Neapolitan Cookies! What could be better than matcha, strawberry, and vanilla sugar all in one cookie?!
I am not a baker at heart. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE baking. So much so that I often just want to bake and not eat. I can definitely follow recipes and most of the time they turn out, but I desperately wish I could be the kind of baker that could confidently and successfully bake all of the creations in my head. That’s why I’m always in awe of the beautiful baked goods that show up again and again in my Instagram feed.
One of the people I’ve been following since forever and a IRL friend of mine that I am always inspired by is Amy from Constellation Inspiration. I love the Asian twists she puts on classic baked goods. She loves salted egg yolk which is basically one of my all time favorite flavors (either sweet or savory), chewy mochi things, and her photos of cookies always make me hungry.
Amy recently came out with a beautiful new cookbook called Blooms and Baking that is full of glorious baked treats that feature florals, both in flavor and in presentation. Flipping through it, I wanted to make everything but I saw her matcha strawberry neapolitan soft and chewy sugar cookies on insta and I just had to make them even though I was planning on this post being an ode to her book. She gave me her blessing and here we are!
Neapolitan Cookies
Hot-take: neapolitan ice cream is the best ice cream flavor. Agree or disagree? I actually LOVED neapolitan as a kid. I never actually ate all three flavors together, but I liked having the option of having either strawberry, chocolate, or vanilla. Now though, there are so many better flavors out there – I would never choose neapolitan. Maybe I would if it was a matcha strawberry vanilla situation studded with these sugar cookies and chewy mochi bits. That would be pretty bomb, I think.
Back to these cookies, they are an Asian take on neapolitan. Instead of chocolate, there’s matcha. The strawberry and vanilla are the same but I’ve seen a bunch of people make these exact cookies with other variations like black sesame, hojicha, and sakura flavors.
The genius of this recipe is the chewy, soft sugar cookie base. The same recipe is in Amy’s book but with a lavender twist. These cookies come together quickly and the dough lends itself well to flavor add ins. The key to adding in different flavors to sugar cookies is trying not to alter the wet to dry ingredient ratios too much. Matcha works because it’s a powder and the strawberry is thanks to freeze dried strawberry powder.
What are freeze dried strawberries?
Freeze dried strawberries are simply strawberries in which the water content has been removed. Strawberries are quickly frozen so they retain their shape and cell structure, then the water is vaporized in a vacuum. Freeze dried strawberries look like little dehydrated pieces of strawberry. You can reconstitute them with water or use them in baked goods. Freeze dried strawberry powder is simply freeze dried strawberries that have been blitzed in a food processor. You can find either whole pieces or powder in the aisle where they keep the dried fruit.
How do I add freeze dried strawberries to baked goods?
Because the water is removed from freeze dried fruit, they have a more intense flavor, making them perfect for adding to baked goods. You can add them to muffins, quick breads, cakes, cookies, essentially anything you want to add fruit to without changing the baking ratios too much.
How do I make matcha strawberry vanilla neapolitan cookies?
- Mix together your dry ingredients.
- Beat together your butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla.
- Mix the flour mix into the butter mix. Divide the dough into three bowls. Mix the matcha into one and the strawberry powder into another.
- Shape the dough by rolling equal portions of each dough into a ball. Roll in sugar.
- Bake and enjoy!
Tips for perfect neapolitan cookies
- Preheat your oven. it makes for more even baking. Bonus points if you have an oven thermometer* make sure all of your ingredients are at room temp
- Don’t overmix your cookies. stir in the flour only until there are no streaks
- If you need to bake your cookies in batches, keep the cookie dough balls in the fridge. if they get too warm they will spread not not have those thick and chewy ripples
If you like neapolitan cookies, you’ll love these too:
- Brown Butter Macadamia Nut Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
- Small Batch White Rabbit Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Totoro Soot Sprite Chocolate Sparkle Cookies Recipe
- Gingerbread Corgi Cookies
Happy cookie making and congrats to Amy! Please check out her book, Blooms and Baking as well as her blog Constellation Inspiration.
cookies and matcha forever,
xoxo steph
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter 227g, room temperature
- 1.25 cups granulated sugar 250g, plus more for rolling
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract 10ml
- 2.25 cups all purpose flour 270g
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp freeze dried strawberry powder
- 2 tbsp matcha powder
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar with the paddle on medium speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- Add the flour mix to the butter and mix on low until just combined with no streaks of flour remaining, about 45 seconds. Divide the dough into three equal portions. Mix the strawberry powder into one and the matcha into another. Leave the remaining dough vanilla.
- Take a tablespoon of each dough and combine into a ball in the palm of your hands. Roll the balls of dough in sugar until coated.
- Bake on the prepared baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until the edges are a light golden brown. Do not over bake. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before cooling completely on wire rack. Enjoy!
These cookies were perfect with crunchy edges and soft, chewy centers. I switched up the flavors based on what I had and made oolong, blueberry, and vanilla cookies but they were soooo tasty! I can’t wait to try the original matcha, strawberry vanilla flavor next!
wow you’re fast! oolong, blueberry and vanilla sound AMAZING!! so happy you made these :)
is it okay to swap out the matcha with unsweetened cocoa powder?
absolutely! classic neapolitan style :)
I made these, taste good but look nothing like yours, what did i do wrong?
hi ana,
can you describe what the cookies look like? i can try to troubleshoot!
I followed the recipe, but my cookies never flattened out they stayed domed up. Tasted great tho!!
hi amelia,
glad they tasted great! :)
I noticed that mixing in the strawberry and matcha powders at the end put the dough at risk of being overmixed. Would you recommend splitting all the ingredients before making the dough? That way the powders can be mixed in with the dry ingredients
hi,
you can absolutely do that! i gently mixed at the very end so didn’t have an issue with over mixing, but for sure you can divide the ingredients by weight and make the dough three times.
Great, I’ll give it a try! First time I made these they came out great, my only concern was that trying to incorporate the matcha at the end required more mixing by hand than I would have liked (and seemed to become overmixed as the matcha dough seemed to spread less/was tougher). But the vanilla and strawberry doughs came out with no problem whatsoever! Looking forward to making these with different flavor combinations!
Should the dough be cold or room temperature right before baking? I found that when my dough was cold and kind of hard, the cookies were more cracked on top after baking. When my dough was room temp, they spread out a lot and became really flat. (They were puffed up when I first took them out of the oven, but then flattened quickly)
hi agnes,
i baked my at room temp. if they’re flattening to quickly, just pop them in the fridge while your warming up the oven (maybe for 15 mins). that way the dough won’t be too cold or too hot. hope that helps!
Thank you! Just tried it again today and turned out great! :)
yay happy it worked out!
Hi, I tried making this with cocoa powder instead of strawberry. The cookies came out thick and puffy (rounded/domed tops) rather than flat with ripples like yours. Still tasted okay though. Troubleshoot? Thanks!
hi jenn,
i could be that they dough was over-mixed or the eggs or butter weren’t at room temp.
I just made these cookies. They are so pretty and sooo good! My daughters will be so impressed. I didn’t expect so much flavor but I can really taste the strawberry. Gotta try the black sesame variation next time.
Can you freeze this dough to bake later?
yes absolutely, shape them in to the balls and bake from frozen for extra time, keeping an eye on them