Italian Spumoni Cookies
Three flavors in one delicious cookie. This old fashioned recipe was a Christmas treat every year, although I love them year round. The center is green and flavored with your favorite nut, like pistachio or pecan. The red layer has rum extract, and the chocolate layer speaks for itself. Not only festive and pretty, every bite of Italian Spumoni Cookies melts in your mouth.
Italian Spumoni Cookies remind me of Neapolitan Ice Cream with the 3 colors and flavors, only this is a munchable cookie. Plus, they’re colorful, festive, and the recipe is tried and true.
Other Italian Spumoni Cookie recipes call for the red layer to be flavored with cherry, but this recipe is way better with the rum. I don’t know what they were thinking.
Making Italian Spumoni Cookies
Basic Dough
Start by making the basic dough. Mix the butter, powdered sugar, egg, and vanilla extract together.
Next, stir in the flour until thoroughly blended.
As best you can, divide the dough into 3 equal parts.
Three layers
To the first part, stir in the melted chocolate, then set aside. Ghirardelli chocolate is my favorite.
To the second part, stir in the chopped nuts and green food coloring. For nuts, use pecans, walnuts, or pistachios.
Lastly, the third part gets the rum extract and red food coloring.
Shaping the 3 parts into layers
Waxed paper works great for this next part.
Shape each part into a rectangle, 8 x 3″ on a sheet of waxed paper. Now, as shown above, layer the rectangles with green in the center to form a brick. A cookie brick.
Press the layers together, and smooth the edges. Then, wrap the brick with the waxed paper, and place in the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours.
Chilling it allows you to make clean cuts on the cookies. The dough is too soft, otherwise.
Baking Italian Spumoni Cookies
Preheat the oven to 375°. Slice each cookie 1/4″ thick from the end of the brick, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 9 – 11 minutes.
My mom’s notes say to bake until, “no imprint remains when lightly touched with finger.” And you know what? She was right again.
Me Like Cookies
Quick recipes are my favorite, but only if they taste amazing. Check these out (the chocolate with peanut butter chips is my favorite):
- Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies
- White Cake Mix Cookies — great if you want to add a specific color, like red and green for Christmas, or pink for a baby girl.
- Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies
Italian Spumoni Cookies FAQs
- What is spumoni?
Spumoni is a traditional Italian dessert made with layered ice cream flavors, usually chocolate, pistachio, and cherry or (in this case) rum, often with nuts or candied fruit mixed in. - Do I have to make three different cookie doughs?
Sort of. First, make the base dough, then divide it into three. Each flavor layer is usually mixed separately so the chocolate, pistachio, and rum flavors stay distinct and colorful when baked. - How do you keep the cookie layers from mixing together?
Chill the dough between layers. This helps firm it up so the colors stay distinct when slicing or baking. - Do spumoni cookies need to be refrigerated?
No. Once baked, the cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several days. - Can spumoni cookies be frozen?
Yes. Both the baked cookies and the unbaked dough freeze well. Wrap them tightly and freeze for up to 2–3 months. - Are spumoni cookies popular for holidays?
Yes. Their colorful layers make them especially popular for Christmas cookie trays, cookie exchanges, and festive gatherings.
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Italian Spumoni Cookies
Ingredients
Basic Dough:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Chocolate Layer:
- 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
Green Layer:
- 1/2 cup nuts (pecans, walnuts, pistachio), chopped
- few drops green food coloring
Red Layer:
- 2 tsp. rum extract
- few drops red food coloring
Instructions
Basic Dough:
- Mix together butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Add flour, mix thoroughly. Divide dough into 3 equal parts.
Chocolate Layer:
- To first part, mix in melted chocolate.
Green Layer:
- To second part, mix in nuts and green food coloring.
Red Layer:
- To third part, mix in rum extract and red food coloring.
Shape each part into 8 x 3" rectangle. (use waxed paper)
- Layer rectangles, green in the center. Press together, wrap, and chill for 2 hours in refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 375°. Cut cookies from end 1/4" thick. Bake on ungreased baking sheet for 9 - 11 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Italian Spumoni Cookies
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Are they best served the day of baking or is there a way to store them so I can make them a day in advance? Thank you.
As long as you put them in a sealed container, they’ll be good for several days. I’ve even frozen them before I needed them, and they freeze great. Just defrost on the counter in a sealed container. Thanks for the question.
I’m going to use maraschino cherries in the red layer next time.
Hi Shelley. Yeah, a lot of people use maraschino cherries in the red layer, go for it. My recipe, using rum extract in that red layer, was handed down from one of my mom’s best friends, Rosie Essman, who was a sweet German lady. They used to swap recipes all the time, and I wanted to honor Rosie by publishing her recipe. Let me know how you like it with the cherry.
Can you freeze the dough, then slice and bake?
Hi Nancy. I’ve always baked them first, then froze them, but I don’t see why you couldn’t freeze the dough, then defrost and bake.
There doesn’t seem to have a rising agent is none needed?
Hi Tonya. No, the cookies come out soft and delicious as is.
Too much work for flavorless cookies
Hi Gail. I’m confused how you found them to be flavorless, but either way, I’m sorry you were unhappy with the recipe.
Very eager to try this! However, not a fan of rum – what would you suggest to sub for the rum? You mentioned cherry is the traditional flavor, but I do not think I ever heard of cherry extract, to use as a sub! Thank you!
Hi BethAnn. Instead of the rum extract, you could really use any flavor you love. For instance, if it’s for Christmas, use peppermint. Extract comes in so many flavors, use your favorite.
Could cocoa powder be used instead of melted chocolate?
Hi Nina. Thanks for the question. I haven’t tested these cookies with cocoa powder, so I can’t guarantee the results. Melted chocolate adds both cocoa flavor and fat, while cocoa powder is much drier, so the texture would likely change. If you decide to experiment, I’d recommend adding a little extra butter or oil to help make up for the missing fat from the melted chocolate. Let me know if you try it — I’d love to hear how they turn out!