I have had this post drafted out for the longest time and I don't even know why. I have a feeling it's because I was distracted by the brownies I made and couldn't wait to post about.
Not that these cookies aren't good, because they are. In fact, they're more than just good. I am not the biggest fan of cookies but I managed to eat all the crusty edges I sawed off when I was trying to neaten up the cookies.
Block with crusty edges.
But before I get to the recipe, let me just say that yes, I know that there is food coloring in these cookies. And no, I haven't found a recipe that calls for natural colors to be used yet. I will totally let you know if I do. But does it matter ? After all, we aren't going to be making these everyday. And there's like, a few drops of each color for the entire batch (I used color pastes so I needed less and I recommend that you do the same). I also made a rainbow cake once, and that was pretty well received. Even though it was so tall we had to take out a shelf from my refrigerator to make it fit. Point is, it's okay to use colors once in a while or so. It adds color to life (figuratively and literally) and without any coloring, these cookies would just be layers of brown, brown and brown. Bor-ing.
Red, white and green are the traditional colors of the Italian flag. Granted, the color stripes are standing vertically but that would be a little awkward to replicate in these cookies.. Or you could just slice them then stand them on their sides to make the perfect little treats for the flag fanatic in your life.
My favorite color is blue. It's a little unfortunate because there aren't any naturally blue foods here on this planet (blueberries aren't blue per se, they're actually purple. Google it if you don't believe me) so I have to make do with blue plates. But then again, I just googled blue plates and apparently they're ideal for dieters because the color blue is supposed to help suppress your appetite. So I guess blue ombré Neapolitan cookies wouldn't go down very well..
I'd say we just go with the original. I'll make something blue some other day, maybe some blue velvet cupcakes I saw floating around on the blogosphere. Or some Cookie Monster-esque treats ?
This recipe caught me eye because it called for homemade coconut paste instead of the more traditional almond paste. Almond paste is a little hard to locate where I live while marzipan is everywhere. They aren't interchangeable since marzipan is a little sweeter so coconut paste seemed like a good idea. It was also a brilliant way to get my dad to eat some coconut since he normally wouldn't touch the stuff (except coconut water - he loves it) with a meter long pole. But if you do have almond paste or if you're worried that the coconut flavor will poke through (don't worry, it doesn't. These cookies just have yummy all over), go ahead and replace the coconut paste with an equal amount of almond paste.
I also can't find the original link to the recipe. If you see it, send it to me, please ?
7 oz coconut*/almond paste
4 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar, divided
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
Red food coloring
Green food coloring
1/2 cup peach/apricot preserves (I used blackberry)
7 oz dark chocolate, chopped
For the coconut* paste:
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp lemon oil
1. To make the coconut paste, put the powdered sugar and the coconut in a food processor. Blend until smooth and powdery. Add the coconut oil and lemon oil, pulse until the mixture just starts to come together - it'll hold it's shape when your press it into a ball.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 13 by 9 inch pan with parchment paper.
3. Beat the egg whites until frothy, then gradually add 1/4 cups of the sugar and beat to stiff peaks.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Beat in the coconut paste and remaining 3/4 cups of sugar until combined. Don't worry if it looks a little dry and crumbly, that's totally fine.
5. In yet another bowl, beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks and the vanilla extract. Slowly mix in the flour and coconut mixture, beat until thoroughly mixed but do not overbeat !
6. Scoop in 1/4 of the beaten whites into the butter mixture and fold it in to lighten the batter. Gently fold in half the remaining whites, then fold in the rest until no streaks of white remain. Divide the batter evenly into three bowls. Color one batch green, one red and leave the remaining one plain. Be careful when you add the coloring - you can always add more but you can never take it out.
7. Pour the red batter into the line pan and bake for 10-12 minutes, until just set. Don't overbake it. Carefully remove the baked layer onto a wire rack. Rinse and line the pan again, then pour in the green batter. Bake and cool the same way. Repeat with the plain batter.
8. When all the layers have completely cooled, you can start assembling them. Invert the green layer onto a parchment lined surface, then spread on half of the preserves using an offset spatula. Invert the plain uncoloured layer on top, then spread with the remaining preserves.
9. Invert the red layer on top. Cover with plastic wrap and weight it down. The best way to do this is to put a large baking sheet on top of the cookie layers and place some cans on top. Refrigerate for 8 hours.
10. Removed the plastic wrap. The layers will seem a little denser and less cake like, that's what you're going for. Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, then spread half of it over the cookie layers. Put it in the fridge for ten minutes to set the chocolate.
11. Invert the cookie layers and spread on the remaining chocolate so both surfaces are now coated. Chill the entire block in the freezer for ten minutes to set the chocolate and make for easier slicing. Trim the edges off with a sharp knife if they're wonky-looking. Cut the cookies lengthwise into 5 long strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 3/4 inch wide cookies. You should get around 5 dozen cookies.
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