Neapolitan Sugar Cookies
Yield: 10 large cookies
Total time: 1 hr. 20 min.
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Hello! Today I have the ULTIMATE sugar cookies for you: neapolitan sugar cookies! Featuring the classic vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry flavors. These cookies are thick, chewy, oh-so soft, and full of flavor! And don’t worry about having to make three different types of cookie dough, these cookies are made with one vanilla dough that gets split into three portions to be flavored with freeze dried strawberries and cocoa, respectively. Super easy, and there is no food coloring or artificial flavors involved!
These cookies are super easy (and super fun!) to make. The dough gets made as all standard cookie doughs are made, and then the true fun begins. Once you flavor each portion of dough, you scoop out the vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry dough so that you have tiny cookie dough balls for each flavor. Then, you grab one of each flavor and stack them on top of each other. Give the vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry dough balls a little smoosh together and them roll them into a ball. What you’ll get is a cookie dough with distinctive flavor areas with slight crossovers for ultimate flavor bites. If you are not the biggest fan of strawberry, you can also try subbing out the freeze dried strawberries for a different freeze dried fruit!
Before we get into making these delicious, chewy & flavorful neapolitan cookies, there are a couple of things you should note.
A couple of things to note:
1. Measuring the ingredients. My recipes are all written in grams because it is a more accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! Here is my favorite kitchen scale, and here’s an article about why I use a kitchen scale, and why you should too!
2. Room temperature ingredients. The butter and eggs need to be at room temperature in order to properly incorporate with the dough. Take them out 30 minutes before starting the recipe, or follow this little hack if you forget (like I often do!): How to get room temperature ingredients QUICKLY.
3. Do not overmix! To make this recipe as easy as possible, I divide one vanilla dough into three, and add in the other flavorings after. It is super important that you do not overmix the dough, or you will end up with an undesirable hard cookie. With the vanilla dough, make sure to only mix until you see the flour streaks disappear. When adding in the flavorings, mix just until the dough is one cohesive color, no longer than 30 seconds.
4. Chilling the dough. I know, I am quite impatient and this is the worst part about baking, BUT, chilling the dough allows the gluten to relax, more flavor to develop, and prevents your cookies from spreading out all over the place in the oven. A small chilling time of 30 minutes yields the best results for these neapolitan sugar cookies, I promise it’s worth it!
To make neapolitan sugar cookies, you will need:
All purpose flour: for structure & chewiness
Baking powder: for leavening and giving a “cake-y” texture
Baking soda: for leavening and providing a slight crispiness
Salt: to balance and bring out the sweetness of the cookies
Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the cookies and giving them that melt-in-your-mouth texture. If using salted butter, omit the salt from the recipe
Granulated sugar: it wouldn’t be a proper sugar cookie without some sugar! Granulated sugar sweetens the cookies but also tenderizes them and helps lock in moisture in the dough
Egg: helps bind the dough together and adds moisture, an extra egg yolk provides some extra richness to the cookies
Vanilla: I am a huge fan of vanilla bean paste because you get to see those little bean specks in the dough. My favorite brand is Heilala vanilla bean paste. If you don’t have vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract will work perfectly as well.
Freeze-dried strawberries: for the strawberry dough. You can typically find freeze dried fruits near the snack sections in the grocery store. I have seen them both at Target and at Walmart, but you can also find them on Amazon.
Dutch process cocoa powder: for the chocolate dough. I highly recommend using dutch process cocoa for its darker color and deeper flavor. I have not tried these cookies with regular cocoa, but if that’s all you have on hand you can use it. Just be sure to note that the chocolate part of the cookies will be lighter and have a less pronounced flavor.
What are freeze-dried strawberries?
Freeze dried strawberries are strawberries that have had their moisture removed. Doing so leaves you with a super flavorful, crispy strawberry “chip.” I have personally seen them both at Target and at Walmart near the snack aisles, but you can also find them on Amazon.
Can I use fresh strawberries?
Sadly, no. Regular strawberries contain too much moisture and would not be able to impart their flavor into these neapolitan sugar cookies as well as freeze-dried strawberries. I promise the pack of freeze dried strawberries will be worth it in this recipe, they pack in so much strawberry flavor!
Can I double this recipe?
Yes! You can double all of the ingredients in this recipe to get 20 large cookies. I use a 1.5 tbsp. scoop for each flavor, but you can also use a 1 tbsp. scoop for smaller, more standard-sized cookies. If you use a 1 tbsp. scoop, you will end up with ~15 cookies in a standard batch, and ~30 cookies in a double batch.
Can I make these neapolitan sugar cookies ahead of time?
Yes! You can make the dough and let it chill, covered overnight in the fridge to be baked the next day. You can also store the formed cookie dough balls in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months. Storing cookie dough in the freezer means fast access to cookies any time you are in the mood for them!
How to make neapolitan sugar cookies:
Here is a short video on the steps for making these cookies!
Tools & ingredients helpful for making this recipe:
For more product recommendations, check out this page here!
I hope you enjoy these neapolitan sugar cookies. If you make them, I would love to see and know your thoughts! Leave a rating down below & tag me on Instagram with a picture @freshbeanbakery. Happy baking! x
Neapolitan Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 315 g all purpose flour
- ¾ tsp. baking powder
- ¾ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- 226 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 300 g granulated sugar
- 1 egg + 1 yolk room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp. vanilla bean paste
- 8 g freeze-dried strawberries
- 12 g dutch process cocoa powder
Instructions
- In a small food processor, pulse the freeze dried strawberries until they are a fine dust. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed for 4 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and beat in the egg until well combined. Add in the egg yolk and vanilla, beating until well combined.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Beat just until no flour streaks remain.
- Divide the dough into 3 equal portions (~300g each).
- Put one portion of the dough into the stand mixer. Add in the freeze-dried strawberries and mix until just combined, being careful to not over-mix. Transfer to a bowl.
- Wipe down the inside of the bowl, and add another portion of the dough to the stand mixer. Add in the cocoa powder, and mix until just combined.
- Use a 1.5 tbsp. cookie scoop to portion out each section of the cookie dough one dough at a time. Wipe down the cookie scoop between flavors for cleaner distinctions between flavors, if desired.
- In your hands, stack one ball of each flavor on top of each other, slightly push down, and roll to form a large cookie dough ball. Repeat until you have used up all of the dough.
- Cover the dough and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Place the cookies on the pan, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie to allow room for spreading. Bake for 18 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown. Leave cookies on the hot cookie sheet for an additional 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
- Top with additional sugar if desired. Serve, and enjoy!
