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Rainbow Cookies

- MAKES
- 48 (4 dozen)
- CHILL TIME
- 1 Hr
- COOK TIME
- 15 Min
What's at the end of the rainbow? A plate full of colorful, easy-to-make, cake-like cookies! Our scrumptious Rainbow Cookies fit any entertaining from the holidays to a special occasion.
What You'll Need
- 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
- 1 (18--ounce) package yellow cake mix, batter prepared according to package directions
- 1 teaspoon red food color
- 1 teaspoon green food color
- 1 teaspoon yellow food color
- 1 (12-ounce) jar raspberry jam, melted
- 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, melted
What to Do
-
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Coat 3 separate 9- x 13-inch baking dishes with cooking spray, line with wax paper, and coat again with cooking spray.
-
Stir almond extract into cake batter and divide batter evenly into 3 small bowls. Stir red food color into one bowl, green food color into another bowl, and yellow food color into third bowl. Pour each color batter into a separate baking dish and spread evenly. The layer of batter will be very thin, that's okay.
-
Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean; let cool completely.
-
Place red layer top side down on a cutting board and remove wax paper. Spread half of raspberry jam evenly over top, then place yellow cake layer top side down over jam. Remove wax paper and spread remaining jam over yellow layer. Place green cake layer on top, leaving wax paper in place. Place a baking sheet on top to gently press the layers together.
- Chill 1 hour, then remove from refrigerator and remove wax paper. Spread a thin layer of melted chocolate over top and allow to harden slightly. Cut into 1- x 2-inch cookies and serve, or cover and chill until ready to serve.
Notes
- If you don't happen to have three 9- x 13-inch baking dishes, you can make the cake layers one at at time.
- Sending these to someone special this holiday season? Check out our tips and tricks to mailing cookies!
- Want even more tasty cake mix recipes? Check out our free eCookbook, Tempting Cake Mix Recipes: 30 Simple Recipes with Cake Mix.
- This recipe is part of our 2016 Christmas Cookie Countdown!
Nutritional InformationShow More
Servings Per Recipe: 48
- Amount Per Serving % Daily Value *
- Calories 112
- Calories from Fat 41
- Total Fat 4.5g 7 %
- Saturated Fat 1.8g 9 %
- Trans Fat 0.0g 0 %
- Protein 0.8g 2 %
- Amount Per Serving % Daily Value *
- Cholesterol 15mg 5 %
- Sodium 72mg 3 %
- Total Carbohydrates 18g 6 %
- Dietary Fiber 0.0g 0 %
- Sugars 12g 0 %
rac7431 2877525
Jan 05, 2019
Doesn't good coloring scare you people?
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elainewolfson 2330090
Dec 10, 2016
I have made these for several Christmases. My family is wild for them. I have even made them with Gluten Free yellow cake mix, and they came out just as good and were such a treat for the GF crowd. Since tasting these, we no longer want to eat the ones from the bakery -- there's no comparison!
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Mischief1974 3066316
Jan 18, 2015
I have made this for years it truly is the best every time I do friends are amazed by how good they are
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Psmithflowers 3010773
Mar 15, 2014
How do I get this recipe into my recipe box without all the other recipes? Everytime I try to get it there, I end up with all other recipes to.
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Goodcookie
Feb 22, 2015
You just click save to recipe box is all you do and if you get a few more that's just fine when you check your recipe box it asks you a question remove recipe and that's when you click on remove RECIPE That's all You Do !!!
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colleen848 8805322
Mar 09, 2014
I have been looking for this for years and have bought way to many books trying to find it. I admit I haven't tried it yet but I know it's what I was looking for. Believe me....It is oh soooooo GOOD!
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michellelombar1902 0909306
Dec 09, 2012
I made these cookies just doin 2 layers red & green 4 a christmas party now everybody wants the recipe - Thanks! It was soooo great!
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S48tal 8171427
Dec 05, 2012
I love making pumpkin rolls for my friends, and I thought this recipe would be great to use; bake cake and roll up as I do for the pumpkin roll, then unroll and spread with jam, (whatever flavor) a person prefers. Than you "Mr. Foods team"! Always a pleasure. Sincerely, 'little ole' Ohio cook,' Sherry
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dandendulk
Dec 04, 2012
It really looks great. Thanks for the video. I'm glad to see that you are resuming videos. They are very helpful.
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hicksverna 8120869
Dec 04, 2012
hi there im so sorry to hear about mr food but ive got a question i seen this receipi on line and its called rainbow cookies and i tried to print it out and all i got was the picture of them and i wanted the receipi but it didnt print out so what do i do
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Kalona
Dec 04, 2012
Highlight the recipe - hit "Ctrl" and the "C" at the same time to copy - open up Microsoft Word or notepad - then press the "Ctrl" and the "V" at the same time to copy. Now you can save this document on your computer as well as print. I hope this helps.
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cg 623
Dec 04, 2012
The only cake mix sizes I can find in my area are downsized-they average 15.25 oz. to 16.5 oz.....how will this effect the recipe?
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Mommy5644 4019004
Dec 04, 2012
I'm going to try making this with 3 8 by 8 pans as the 15.5 mix was not enough to fill the pans
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hengest1066
Dec 04, 2012
Yes, these are a holiday staple up here in New York. Personally, I agree that the "yellow" isn't very Christmas-y, so I thought, "Why can't you use white cake mix?" And I guess you can! I'm going to try this recipe with mint extract instead of almond and see how it turns out...
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carmelamz 3155527
Dec 05, 2012
I was thinking of trying either red on 1st and 3rd layers and green in the middle or vice versa for a more Christmasy effect.
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rozieeee72
Dec 04, 2012
Is there another flavoring that can be used for the family who has someone with extreme allergy to almond?
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hengest1066
Dec 04, 2012
I don't see why you couldn't substitute with any flavoring...would just need to experiment with what tastes the best.
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faith 2001028
Dec 04, 2012
i think i will swich out the yellow for a more x-masy color
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cherylmedeiros3 3946491
Dec 04, 2012
this may seem like a silly question, but can these be frozen and frosted at a later time?
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punky9791
Dec 04, 2012
This is a traditional Italian-American cookie found all over the tri-state area. I grew up eating them and we had about 10 pounds of them at our wedding! It is traditionally made with almond paste and includes one layer of apricot jam in between the cake and the of raspberry jam in between the other layer. To leave out the jam is a pure crime. Not sure about this recipe, although it seems much simpler than the other methods we have used and contains the right flavors--I would just suggest adding apricot jam.
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mommaof6
Dec 04, 2012
i think a few changes and it could be done in to a cake i really love this idea, we are due in july and are not going to find out the sex of the baby till he/she arrives, so we are doing rainbow themed since it has mixed colors, and gift cards for the baby shower, thanks for the idea this is great. i wouldnt use the jam or the wax paper, i would do half a cake with layers of red blue and green and then the other half purlple pink and yellow layers thanks so much for the idea
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mare2 9159900
Dec 04, 2012
I think to make cake dough and call it cookies is sort of stupid. They couldn't be eaten with fingers like a regular cookie because you would have sticky jam and crumbs all over. I'm not trying this one.
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punky9791
Dec 04, 2012
Actually, these are super small and there is absolutely no need to use anything BUT your fingers, there aren't crumbs and jam all over since you pop it in your mouth and it's gone. I have eaten versions of these cookies my whole life, believe me.
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twinglemom 5769131
Dec 04, 2012
I was thinking the same thing...the layers would be very thin too. I am afraid that the cooking time may be off too with layers so thin, wouldn't they dry out?
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tomandbevconway 6481400
Dec 04, 2012
It's hard to imagine that one box of cake mix will spread into 3 9x13 " pans - is that correct?
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punky9791
Dec 04, 2012
it will be a very thin layer, basically just covering the layer of the pan. not supposed to be thick.
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