Neapolitan Checkerboard Cookies
Updated Oct. 17, 2025
- Total Time
- 1 hour 40 minutes, plus overnight chilling
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1 hour 35 minutes, plus overnight chilling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1½cups/192 grams all-purpose flour
- ½teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- ½cup/112 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½cup/100 grams granulated sugar
- 1large egg, yolk and white separated, at room temperature
- 2teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1(1.2-ounce/34-gram) package freeze-dried strawberries (about 2 cups slices)
- 1¼cups/160 grams all-purpose flour
- ½teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- ½cup/112 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½cup/100 grams granulated sugar
- 1large egg, yolk and white separated, at room temperature
- 1¼cups/160 grams all-purpose flour
- ¼cup/23 grams cocoa powder
- ½teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- ½cup/112 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½cup/100 grams granulated sugar
- 1large egg, yolk and white separated, at room temperature
For the Vanilla Shortbread
For the Strawberry Shortbread
For the Chocolate Shortbread
Nutritional analysis per serving (60 servings)
97 calories; 5 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 52 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Prepare the vanilla shortbread: Whisk together flour and salt in a medium bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, combine butter and sugar on medium speed until pale yellow, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides a few times. Add the egg yolk (reserve egg white) and vanilla extract, and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the flour mixture all at once and mix on low until it all resembles coarse pea-size crumbs. Transfer to a piece of plastic wrap and scrape the bowl and paddle clean. (No need to wash.)
- Step 2
Prepare strawberry shortbread: Pulse freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor until powdered (some crumbs are fine). You should have about ⅔ cup ground strawberries. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add flour and salt, and whisk to combine.
- Step 3
Add butter and sugar to the stand mixer bowl, and mix together on medium speed until pale yellow, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides a few times. Add the egg yolk (reserve egg white) and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the flour mixture and mix on low until it all resembles coarse pea-size crumbs. Transfer to a second piece of plastic wrap.
- Step 4
Prepare the chocolate shortbread: Whisk together flour, cocoa powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add butter and sugar to the stand mixer bowl and mix together on medium speed until pale yellow, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides a few times. Add the egg yolk (reserve egg white) and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the flour mixture and mix on low until it all resembles coarse pea-size crumbs. Transfer to a third piece of plastic wrap and scrape the bowl and paddle clean. (No need to wash.)
- Step 5
With your hands, pat doughs into rough 5-by-10-inch rectangles and wrap them tightly in the plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin, roll the doughs so they are ½ inch tall. (If they’re larger than 5-by-10 inches, they can be trimmed to size later.)
- Step 6
To assemble, whisk the reserved egg whites with 1 tablespoon water to break up the whites. Trim any uneven edges from the dough (or if dough is larger, trim down to 5-by-10-inch rectangles).
- Step 7
Cut each dough into 9 (½-inch-wide, 10-inch-long) pieces. Once sliced, transfer strips to the fridge so they stay firm while you work.
- Step 8
To form the checkerboard pattern, lay a strip of each flavor on a cutting board (chocolate, strawberry, vanilla), brush with the egg white mixture and gently press the long sides together so they adhere. Layer another 3 strips (strawberry, vanilla, chocolate), repeat with egg white and pressing. Repeat with the last layer (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry). You should have a long 3-by-3 square. Repeat with the remaining dough strips until you have 3 logs. Wrap with plastic and transfer to the refrigerator to chill overnight.
- Step 9
When ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove one log at a time and square up any uneven edges, then slice the dough crosswise into ⅓-inch-thick squares.
- Step 10
Space the squares about 1 inch apart on the baking sheets and bake until the edges are lightly golden, 12 to 13 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- The cookies can be stored up to 1 week in an airtight container.
- The assembled dough logs can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months, then thawed in the refrigerator until ready to slice and bake.
Private Notes
Comments
When I was in high school, I took a ceramics class. The teacher showed us how to make sheets of clay at a perfect thickness. You can do the same for dough in this recipe... I have two ½ inch thick pieces of wood ~16 in long. I place them parallel to each other about 6 inches apart on the cutting board. The rolling pin rolls atop the two wood slats and flattens the dough exactly ½ inch thick and resulting in a sheet that you can refrigerate and later cut into ½ inch strips as in recipe. Who knew?
I made these with pistachios instead of the freeze dried strawberries. I weighed out 68 grams of shelled pistachios and ground them up in my food processor before adding them to the dough. I made the other two doughs the same as in the recipe They turned out great, good combo if you like pistachios.
I just made the three flavors of dough and put the rectangles in the fridge. In the video she says you need to hydrate the dough and she suggests 24 hours (or at least assembling in the evening if making the dough in the morning.) The written recipe doesn't mention this at all! So glad I watched the video and caught this instruction (also because Sue is awesome and the video is fun.)
The written recipe here does not really emphasize how much easier the forming & shaping process will be if the dough rectangles are refrigerated briefly (10 ish minutes) before cutting them (although the video does, I think). I didn’t have time to chill the logs for 24 hours in the fridge, so put them in the freezer for a few hours instead and added 2-3 mins to baking time. Still turned out well.
Because I cannot admit defeat in the kitchen, I've made this recipe now FOUR times. Never has it come together pleasantly. The dough is consistently dry and crumbly. Yes, I've weighed instead of measured...Yes, I have hydrated it in the refrigerator (though sadly only the video instructs this). If you can manage to get them done, they are delicious. Sometimes they are even CUTE. But they are always a hassle. Shortbread doesn't have to be this fussy. NYT, please troubleshoot and repost!!
First - make these. They are delicious, not too sweet and impressive looking. Second, they do take some time so don't make them if you re in a hurry. I didn't have the freeze dried strawberries so I made the vanilla dough again but substituted the zest from one orange and 1 tablespoon of orange juice for the vanilla. Yum. You could add more zest and get a punchier orange flavor. You might also want to add some food coloring just to get the differentiation. Winner.