Neapolitan Holiday Cookies Recipes

Steps:

• Line a 9x5-in. loaf pan with waxed paper, letting ends extend up sides. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. , Divide dough into 3 portions. Mix almond extract and food coloring into 1 portion; spread evenly into prepared pan. Mix walnuts into another portion; spread evenly over first layer. Mix melted chocolate into remaining portion; spread over top. Refrigerate, covered, overnight. , Preheat oven to 350°. Lifting with waxed paper, remove dough from pan. Cut lengthwise in half; cut each half crosswise into 1/8-in. slices., Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until edges are firm, 10-12 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Divide dough equally into three small bowls. Add almond extract and red food coloring to one portion; stir until thoroughly mixed. Mix chocolate into second bowl, and walnuts into the third bowl.
• Line a 9x5 inch loaf pan with waxed paper, and spread almond dough evenly in the bottom of the pan. Spread the walnut dough evenly over the almond layer, and top with chocolate dough layer. Cover layered dough with waxed paper, and place in the refrigerator until firm, about 4 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Turn out chilled dough by inverting pan; peel off waxed paper. With sharp knife, cut dough lengthwise in half. Slice each half of dough crosswise into 1/4 inch slices. Place slices on cookie sheet one inch apart.
• Bake 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until light brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Steps:

• Line an 8-inch-square baking pan with plastic. In a large bowl, stir cranberries into orange-sable dough. In another large bowl, stir walnuts into chocolate-espresso dough.
• Press orange mixture into bottom of pan. Using an offset spatula, smooth top evenly. Spread chocolate mixture over orange mixture and smooth evenly. Cover pan with plastic; chill at least 2 hours.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Unmold dough; remove plastic. Cut into 2-by-8-inch bricks; cut bricks into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Place slices on sheets, spaced 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until firm to the touch, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store in an airtight container up to 2 weeks.

Steps:

• Line the bottom of a loaf pan with waxed paper.
• With an electric mixer combine flour, sugar, butter, egg, baking powder, vanilla, and salt; beat for 3 minutes.
• Divide the cookie dough into 3 equal parts.
• Part 1: mix in the almond or hazelnut extract and 5 drops red food coloring (this is the pink/red dough).
• Part 2: mix in the chopped walnuts or pistachios (this is the white dough).
• Part 3: mix in the cocoa (this is the brown dough).
• Preheat the oven to 350°.
• In the loaf pan, spread each part of the dough one on top of the other, pink, white, and chocolate; cover the pan and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
• After chilling, turn out the dough from the pan and cut loaf lengthwise in half, then crosswise, then cut pieces of dough to make about 15 cookies from each piece.
• Bake each batch for 8-10 minutes.
• Makes about 60 cookies.

Steps:

• This dough chills overnight. On the day you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 400.
• For the dark dough: sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cloves, and cinnamon and set aside.
• Grind or cut chocolate until it is fine (otherwise it will be hard to slice the dough). Set aside.
• In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, add the coffee and brown sugar and beat well.
• Add the eggs and beat to mix. Beat in the ground chocolate.
• On low speed gradually add the sifted dry ingredients, scraping the bowl regularly. Don't overblend! Then stir in the nuts. Set the dough aside (not in the fridge) and make the light dough.
• Light dough: Sift together flour, salt, baking soda. Set aside.
• In a large clean bowl of the electric mixer with clean beaters, cream the butter. Add the vanilla, the sugar, water and beat well. Add the egg, beat to mix. On low speed gradually add the shifted dry ingredients. Don't overmix.
• Mix in the currents, lemon rind and cherries.
• Layer dough in the pans: one half the dark dough (carefully pack down and smooth), all the light dough (do the same), then the rest of the dark dough. Press down to make a compact loaf.
• Chill overnight (or for about twelve hours) in the freezer.
• To bake: preheat to 400. You'll need unbuttered cookie sheets, lined with foil if possible.
• Turn the pan over so that the cake of dough slides out, and peel off the foil or waxpaper. With a long and heavy knife, cut the cake in half the long way (if you used loaf pans); if you used a square 8x8 pan, cut it in three equal strips. Work with one piece at a time (wrap and freeze the others). Now slice the long piece you've got into individual cookies, about 1/3 of an inch thick. Place them 1 1/2 inches apart on the cookie sheets -- they will spread!
• Bake 10 minutes, watching carefully. The white dough should be lightly browned, but the dark dough will burn if you're not careful. If they come out of the oven seeming slightly underdone, that's good. They'll be chewy instead of brittle.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease three 13x9x2-inch pans; line with waxed paper and grease waxed paper.
• Mix almond filling, egg yolks, margarine, and sugar together in a bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
• Combine flour and baking powder in a bowl. Stir into almond mixture.
• Beat egg whites together in a bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Fold into almond batter.
• Divide batter equally among 3 bowls. Add green food coloring to 1 bowl; add red food coloring to another. Leave the third bowl uncolored. Pour the contents of each bowl into the prepared pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, remove waxed paper, and turn right-side-up on a baking sheet.
• Spread apricot jam onto the surface of the green cake; top with the plain cake. Spread raspberry jam onto the plain cake; top with the red cake. Cover with plastic wrap; set a heavy cutting board or flat pan on top. Refrigerate 8 hours to overnight.
• Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; heat in the microwave until melted, 1 to 2 minutes. Spread melted chocolate onto the surface of the cake. Allow to set, about 15 minutes.
• Cut off all 4 sides of the cake to make the edges clean and even. Cut the cake into 1-inch strips; cut strips into bite-size pieces.