Neapolitan cookies are soft, chewy, and layered with strawberry, chocolate, and buttery vanilla — a lovely, colorful cookie perfect for birthdays, showers, or potlucks.
This recipe builds on classic pudding-mix-style cookies by adding strawberry flavor for the pink portion. The result is a three-flavored cookie that looks like scoops of Neapolitan ice cream and tastes delightful.
The base dough is mixed once, divided into three portions, and flavored separately to create vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate sections. The technique is simple once you get the rhythm: shape small logs of each flavor, press them together, and form into cookie balls for pretty striped cookies.
[feast_advanced_jump_to]
What To Expect
- Ease: One step beyond beginner — follow measurements and order of steps for best results. It gets easier with practice.
- Taste: Distinct notes of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry in every bite.
- Time: About 25–45 minutes total, depending on how quickly you divide and shape the dough. Practice speeds things up.
🛒 Ingredients
- Butter — sweet cream, salted, room temperature (not melted).
- Sugar — both light brown and white granulated sugar.
- Cocoa powder — for the chocolate portion.
- Almond extract — a small addition for the vanilla dough.
- Strawberry gelatin powder — regular (not sugar-free) strawberry Jello powder provides the best color and flavor for the pink dough. See substitutions below.
- Egg — large.
- All-purpose flour — measured correctly and not packed.
- Baking soda.
See the recipe card below for the full ingredient list with amounts.
✏️ Substitutions & Variations
- Strawberry flavor: If strawberry gelatin isn’t available, powdered freeze-dried strawberries blended to a powder are the best substitute; other options like strawberry milk powder or jam were less effective in testing.
- Almond extract: If you prefer, replace the almond extract in the vanilla dough with more vanilla extract — almond adds a subtle, complementary note.
- Butter: Unsalted butter works, but salted butter gives slightly better flavor here.
🧑🍳 Instructions
Step 1. In a mixing bowl, cream room-temperature butter with white and brown sugar using a hand mixer or stand mixer (paddle attachment) on medium-high for about 3 minutes, until light and creamy. Scrape the bowl as needed.
Step 2. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and salt. Mix until combined and fluffy.
Step 3. Add baking soda and then the flour, ½ cup at a time, mixing slowly until fully incorporated. The dough should be soft and sticky, not crumbly. Divide the dough into three equal portions — using a kitchen scale makes this easiest and most accurate.
TIP: A kitchen scale ensures each portion is equal so all three doughs stay the right texture when flavored.
Step 4. For the vanilla dough, return one portion of dough to the mixing bowl, add the almond extract and 3–4 tablespoons of flour, and mix until combined. Wrap and set aside.
Step 5. For the strawberry dough, place the second portion in the bowl, add the strawberry gelatin powder and 3 tablespoons of flour, and mix thoroughly for 1–2 minutes. The dough will go from sandy and crumbly to smooth as you continue mixing. Wrap and set aside.
Step 6. For the chocolate dough, add the cocoa powder to the final portion and mix 1–2 minutes until soft and no longer crumbly. Cover the doughs and preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Step 7. Separate the three flavored doughs into individual bowls.
Step 8. Take a small piece (about 1.5 teaspoons) from each flavor, roll each into a short log slightly larger than a tootsie roll, press the three logs together lengthwise, and then form into a ball. You can press into a cookie scoop to shape or roll by hand.
Step 9. Repeat until all dough is used, yielding about 20 cookies. Place dough balls on prepared baking sheets (10–12 per sheet).
Step 10. Bake at 350°F for 8–10 minutes. Do not overbake. Let cool on the sheet a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
📌 Top Tips For Success
- Mix the strawberry dough thoroughly for 1–2 minutes so the sandy texture disappears.
- Make the doughs in the order recommended — vanilla, then strawberry, then chocolate — so you can reuse the same bowl without washing in between.
- Roll the dough into small logs for clear, even stripes, then form into balls with a cookie scoop or by hand.
- Bake just 8–10 minutes — these cookies are best slightly soft in the center.
- Use regular strawberry gelatin powder (not sugar-free) for the best color and flavor.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
A simple cookie base of butter, sugars, flour, egg, salt, and baking soda, divided and flavored with cocoa powder, almond extract, and strawberry gelatin powder for the three colors and flavors.
Freeze-dried strawberries ground to a powder are the best substitute. Other options (strawberry milk powder, jam) were tested but gave weaker results compared to regular strawberry gelatin powder.
Room temperature: Up to 3–5 days in an airtight container. Frozen: Baked cookies freeze up to 3 months. You can also freeze raw dough balls and bake from frozen at 350°F for 12–14 minutes.
Traditionally chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. You can experiment with other complementary flavors if desired.
🍪 More delicious cookie recipes to try:
If you enjoy these, try other favorite cookie recipes for variety and inspiration.
-
White Chocolate Biscoff Cookies
-
M&M Oatmeal Pudding Cookies
-
Cherry Cheesecake Cookies
-
Raspberry Donut Cookies
Did You Try This Recipe? If you make these cookies, please leave a star rating and comment — feedback helps other bakers and is always appreciated.
📝 Printable Recipe
Neapolitan Cookies
Ingredients
Base Dough:
- ¾ cup salted butter, softened (1.5 sticks)
- ½ cup white granulated sugar (105g)
- ½ cup brown sugar (105g)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (265g), not packed
For the Vanilla dough:
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (23g)
For the Strawberry dough:
- 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (23g)
- 3 Tablespoons strawberry gelatin powder (42g)
For the Chocolate dough:
- 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder (18g)
Instructions
Base Dough:
- Cream butter with white and brown sugar until light and creamy (about 3 minutes).
- Add egg, vanilla, and salt; mix until fluffy. Add baking soda and flour ½ cup at a time until combined. Dough should be soft and sticky, not crumbly. Divide into three equal portions (a kitchen scale helps).
For vanilla dough
- Place one portion back in the bowl, stir in almond extract and 3 tablespoons flour. Mix, wrap, and set aside.
For strawberry dough
- Place the second portion in the bowl, add strawberry gelatin powder and 3 tablespoons flour. Mix vigorously 1–2 minutes until smooth and no longer sandy. Wrap and set aside.
For chocolate dough
- Add cocoa powder to the last portion and mix until uniform. Cover doughs and preheat oven to 350°F.
Assemble
- Take about 1.5 teaspoons of each flavor, roll into small logs, press the three logs together lengthwise, then form into a ball using a scoop or your hands. Repeat until all dough is used.
- Place 10–12 balls per baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 8–10 minutes. Let cool and serve.
Notes
Mix flavorings thoroughly, especially the strawberry powder — under-mixing leaves a sandy texture. When in doubt, mix a bit longer.
Weighing the dough into three equal portions helps keep textures consistent across the flavors.
Store at room temperature in an airtight container for a few days, or freeze baked cookies up to 3 months. Raw dough balls can be frozen and baked from frozen (12–14 minutes).
Nutrition
Carbohydrates: 24 g
Protein: 2 g
Fat: 1 g
Sugar: 11 g
Share your results and feedback — it helps other bakers and is always appreciated.