Neapolitan cookies are chewy and soft, flavored with delicious strawberry, rich chocolate, and buttery vanilla. They're beautiful cookies perfect for birthdays, showers, and potluck parties!
I love a good Chocolate Pudding Mix Cookie or classic Vanilla Pudding Mix Cookie. This unique cookie recipe doesn't have pudding mix but it DOES combine some of my all-time favorite flavors!
Neapolitan Cookies
This cookie situation is the best of not just one but THREE wonderful worlds. There is nary a more classic combination than chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla. Neapolitan cookies look so amazing and are actually pretty quick and easy to make! I tested several different flavorings and methods to get this recipe just right.
They are made from one base dough divided into three different flavors, then combined into one delicious cookie. The dough is beautiful and looks like perfect little scoops of neapolitan ice cream!
📋 Ingredients
Most of these ingredients are already pantry staples. Here's what we're working with:
- Butter - sweet cream, salted, room temperature. Not melted!
- Brown sugar - light
- White granulated sugar
- Cocoa Powder
- Vanilla extract -
- Almond extract - adds extra flavor to the vanilla cookie dough.
- Strawberry Jello mix - not sugar-free.
- Egg - large
- All purpose flour - measured correctly and not packed.
- Baking Soda
🥘 Instructions
Pull out your stand mixer or electric hand mixer, you'll need it for these fun cookies.
- Make the base dough - Cream together the softened butter, white granulated and light brown sugars until fluffy and creamy. Then the egg, salt, and vanilla is added and mixed until fluffy. Last the baking soda and all purpose flour is added until mixed well. The dough should be wet and a little sticky since more ingredients are added to flavor it.
- Divide & flavor the dough- Divide the dough into three equal portions, then mix in the flavorings. Vanilla extract, almond extract, strawberry jello powder, cocoa powder, and flour.
- Assemble - After the doughs are made, take small pieces from each section of dough and roll into small tootsie roll shaped rolls. Then press them all together lengthwise and roll into a ball or press into a cookie scoop to get a round ball shape. Repeat until all dough is used.
- Bake - When all of the dough is used, place cookie dough balls onto prepared baking sheets and bake at 350 Fº.
💭 Pro Tips
This neapolitan cookie recipe has been tried, tested, and is kid approved!
- Make the three flavors of cookie dough in the order instructed in the recipe. Vanilla, then strawberry, then chocolate. You can make them in the same bowl without cleaning in between flavors if you make them in that order. Hooray for less dishes!!
- For the beautiful stripes, make sure to roll the cookie dough into little logs, line up side by side, and then either roll into a ball or press into a cookie scoop and scoop onto a baking sheet.
- Don't overbake! These cookies need 8-10 minutes in the oven, tops.
- Use real vanilla extract, and regular strawberry gelatin powder. I have not tested this recipe using sugar free powder, the measurements would not be the same and the taste might be different.
When testing this recipe, I used various flavoring methods for the strawberry-flavored cookie dough. Freeze-dried strawberries, Nesquick Strawberry milk powder, and strawberry jam all worked but not as well as I liked. Jello powder gave the dough the color, texture, and most importantly, the FLAVOR I wanted!
Storage
These cookies can be left at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
To Freeze:
- Line a metal pan with tin foil.
- Place cookie dough balls on the pan, so the edges are not touching. Cover with plastic wrap.
- Freeze for 4-5 hours, then place into an airtight container or freezer-safe bag and return to the freezer.
- To bake: Simply preheat the oven to 350Fº, place frozen cookie dough balls on a prepared baking sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes.
🍪 More delicious cookie recipes to try:
These are some of the best cookie recipes of ALL TIME. Some of them are unique cookie recipes, some are old favorites!
- Strawberry Pop Tart Cookies
- Chocolate Pudding Mix Cookies
- Biscoff Filled Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Classic Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
- Pistachio Pudding Mix Cookies
If you enjoyed these cookies, make sure to rate and comment below, as well as share them on your favorite social media channel. Much love always!
📝 Printable Recipe
Neapolitan Cookies
Ingredients
Base Dough:
- ¾ cup salted butter, softened (1.5 sticks)
- ½ cup white granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups all purpose flour not packed
For the Vanilla dough:
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 3-4 Tablespoons all purpose flour
For the Strawberry dough
- 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons strawberry jello powder
For the Chocolate dough
- ¼ cup cocoa powder not packed
Instructions
Base Dough:
- In a mixing bowl combine room temperature butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Mix with electric hand mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment on medium/high speed about 3 minutes, until light and creamy, scraping sides of bowl as needed.
- Add egg, vanilla extract, and salt and mix until well combined and fluffy. Add baking soda and flour last,½ cup at a time, mixing slowly until well combined. Should be the texture of very soft play dough, not crumbly at all. Divide dough into three equal portions.
For vanilla dough
- Place the first section of cookie dough in the original mixing bowl. Add the almond extract and 3-4 Tablespoons of flour. Mix until well combined. Remove from bowl, wrap in plastic wrap/cover and set aside.
For strawberry dough
- Place the second portion of dough in original mixing bowl (no need clean between doughs) with the strawberry jello powder and 3 Tablespoons of flour. Mix well, remove from bowl and cover/wrap in plastic and set aside.
For chocolate dough
- Place the last portion of dough into the bowl (no need to clean between doughs) and add cocoa powder. Mix well. Remove, cover, and preheat oven to 350 Fº.
Assemble
- Take a small piece of dough (about 1.5 teaspoon) of each flavor and roll into small rolls. Press together lengthwise and then either place into a cookie scoop to make a round ball or roll with hands into a ball. Repeat until all dough is used.
- Place cookie dough balls onto prepared baking sheet 10-12 per sheet and bake at 350Fº for 8-10 minutes. Let cool and serve.
Don
I would prefer to give this recipe 0 Stars.
I followed the recipe precisely and the cookies did not come out correctly. I bake often using recipes and I am good at following instructions.
The jello makes the Strawberry gritty and it will fall apart as you try to combine it with the other flavors. The Strawberry Jello adds a great color, taste, and smell to the dough. 1/4 cup for the Chocolate is too much if you use Dutch Process Chocolate. It will be too strong.
This is a cookie recipe so there is an expectation of a dough-like consistency but this “dough” is extremely dry and stiff. It will fall apart as you try to form the cookies.
I am VERY disappointed with the results. I wasted my time and ingredients.
Sara
Hi Don, I’m sorry to hear this recipe didn’t work out for you. I can assure you all recipes published are tested thoroughly, and none of the results reported were as you described, aside from the Jello creating a sugary texture in the dough, which melts as it bakes.
You’re right, this cookie recipe dough is not supposed to be crumbly at all, but a play dough texture. I’m not sure where it went wrong for you. I have not used Dutch process cocoa powder for this recipe, and have not tested how it would effect the texture.
Christine
Hi Sara,
I tried to make these cookies and followed instructions from a different recipe. I used freeze-dried strawberries and some red food coloring, and the pink dough turned dark red like red velvet instead of pink. Would you recommend I use the strawberry jello powder instead for a pink color? When I baked these for the first time, I didn't have a mixer and just used a mixing bowl and manually mixed the ingredients.
Sara
Hi Christine, a few different methods were tested when developing this recipe, including freeze dried strawberries. The best results in my opinion for both flavor and color came from the strawberry jello powder. I really wanted the freeze dried strawberries to work out but the jello powder was the winner in the end.