Neapolitan Cookies

So we are having fondue on Valentine's Day. Yes it is very 70's as is the book I own but there is something so decadent and fun about fondue. Naturally I am making a chocolate fondue and having the usual things to dip in it, like strawberries, grapes and marshmallows, but I wanted to have something else, like cake or cookies. This gave me the perfect excuse to try out a new recipe.

My husband fancied some shortbread but I didn't have many ingredients to hand, so I went looking for a simple recipe and found this one by the Comfort of Cooking. I have made these cookies twice, once following the recipe as it stands and secondly adding spices to create Christmas cookies. After having a play with some spices I knew I would want to doctor the recipe further to create different flavour combinations. The other thing that has me returning to this recipe is the fact that the cookies hardly spread during cooking. They hold their shape beautifully. Another thing is that they don't use any eggs, so if you enjoy a little bit of cookie dough, you can go right ahead and scoff it!

I've seen on Pinterest many Neapolitan style desserts and it was this style of ice cream, along with raspberry ripple, that were my favourites as a child. 

Combining the 2 ice cream flavour ideas, I came up with these simple Neapolitan cookies. I wanted to make mini cookies for the fondue but also wanted to have a play with decorating larger cookies.

Lovely little tasty bites!

Not too thick, perfect for dipping!

Ready for the recipe?

I have followed the original recipe in it's entirety and it is reproduced here along with the additions I made.

The original recipe yields 15 cookies. As I wanted to make mini ones, this recipe made 27 mini cookies and 6 large. I would say the recipe would make between 25 to 35 mini cookies depending on whether you make large ones too.

Neapolitan Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter softened (I used Olive spread which is pretty soft to begin with)

1/2 cup Icing sugar

2 cups Plain flour

1/2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste or 1 tsp of Vanilla extract

1 tsp of Raspberry or Strawberry extract (I used raspberry)

1 Tbs Cocoa Powder

Extra icing sugar as needed.

Method

Preheat oven to 180'C. Line at least 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Cream together the butter and icing in a bowl.

Add flour and continue to work it until it forms a ball of dough.

Split the dough into 3 equal pieces.

To the first ball of dough, add the Vanilla bean paste. Work it into the dough until it is fully incorporated. Place dough in bowl and add a small amount of icing sugar and knead into the ball. The paste makes the dough a little sticky so this ensures that the ball will be easy to roll.

Take the second ball of dough and add the Raspberry extract. Do the same as with the Vanilla dough but also add some pink food colouring to get a nice colour for your dough. I used Wilton Rose colour.

Take the final ball and place in a bowl. Add the cocoa powder and work into the dough. This took the longest and you may find you do not need as much as a tablespoon of cocoa. This dough will be a little drier than the others but it bakes the same way.

Your dough is ready for rolling out. You can use any shape cookie cutter you want, these are not restricted to Valentines!

These are Wilton cookie cutters and measure 2 inch across and 3 1/2 inch across.

Roll out your dough and cut your cookies out! The original recipe states 1/4 inch thick. I just went with my best judgement!

Use plenty or icing sugar or flour on your board and rolling pin to stop the cookies from sticking. If they do stick, a small spatula can be used to help them up!

Space them out on the baking trays and place in the oven for 12 - 18 minutes. Be careful if you make mini cookies as they can get over baked quickly. You want to see a small browning on the Vanilla cookies.

Once baked, cool completely before decorating, if liked.

I can't wait to dip these beauties into chocolate!! Another thing you can do with these is dip them in chocolate and let them set for a chocolate covered treat anytime!

I did decide to decorate the larger cookies though for an anytime treat.

I took some different coloured fondant, rolled it out, used the heart cookie cutter to cut out a shape, painted on some clear alcohol (or edible glue) onto the cookie and gently pressed the fondant on top. I then used an edible food writer to write messages on them just like Love Hearts!

They are a lot brighter than Love Hearts and resemble the American Conversation Hearts more.

I can tell you they taste delicious!!

I hope you have a great day Saturday, no matter what you do!

Thanks for following and reading!