Friday, July 1, 2016

July 2016: Rainbow Cookies

Ingredients:
8 ounces almond paste
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
 4 eggs, separated
 2 cups all-purpose flour
6 drops red food coloring
6 drops green food coloring
1/4 cup seedless red raspberry jam
1/4 cup apricot jam
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F .
2. Line three 9x13 inch baking pans with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, break apart almond paste with a fork, and cream together with butter, sugar, and egg yolks until fluffy and smooth
4. Stir in flour to form dough.
5. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into the dough.
6. Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Mix one portion with red food coloring, and one with green food coloring.
7. Spread each portion into separate prepared baking pans.
8. Bake at 350 F for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned.
9. Let cool completely
10. Place green layer onto a piece of plastic wrap large enough to wrap all three layers. Spread green layer with raspberry jam, and top with uncolored layer. Spread with apricot jam, and top with pink layer. 11. Transfer layers to a baking sheet, and enclose with plastic wrap. Place a heavy pan on top of wrapped layers to compress. Chill in the refrigerator 8 hours, or overnight.
12. Remove plastic wrap. Top with melted chocolate chips, and refrigerate 1 hour, or until chocolate is firm.
13. Slice into small squares to serve.