Spunky Spumoni Cookies

What did we do before Pinterest?

Right?

I'll tell you what I did.

I'd find recipes I liked on blogs and other sites, copy and paste them into an email to myself (including a link to the original recipe) - and then hit send.

I'd tag (pin!) these emails "Recipes" and when I needed something to make, I'd search in that little folder on Gmail.

It worked really well.

And then came Pinterest.

 It's almost like I invented that beast.

But I didn't. 

I'd probably be uber wealthy and retired right now if I had only developed my tagging system sooner.

Anyway, last Christmas - when I had yet to get into my blogging groove, I baked, and actually took pictures of these beautiful spumoni cookies that I "pinned" and finally baked!

They were slightly labor intensive (well as far as my low-maintenance creative standards are concerned), and slightly messy (not really that messy, but I hate having to get my hands in dough...its weird), but so incredibly tasty that they were worth every ounce of effort put into them.

I even am planning to take a day off work before Christmas, just so I can bake these exact cookies again. 

So, fun fact, my favorite ice cream to get at Baskin Robbins is a scoop of Cherries Jubilee and a scoop of Pistachio. I always thought it was a bit weird, but totally genius.

I had no clue that this combination of flavors was an actual thing, Spumoni!

I used to eat spumoni ice cream at my grandparents' house growing up - but only remembered the name, not the taste.

It's like I reinvented the wheel with my tasty ice cream profile.

Cherry, Pistachio and Chocolate - it makes up Spumoni. 

And these cookies, are not only tasty, but they are beautiful too! 

Red and Green and Christmassy!

Original Recipe Here:

• 2 1/4 c flour
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 c butter, softened
• 2/3 c sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 square semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• Green food coloring
• 1/3 c finely chopped pistachios
• Red food coloring
• 1/3 c finely chopped red candied cherries
• 1/4 t almond extract

What You Do

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and egg with an electric mixer set at medium speed. Beat until the mixture is light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix until smooth.
Divide the dough into three equal pieces.
Stir the melted chocolate into one portion of the dough (I removed the other two portions from the mixer bowl and added the chocolate to this portion using the electric mixer). Set aside.
Add enough green food coloring to the second portion of dough to create a pastel green dough. Knead the dough in your hands to help evenly distribute the coloring. Stir the the pistachios into this portion of the dough as well, then set aside.
Add enough red food coloring to the third portion of dough to create a pink dough. Again, knead the dough in your hands to evenly distribute the coloring. Stir the almond extract and candied cherries into this portion of the dough.
Line an empty wax paper box (12 x 2 x 2) with wax paper. Press the pink dough evenly into the box. Press the chocolate dough into an even layer on top of the pink dough. Create a final layer on top with the green dough. Wrap the box with plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 3 hours (Mine stayed in the fridge closer to 24 hours).
Heat the oven to 375°. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Unwrap the chilled dough. Cut the dough into 1/4 inch slices. Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake 7-11 minutes or until just set. Let the cookies rest for 5 minutes before moving to a rack to cool completely.

Linking Up with Edie @ Life in Grace
& Mel @ The Larson Lingo