Every once in a while at family gatherings of years past, rugelach, macaroons, and babka were randomly replaced with a platter of Italian rainbow cookies. You know the ones.
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As a chocolate-loving child, nothing was more disappointing to me than this particular platter of cookies as the only option for our post-holiday-meal treat. I of course gravitated toward the chocolate-dipped almond cookie covered in rainbow sprinkles, but even those were a letdown. My 7-year-old self would ruminate disappointedly at the platter of fruit-filled and almond sliver-topped shortbread cookies.
I was especially distrustful of the little Italian rainbow cakes. They looked like delicious little colorful cakes with a layer of chocolate fudge on top. But one bite into them, and I realized with a shock that shook me to my core, that they were filled with raspberry jam. This went against one of my core childhood beliefs: chocolate and fruit just didn’t belong together. Unless the fruit was of the fondue variety and chocolate fountains were involved.
But, I’m almost 30 now, and my taste buds are too. They’ve changed quite a bit over the years. So much so, that not only do I love Italian Rainbow Cakes, but now I’ve started stuffing them inside my favorite chocolate chip cookies and putting more of them on top. The almond-flavored cake that used to turn me way off as a child, pairs so well with the raspberry filling and chocolate fudge. I honestly can’t get over how delicious and delightful they are years later.
The delicious Italian rainbow cakes in and on these cookies are from The Original Cakebites. I’ve partnered with them to share with you their wonderful mini cakes; whether you stuff them into some homemade chocolate chip cookies, or eat them right from their convenient on-the-go package, they are the perfect bite of cake every time, raspberry filling and all.
Italian Rainbow Cake Chocolate Chip Cookie
Ingredients
- 1 cup 2 sticks butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate plus another 1/2 cup for putting on top
- 9 Classic Italian Rainbow cake bites from The Original Cakebites
- Chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350° F and grease cookie sheets with baking spray or line with baking mats.
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With an electric mixer, beat together the butter and the sugars until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, and then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.
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In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add this mixture into the butter/sugar mixture slowly, stirring well. Then, fold in the chocolate chips, reserving some to place on top of the cookies once they come out of the oven.
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Optional but recommended step: place the cookie dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes to chill the dough. This is helpful if your cookies tend to come out flat; they will not spread as much if the dough is chilled.
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Scoop dough using a 1/2 cup measuring cup, and flatten each ball of dough slightly. Place one Italian rainbow cake bite in the middle of the dough, and top with additional dough to cover the entire cake bite. Since these are large cookies, only place about four on each baking sheet.
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Bake for about 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Top the warm cookies with the extra chocolate chips, an additional half of a cake bite, and chocolate sprinkles. Wait about 10-15 minutes before eating. Enjoy!