These neapolitan cookies look and taste just like a scoop of neapolitan ice cream! My recipe uses one dough for all three flavors (so easy!), and it can be made up to 5 days in advance. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Ice Cream Cookies!
Neapolitan cookies might not be the first cookie you think of adding to your Christmas cookie tray, but I’m here to make case for them. Not only are they absolutely adorable and unique, but they have a little something or everyone (just like the ice cream!). A little sweet, a little fruity, and of course, a little chocolatey–these are the ultimate crowd-pleasing cookies!
What we love about them:
- Such a fun appearance–they really look like scoops of ice cream!
- Soft and melt in your mouth texture (cake flour helps with this).
- Incredible flavor–each color has a distinct taste.
- Made from ONE cookie dough!
Obviously, these neapolitan cookies would also be so fun in the summer too, especially at an ice cream themed party with ice cream cone cupcakes or an ice cream cake! I can’t wait to see how you serve them 🥰
What You Need
These neapolitan cookies might look complicated, but they are surprisingly unfussy, and that includes the ingredient list!
- Cake flour. This yields a softer, finer, crumb which really contributes to the ice cream feel of these neapolitan cookies. I do provide instructions for using all-purpose flour below, if that’s all you have on hand (just make sure to measure it properly!).
- Freeze dried strawberries. We’ll blitz these into a powder using a food processor. I love keeping these on hand for strawberry frosting and strawberry cookies!
- Cocoa powder. I like using natural cocoa powder here. It yields the proper chocolatey flavor without overwhelming the other flavors like Dutch process cocoa could do.
- Corn starch. This helps the cookies hold their ice cream scoop shape. Don’t skip it!
- Vanilla bean paste. This adds a lovely vanilla flavor and those gorgeous little flecks of vanilla beans to our vanilla cookie dough (and only that dough!). I really recommend trying to find it, but if you can’t, you can use just 1 teaspoon of regular vanilla extract instead. The flavor will be a bit different, but it will still work and taste great!
SAM’S TIP: Freeze dried strawberries are typically found with nuts and dried fruit in most grocery stores. If you can’t find them in your local store, you can get them on Amazon.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Neapolitan Cookies
- Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Stir in the eggs until well combined.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to the wet ingredients.
- Evenly divide the dough into three parts in three separate bowls.
SAM’S TIP: The dough will be pretty stiff, so add your dry ingredients gradually. This will make combining the wet and dry ingredients much easier!
- Stir vanilla bean paste and cornstarch into one dough, then set aside.
- Stir cocoa powder into another bowl of dough, then set this aside.
- Stir your freeze dried strawberry powder into the last bowl of dough.
- Press all three doughs into one single large bowl, arranging the vanilla in the middle and the strawberry and chocolate on either side. Cover and let the dough chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Scoop the cookie dough into balls by dragging your cookie scoop through all three flavors. Drop straight down on parchment lined baking sheets, spacing 2″ apart.
- Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes at 375F, until the edges are just starting to turn a light golden brown. Let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheets before enjoying.
SAM’S TIP: Clean your cookie scoop between scoops for the neatest, cleanest looking neapolitan cookies! This isn’t a requirement, but it will improve the appearance of your cookies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Just store them in an airtight container and thaw at room temperature when you’re ready to enjoy. Perfect for the holidays!
Or, if you’d like to freeze the cookie dough, check out my post on how to freeze cookie dough.
Neapolitan cookies are inspired by neapolitan ice cream, which was invented in Italy (and actually wasn’t the same three flavors we enjoy today!). So I’ll let you decide if they are Italian or not 😉
These cookies will look underdone in the center for about an hour after baking; this is because they are so thick! I promise they will be done by the time they completely cool though, and they will have the perfect texture and appearance.
As long as your neapolitan cookies are just starting to turn lightly golden brown on the edges, they are ready to come out of the oven and will finish baking on the baking sheet.
Stay tuned for even more fun cookie flavors–I have lots of new recipes to share this holiday season!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes and follow along on YouTube where I share hundreds of free recipe tutorials! 💜
Neapolitan Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookie dough
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 4 cups (450 g) cake flour
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
For the vanilla dough
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
For the chocolate dough
- 3 Tablespoons (38 g) natural cocoa powder
For the strawberry dough
- ⅓ cup (15 g) freeze dried strawberry powder see note
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), use an electric mixer to beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy and well-combined.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs and stir until completely combined.2 large eggs
- In a separate, medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.4 cups (450 g) cake flour, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Gradually (I do this in 3 or 4 parts) add flour mixture to wet ingredients and stir until completely combined.
- Divide dough evenly into three separate mixing bowls (if using a scale, measure out 360g into each bowl).
- To make the vanilla dough: add the vanilla bean paste and cornstarch to one bowl and stir until completely combined.2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste, 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- To make your chocolate dough: add the cocoa powder to the second bowl of the divided cookie dough and stir until completely incorporated.3 Tablespoons (38 g) natural cocoa powder
- To make the strawberry dough: add the freeze dried strawberry powder to your last bowl of cookie dough and stir thoroughly until combined.⅓ cup (15 g) freeze dried strawberry powder
- Combine the three cookie doughs in a single bowl, placing each section directly against the other (think as you would see the dough in a Neapolitan ice cream carton – this is demonstrated in the video and shown in the how-to section of the blog post if you would like a visual). I form the vanilla into a rough rectangle and arrange it in the center of the bowl and place the vanilla and chocolate on either side, then make sure the doughs blend into each other.. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for at least 60 minutes.
- When dough is almost done chilling, preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Once dough has finished chilling, remove from fridge and use a 1.5 Tablespoon scoop and generously scoop through all three flavors. Place cookie dough on prepared baking sheet, spacing at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake in 375F (190C) oven for 9-10 minutes or until edges are just beginning to turn a very light golden brown. Allow to cool completely on baking sheet, then enjoy.
Notes
Cake flour
I prefer cake flour in this recipe for its super soft, melt-in-your-mouth qualities that it lends to the cookies. However, if you don’t have it, you could substitute 3 ⅔ cup (450g) all-purpose flour instead.Strawberry powder
I buy freeze-dried strawberries and process them in a food processor until I have a fine powder, then use this to make the strawberry portion of the cookie dough.Making in advance
Cookie dough may be prepared up to 5 days in advance, just note that the dough becomes quite firm after sitting more than an hour and may need to sit at room temperature for a while to soften enough to be scooped.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Katie
These turned out so perfectly adorable that I took a photo and use it as my iphone screensaver. I joke that they are so cute that I don’t even care what they taste like…but they also taste wonderful. Thank you, Sam!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Katie! I love that you set it as a picture on your phone! That’s a great compliment. 🙂
Kimberly
This was so much fun! I wish I could share a photo. I will on Pinterest. Next time, I’m going to try adding more vanilla and strawberry flavor. I wasn’t sure about the cake flour, but I’m glad I tried it.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Kimberly! 🙂
Lisa
Hi, Sam! A question; when you measure the freeze-dried strawberries before grinding, is that what you mean by 1/3 cup? Because once ground, the powder is definitely not 1/3 cup. Can’t wait to make these!!
Sam
Hi Lisa! Yes you will want to measure the freeze dried strawberries before pulverizing. 🙂
Lisa
Thank you, Sam! I kind of figured that, but just wanted to clarify. That said, I made them and everyone is raving (the fav cookie on my cookie tray). They do taste like Neapolitan ice cream and the texture and scooped ice cream look is incredible! A delicious stunner! Brilliant recipe!
Sam
That’s so wonderful to hear, Lisa, thank you so much for trying my recipe and letting me know how it turned out, I really appreciate it!!
Sherry Wood
Approximately how many ounces of the freeze dried strawberries does it take to get the 1/3 cup powder that is needed?
Sam
Hi Sherry! I use about 15g. When buying them I would just look for a package that’s a little more than 15g to make sure you have enough. 🙂
Sam
I made these today for a Christmas Tea. I couldn’t find freeze-dried strawberries so I ended up using Strawberry Emulsion and followed the same quantities/instructions for the strawberry third as were given for the vanilla third. They worked out perfectly and I’ll probably have to make a second batch before the end of the holidays.
They might be a new family favourite. Thanks so much for a great recipe!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Sam! 🙂
Sharon
Looking forward to making these. Darling video!!!
Sam
I hope you love them! 🙂
Miriam Rose Blanar
I made these for church yesterday, and they were such a huge hit! Everyone loved them! They were very good, and they looked like mini scoops of ice cream. So fun! Thank you for a great recipe!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Pat Yanikoski
Sam, how about adding green gel food color to one third of the dough?
Sam
Hi Pat! That could work. I would add it to the vanilla dough. 🙂
Bruce
Hi, Sam. There’s a good chance you’ve already thought of doing this. You could use cherry instead of strawberry, and add nuts (almonds or pistachios) to the vanilla, and make Spumoni cookies.
Sam
Love that idea, it sounds delicious! 🙂
Nancy
Can you use Straberry Kool Aid dry juice powder?
Sam
Hi Nancy! I don’t think I would, it could work but it will have a different flavor and I’m just honestly not sure how it will affect the dough. If you try it, let me know how it turns out!