Neapolitan Cookies
Inspired by the ice cream, these Neapolitan Cookies are sweet with the most perfect sugar cookie texture. With chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry mix in the dough, they are extra soft and totally gorgeous!
Neapolitan Cookie Recipe
I’ve always been a fan of Neapolitan ice cream and these cookies absolutely do it justice! Because the dough is separated rather than mixed all together, you get 3 unique flavors all in one and it is AMAZING. The pudding mix flavors the cookies but also gives the cookies an incredible chew, ultra softness, and slightly granular sugar crunch. Beyond that, it might be the cutest cookie I’ve ever made.
A quick note: these cookies contain 3 types of instant pudding mix to create the iconic neapolitan flavor profile. But you won’t use the entirety of any of the pudding mixes. Here’s the good news though – you can store the leftover mix in an airtight container for up to 6 months, meaning you can make these now and later without being wasteful.
Ingredients
*You can find instructions and exact quantities in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Salted butter, softened – I use salted butter in my bakes, but you can totally sub in unsalted butter if you’d like. I just recommend adding an extra pinch of salt to the dough if you make the swap.
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Egg + 1 yolk – The extra egg yolk will help these cookies be rich and thick/fudgy.
- Vanilla – This is truly the flavor backbone of these cookies. Don’t skip it!
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Vanilla instant pudding mix – You will use about half of a 3.4oz box.
- Chocolate instant pudding mix – Again, half of a 3.4oz box here!
- Strawberry instant pudding mix – I used Royal brand Strawberry Fresa pudding. If you cannot find Strawberry pudding mix, you can use 1 tsp of strawberry extract or emulsion and 3-4 Tbsp of flour, mixed together until it is no longer sticky in its place.
- Pink gel food coloring
- Granulated sugar, for rolling
How to Make Neapolitan Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the egg, yolk, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until combined. This should make 3 cups of dough.
- Divide the dough into three equal portions (about 1 cup each). Leave one portion in the mixer.
- Add vanilla pudding mix and mix until combined. Remove and keep separate.
- Place the second portion of dough in the mixer and add chocolate pudding mix and combine. Remove and keep separate, then wipe the bowl clean.
- Place the final portion of dough in the mixer and add the strawberry pudding mix to combine. Add pink gel food coloring until the desired color is reached.
- With a 2 tsp scoop, portion out all of the dough, finishing one color before moving onto the next.
- Press one scoop of each color side by side into a #40 scoop. Release and roll the dough in granulated sugar.
- Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet at least 2” apart. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 8-10 mins, or until the tops are no longer glossy.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 mins before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days. Enjoy!
How should I store these cookies?
Once cooled, store your cookies in an airtight container on the counter for 3-5 days!
Can I freeze these cookies?
Yes! You can freeze these cookies for up to 3 months! I recommend placing all cooled cookies onto a cookie sheet and then placing the entire cookie sheet into the freezer to ‘flash freeze’ until they start to harden slightly. Move the cookies to a ziptop bag or airtight container.
Karli’s Kitchen Faves
Here are a few of my favorite kitchen tools that I used to make this recipe!
- Kitchenaid Mixer – I really love this thing. It’s not necessary for making good cookies, but I love the size of the bowl and the power. A Hand Mixer is also an excellent option for when you don’t want to mix things by hand.
- Cookie Sheet – These cookie sheets have put in WORK in my kitchen. If you’re looking for a brand that will stand the test of time (and cookies), this is my recommendation.
- Silicone baking mat – I love using this or parchment paper to line my cookie sheets to make it easy-peasy to get cookies off of the pan without sticking.
- Cookie scoop set – These are sturdy and won’t break when it, you know, scoops dough. I love these for making pretty + even cookies. I used a 2 tsp scoop and a #40 scoop.
- Spatula – I love these silicone spatulas for scraping down the sides of the mixer.
More Pudding Mix Faves
Neapolitan Cookies
Inspired by the ice cream, these Neapolitan Cookies are sweet with the most perfect sugar cookie texture. With chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry mix in the dough, they are extra soft and totally gorgeous!
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Servings: 36 small cookies
Calories: 69kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup (222g) salted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup (162g) brown sugar
- 2/3 cup (152g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg + 1 yolk
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 2 1/3 cups (354g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp vanilla instant pudding mix (about half of a 3.4 oz box)
- 3 Tbsp chocolate instant pudding mix (about half of a 3.4 oz box)
- 3 Tbsp strawberry instant pudding mix (about half of a 3.4 oz box)
- Pink gel food coloring
- Granulated sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy.1 cup (222g) salted butter, softened, 2/3 cup (162g) brown sugar, 2/3 cup (152g) granulated sugar
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the egg, yolk, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.1 egg + 1 yolk, 1 Tbsp vanilla
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until combined. This should make 3 cups of dough.2 1/3 cups (354g) all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
- Divide the dough into three equal portions (about 1 cup each). Leave one portion in the mixer.
- Add vanilla pudding mix and mix until combined. Remove and keep separate.3 Tbsp vanilla instant pudding mix
- Place the second portion of dough in the mixer and add chocolate pudding mix and combine. Remove and keep separate, then wipe the bowl clean.3 Tbsp chocolate instant pudding mix
- Place the final portion of dough in the mixer and add the strawberry pudding mix to combine. Add pink gel food coloring until the desired color is reached.3 Tbsp strawberry instant pudding mix, Pink gel food coloring
- With a 2 tsp scoop, portion out all of the dough, finishing one color before moving onto the next.
- Press one scoop of each color side by side into a #40 scoop. Release and roll the dough in granulated sugar.Granulated sugar, for rolling
- Arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet at least 2” apart. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 8-10 mins, or until the tops are no longer glossy.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 mins before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days. Enjoy!
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Nutrition
Calories: 69kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.01g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.04g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 122mg | Potassium: 15mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 9g | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 0.4mg
where did you get the strawberry pudding to put in it?
I used Royal brand Strawberry Fresa pudding from Walmart. If you cannot find Strawberry pudding mix, you can use 1 tsp of strawberry extract or emulsion and 3-4 Tbsp of flour, mixed together until it is no longer sticky.
I cannot find strawberry pudding mix anywhere!
Hi, so sorry to hear that! I know it can be hard to find, so if you cannot find Strawberry pudding mix, you can use 1 tsp of strawberry extract or emulsion and 3-4 Tbsp of flour, mixed together until it is no longer sticky.
I’m Canadian and strawberry pudding us available here, but I checked the American Amazon site and it is available there
Made exactly as directed, same size, same temp, on a light baking sheet as recommended for cookies. they needed closer to 12 minutes. VERY hard to tell when they’re baked.
only change I did was white chocolate pudding with strawberry flavoring, as I didn’t have strawberry pudding. overall, the flavor and texture of these aren’t my favorite. they just dont bake nicely. I feel like a less brown sugar base would be better(more white than brown, 1/3 cup brown to 1 cup white), with half baking powder half baking soda, and a nice pinch of cornstarch.
Also couldn’t you use Jello powder?
I haven’t tried this recipe with jello powder, but I do have a great Jello cookie recipe you can check out.
This were so good! Smelt amazing. Also couldn’t find strawberry pudding mix so just swapped 1-1 strawberry jello mix and they turned out fine to me! I don’t have different size cookie scoop so I just eye balled 3 portions and hand rolled into balls