Vanilla Bean Blogger and cookbook author Sarah Kieffer is known for creative pastry techniques, from her famous #panbanging ripples to this tri-colored sugar cookie. The recipe, featured in her new cookbook, “100 Cookies: The Baking Book for Every Kitchen with Classic Cookies, Novel Treats, Bars and More” (Chronicle Books; $20), was inspired by a similar cookie from pastry chef Matthew Rice.
In this version, Kieffer use her sugar cookie as the base and colors it in three sections using freeze-dried strawberries and Dutch process cocoa. For more intense color, she suggests adding pink food coloring and using black cocoa powder.
Sarah Kieffer’s Neapolitan Cookies
Makes about 20 cookies
Ingredients
2½ cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup freeze-dried strawberries
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¾ cups granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 or 3 drops red food coloring (optional)
2 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa powder
White, pink, and brown sprinkles, for rolling (optional)
Directions
Adjust an oven rack to the middle of the oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line three sheet pans with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt.
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade, pulverize the strawberries into a powder.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg, yolk and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.
Dump the dough out onto a work surface and divide it into three equal portions. Put one-third of the dough back into the mixer and add the powdered strawberries and food coloring, if using. Mix on low speed until totally combined, then remove the dough and quickly wipe out the bowl of the mixer.
Add another third of dough to the mixer. Add the cocoa powder and mix on low speed until totally combined.
Pinch a small portion (about ½ ounce) of each of the three doughs, and press them gently together, so they adhere to each other, but keep their unique colors. Press the piece into a cookie scoop or roll it into a ball, then roll the ball into sprinkles (if using). Place 6 or 7 cookies on each sheet pan. Bake the cookies one pan at a time, rotating halfway through baking. Bake until the sides are set and the cookies are puffed, 10 to 11 minutes.
Transfer the sheet pan to a wire rack and let the cookies cool for 5 to 10 minutes on the pan, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
— Recipe from Sarah Kieffer’s “100 Cookies” (Chronicle Books, 2020)
