough time to "mellow" and become moist and full of almond flavor! Prep time does not include chilling overnight"

Download

Ready In:: 1hr 10mins
Ingredients:: 10
Yields:: 96 cookies

ingredients

1 (8 ounce) can almond paste
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
6 -8 drops red food coloring
6 -8 drops green food coloring
¹⁄₄ cup seedless red raspberry jam
¹⁄₄ cup apricot jam
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

directions

Grease the bottoms of three matching 13x9x2-inch baking pans (or reuse one pan). Line the pans with waxed paper; grease the paper.
Place almond paste in a large mixing bowl; break up with a fork. Cream with butter, sugar and egg yolks until light, fluffy, and smooth. Stir in flour. In another mixing 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 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 double boiler. Spread over top layer; allow to harden. With a sharp knife, trim edges. Cut into 1/2-inch strips across the width; then cut each strip into 4-5 pieces. Store in airtight containers.

Questions & Replies

Got a question? Share it with the community!

Reviews

This is the closest to my grandmothers recipe except we use all apricot jam and we heat it up before pouring-also in the flour mix we put 1/4 tsp salt and also add 1 teaspoon of almond extract to the first mixture of ingredients :) We made the layers Friday and going back to add the chocolate today!!! A Christmas MUST HAVE in our family!!!

mommerella
These are wonderful! They taste just like the long island bakeries. I will be making these a lot! I also added 1 tsp of almond extract. Thanks for posting!

ashlynn08