Italian Rainbow Cookies from The Scone Queen Bakes

Name: u003cstrongu003eItalian Rainbow Cookiesu003c/strongu003e
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups sugar; 8 oz. almond paste (Solo is preferred); 24 tbsp. (about 12 oz. or 3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature; 2 tsp. pure almond extract; 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract; 4 large eggs, separated; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 tsp. baking powder; 1/2 tsp. fine table salt; 1/2 cup buttermilk, either whole or low-fat; 7 oz. seedless raspberry jam; 7 oz. apricot jam; red, green and yellow food coloring (or whatever color you prefer); cooking spray

Chef Danielle Sepsy shares her nostalgic recipe for Italian rainbow cookies, inspired by her grandmother and featured in her debut cookbook The Scone Queen Bakes.

By Appetito Editors

9:00 AM EDT on March 10, 2026

Italian rainbow cookies with raspberry and apricot jam from Danielle Sepsy’s cookbook The Scone Queen Bakes — Italian rainbow cookies layered with almond cake, raspberry jam and apricot jam from The Scone Queen Bakes by Danielle Sepsy. Photo credit: Nico Schinco

Rainbow cookies are an Italian American classic, especially in the New York tristate area. They are a bit of a labor of love, but they are worth it. My Grandma Rosemarie made them every Christmas, and they were something we always looked forward to. Grandma’s were cakier and had a chocolate buttercream frosting on top rather than the traditional hard chocolate shell, which was delicious, but I sometimes longed for a differentiation in texture.

Chef Danielle Sepsy, founder of New York City bakery The Hungry Gnome — Chef Danielle Sepsy, founder of the New York City bakery The Hungry Gnome and author of The Scone Queen Bakes. Photo credit: Nico Schinco

When I was writing this book, my sister Christiana (the biggest rainbow cookie fan) and I put our heads together to figure out how we could tweak Grandma’s recipe to make it even better. After several trial runs and taste tests with my sisters and my employees, I got it. They are super moist but still have that subtle denseness from the almond paste, and there is both apricot and raspberry jam - because why choose? The tart, sweet notes of raspberry and the slightly floral essence of apricot both complement the almond beautifully.

This recipe makes about 35 cookies (though you can cut them to any size you would like), and when sealed in a container, you will find that days later they are still perfection - maybe even better than the day prior.

The Scone Queen Bakes, Danielle Sepsy’s debut cookbook featuring 100 recipes for scones, muffins, cookies and more.

Chef and baker Danielle Sepsy, founder of the New York City bakery The Hungry Gnome, shares her version in her debut cookbook, The Scone Queen Bakes, out March 24 from Alfred A. Knopf.

Italian Rainbow Cookies

0.0 from 0 votes

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Makes about 35 cookies.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups 1 1/2 sugar
8 oz. 8 almond paste (Solo is preferred)
24 tbsp. 24 (about 12 oz. or 3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. 2 pure almond extract
1 1/2 tsp. 1 1/2 pure vanilla extract
4 large 4 eggs, separated
2 cups 2 all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. 1/2 baking powder
1/2 tsp. 1/2 fine table salt
1/2 cup 1/2 buttermilk, either whole or low-fat
7 oz. 7 seedless raspberry jam
7 oz. 7 apricot jam
red, green and yellow food coloring (or whatever color you prefer)
cooking spray

Directions

Position the middle and bottom racks and preheat the oven to 350°F (or 325°F on the convection setting).
In a stand mixer ﬁtted with the paddle, beat the sugar and almond paste together for 2 to 3 minutes to break up the almond paste.
Add the butter and beat on medium speed until smooth, about 4 minutes.
Beat in the almond extract and vanilla.
Then beat in the egg yolks one at a time until smooth and combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the ﬂour, baking powder, and salt.
Add the ﬂour mixture to the butter mixture in two additions, alternating with the buttermilk, mixing on low speed until just combined.
In a clean stand mixer bowl ﬁtted with the whisk (or in a bowl using a hand mixer), beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, 4 to 5 minutes.
Add half the beaten egg whites to the batter and fold them in
Fold in the remaining beaten egg whites being careful not to overmix.
Ideally, using a kitchen scale to ensure even baking and even layers, weigh the batter.
Once weighed, divide it into 3 equal portions and place each in a separate bowl. (Note, if you don’t have a scale, you can also use a cookie scoop to divide the batter the best you can.)
Put about ¼ teaspoon food coloring into each bowl of batter: green in one, yellow in the other, and red in the last. Gently stir in the dyes but don’t overmix.
Coat three 9 × 13-inch quarter-sheet pans with cooking spray and then line them with parchment paper.
Spray the top of the parchment paper lightly as well and then spread each color batter evenly onto each separate pan.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until just set.
Let the cakes cool slightly in the pans, 15 to 20 minutes.

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From The Scone Queen Bakes © 2026 by Danielle Sepsy. Photo by Nico Schinco. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Danielle Sepsy shares more of her baking on @ChefDanielleSepsy or @thehungrygnome.

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