Rainbow Cookies

With spring break so close, I can’t help but think about home and all of the things I love about it. One of those things is baking with my mother. Although I have no memory of ever having these cookies due to my dislike for strawberry, they are a much-loved staple of my mother’s and I have fond memories of baking them with her, especially during the holidays. Over the years, I have suggested many alterations to the recipe like changing the colors based on the holiday, exchanging the almond extract for vanilla, or substituting cherry jam for strawberry. Each time I was met with resistance, for you could never change such a classic recipe, and thus none of my ideas have ever come to fruition. For all of your viewing and baking pleasures, here is the recipe straight from my mother’s memory, for it is too precious to have recorded on a recipe card.

Rainbow Cookies

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

8 oz unsalted butter (at room temperature)

2 tsp almond extract

12 oz mini chocolate

2 tsp vegetable oil

strawberry jam

red food color

green food color

Procedure:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

2. Grease 3, 8x8 baking pans.

3.  Put 8 oz of butter in mixing bowl and blend until well creamed.

4. Add 1 cup of sugar and mix well until batter is creamy.

5. Add eggs one a time mixing well after addition of each egg.

6. Add almond extract, blend well.

7. Add flour mix until blended.

8. Separate batter into 3 equal parts.

9. In one bowl add 1/8 to 1/4 tsp of red food color to batter and mix well. In the second bowl add 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of green food color to batter and mix well. The remaining batter is yellow and no food coloring is added to it.

11. Add separate batters to 3 pans.

12. Bake the pans for about 8 - 10 minutes.

13. Allow cookies to cool.

14. When cool run a butter knife around the edge of the pans. Take the cooling rack put on top of the baking pan and turn it upside down so the layer comes out of the pan. Do this for the other 2 pans. 

15. Let the cookies continue to cool on the racks.

16. Take 8 oz of the chocolate morsels and melt them using a double boiler.

17. Take one colored layer of cake and about 3 teaspoons of strawberry jam and spread the jam evenly over the layer. Next, take the yellow layer and place smooth side down. Take 3 more teaspoons of strawberry jam and spread evenly over the yellow layer. Take the last colored layer and place on top of the yellow layer so the smooth part is on top.

18. Spread the melted chocolate evenly and thinly over the top and sides of the cookie with a spreading knife.

19. Once the cookie is covered, refrigerate it to dry the chocolate layer.

20. When the chocolate is dry you can flip the cookie over to frost the bottom.

21. Put the cookie back into the refrigerator and let the chocolate dry.

22. When the chocolate is dry take the cookie out of the refrigerator.

23. Let it come to room temperature.

24. Cut the cookies.

25. Refrigerate until serving.