Chocolate Covered Easter Egg Rainbow Cookies

Name: Chocolate Covered Easter Egg Rainbow Cookies
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 24
Ingredients: 4 eggs (separated); 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 7- or 8-oz container almond paste [see note]; 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter (softened); 1 tsp almond extract; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 tsp salt; Red food coloring (for pink layer); Red & blue food coloring (for purple layer); Yellow food coloring (for yellow layer); 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam; 10 oz dark chocolate (chopped); Melted white chocolate (for piping); Sprinkles for decoration (optional)

April 9, 2014 By Alyssa 29 Comments

Enjoy rainbow cookies (or tricolor cookies, or seven layer cookies) for Easter with these Chocolate-Covered Easter Egg Rainbow Cookies! The classic dessert of spongy almond layers and raspberry jam is updated with spring colors, egg shapes, and Easter egg decorations.

Hi, my name is Alyssa, and I’m a rainbow cookie addict. Hands down these have been my favorite cookie since as far back as I can remember. For a few consecutive birthdays when I was younger, I would have a giant rainbow cookie as my cake. This always seemed like a humongous feat for a bakery to accomplish. “Wow, a WHOLE cake!”, but looking back now, it probably saved them a step or two as they made their standard rainbow cookie recipe but didn’t have to slice them up. Either way, I relished the opportunity to savor as much of my favorite cookie as I could.

Which even meant eating a slice for breakfast the next morning, because you’re allowed to do that on the day after your birthday, right? Yes. And I think the same goes for Easter, but don’t quote me on that.

Speaking of Easter, I would absolutely love it if the Easter Bunny dropped these babies off in his yearly travels. I must admit that while I was a rainbow cookie freak when I was little, I was not a fan of the Easter Bunny. At all. Yes, I loved the delicious treats he would bring, but bordering-on-neurotic little me had a panic one year on the night before Easter. I was in despair trying to reconcile in my head how a large bunny was able to infiltrate locked doors and windows and get into my house. I didn’t know of a magical entrance he would use, a la Santa, so wouldn’t any old person be able to break in, too?

Can you say “over-thinker” from day one? My poor parents.

Anyway, Mr. Bunny left me a sweet letter that year, assuring me that he was a happy bunny who meant no harm, my house was secure, etc. What a stand up rabbit! His words (~~and chocolates~~) were good enough for me, though it wouldn’t have hurt if he threw in a few of these chocolate-covered delights to sweeten the deal.

If you’ve never enjoyed a rainbow cookie before, a) I’m so sorry and b) let me tell you about them. These three-layer cookies are traditionally shaped like little blocks (see above) and colored red, white, and green. The layers are spongy and moist, with an almond flavoring thanks to the addition of both almond paste and extract, with jam (either apricot or raspberry) pressed in between each layer. The cookies are then topped with chocolate. Bada bing, bada boom, I’ll take five please.

These Easter egg rainbow cookies use a standard rainbow cookie recipe, but the festive pizzazz is brought courtesy of using different food colorings and an oval-shaped cookie cutter. They do take a degree of planning ahead and prep time, but the final output is well worth the effort. The pan of cookies, pre-slicing, needs to be refrigerated for at least eight hours, so I recommend preparing the cookie layers the night before and letting them chill overnight. Plus when you’re asleep, you’re (hopefully) not pacing back and forth in front of the refrigerator waiting for them to be ready.

Recipe Notes:

Since these Easter egg rainbow cookies are dense, you’ll likely want to use a cookie cutter on the smaller size. I couldn’t find a small, oval cookie cutter locally and didn’t feel like ordering one, so I bent a small circular cookie cutter into an oval shape. Works! 😂
Once the cookie layers are assembled with raspberry jam between them, parchment paper and then something weighty, like another baking sheet, goes over top while the bars sit in the refrigerator. This helps the three layers stick together, so they won’t separate when you cut them.
Since there are different types of food coloring available (liquid, gel, etc.), I didn’t specify how many drops of each color should be used. I used liquid food coloring, and went in increments of five drops at a time and stirring to see how the colors were looking. Use enough to reach your desired coloring.

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