3 Flavor Pumpkin Neapolitan Cookies (With Pumpkin, Chocolate, And Vanilla)

About These 3 Flavor Pumpkin Neapolitan Cookies

These pumpkin Neapolitan cookies have three different flavors in one cookie: pumpkin vanilla, pumpkin spice, and chocolate pumpkin! Despite their striking appearance, these pumpkin Neapolitan cookies come together easily. Why? There’s no need to make three different cookie doughs! Instead, the cookies are made with one chewy, buttery, pumpkin sugar cookie base. The recipe instructs you to flavor the same sugar cookie base with additional ingredients like pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and black cocoa powder. Cool, right?!

Looking for a classic Neapolitan cookie recipe made with chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla? Check out these 3 Flavor Neapolitan Cookies Made With 1 Dough!

Ingredients and Substitutions

Now that I’ve convinced you to make pumpkin Neapolitan cookies, here’s your shopping list for the recipe:

Shopping List for Pumpkin Neapolitan Cookies

Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for the exact ingredient quantities:

• all-purpose flour
• baking soda
• kosher salt
• unsalted butter
• granulated sugar
• canned pumpkin puree
• large eggs
• pure vanilla extract
• orange food coloring
• pumpkin pie spice
• ground cinnamon
• black OR Dutch-processed cocoa powder

What kind of orange food coloring did you use to make these pumpkin Neapolitan cookies?

I used Americolor’s Pumpkin orange gel food coloring to make these cookies. You can buy it online like I did, or in specialty cake baking stores (New Yorkers—NY Cake has an extensive collection of Americolor food coloring gels).

In general, I prefer gel food coloring to liquid food coloring. I think that gel food coloring dyes the food more vibrantly. But in a pinch, liquid food coloring works just as well!

Where do I find either black or Dutch-processed cocoa powder?

Black cocoa powder is typically available in specialty herb and spice shops. However, I just order mine online. Amazon sells many varieties of black cocoa powder. However, my personal favorite is this black cocoa powder from King Arthur Baking Company.

You can easily find Dutch-processed cocoa powder in the baking aisle of every major grocery store. My favorite Dutch-processed cocoa powders in the grocery store are Ghirardelli Unsweetened Dutch Process Cocoa and Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa.

How To Make The Recipe

Here are the basic steps to make pumpkin neapolitan cookies from scratch:

First, make the pumpkin sugar cookie dough base.

1. First, prep your ingredients. (Prep Time: 5 minutes)
   Luckily, prepping the ingredients for this pumpkin Neapolitan cookie recipe is fairly easy. Simply measure out all the ingredients and make sure that ingredients like butter, pumpkin, and the egg yolk are at room temperature.
   
   
2. Now, make the cookie dough base. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
   The pumpkin Neapolitan cookie dough base comes together fairly easily. Simply beat together the butter and sugar, add the pumpkin, egg yolk, and vanilla, then add the dry ingredients. That’s it!

Then, divide and flavor the cookie dough.

1. Divide the sugar cookie dough base into three, equal portions. (Work Time: <5 minutes)
   After making the cookie dough, scrape it out onto the counter and shape it into a rough ball. Use a bench scraper to divide the dough into three, even portions. You can eyeball it, but I used a digital kitchen scale to make sure I had an even amount of dough for each flavor. If you’re a perfectionist like I am, rest assured I included exact measurements in the recipe!
   
   
2. Make the pumpkin vanilla cookie dough. (Work Time: <5 minutes)
   Place one third of the cookie dough in the stand mixer and add 3 drops of food coloring. Mix until combined. Hooray! You just completed the pumpkin vanilla flavored portion of the pumpkin Neapolitan cookies.
   
   
3. Make the pumpkin spice cookie dough. (Work Time: <5 minutes)
   Wipe down the bowl and place another third of the cookie dough back in the stand mixer. Add the pumpkin pie spice and ground cinnamon. Mix until combined and the dough turns into a pale brown, tannish color. Congratulations! You just made the pumpkin spice portion of the pumpkin Neapolitan cookies.
   
   
4. Make the chocolate cookie dough. (Work Time: <5 minutes)
   Wipe down the bowl one last time and place the final third of cookie dough back in the stand mixer. Add the cocoa powder and mix until combined. You just made the chocolate portion of the pumpkin Neapolitan cookies! You now have all the components to finish assembling the cookies.

Now, scoop and shape the cookies.

1. Portion the pumpkin vanilla cookie dough. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
   The fastest and easiest way to portion cookie dough is with a cookie dough scoop. Use a 1-Tablespoon cookie dough scoop to portion the vanilla dough into cookie dough balls, placing the cookie dough balls on a lined sheet pan as you go. Don’t worry about placing them on the sheet pan for baking just yet. We still need to assemble the pumpkin Neapolitan cookies!
   
   
2. Portion the pumpkin spice cookie dough. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
   If you want the different portions of the cookies to be REALLY distinct from one another (learn more in the Baker’s Tips section), wipe down the inside of the cookie dough scoop with a paper towel. Then, use the scoop to portion the pumpkin spice dough into cookie dough balls. Place them next to the vanilla cookie dough balls.
   
   
3. Portion the chocolate cookie dough. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
   Finally, wipe down the inside of the cookie dough scoop one last time. Then, use the scoop to portion the chocolate dough into cookie dough balls. Place them next to the vanilla and pumpkin spice cookie dough balls. At this point, you should have clusters of vanilla, pumpkin spice, and chocolate cookie dough balls next to each other. There should be 18 total clusters. Each cluster represents one single pumpkin Neapolitan cookie!

Assemble the cookies.

1. Shape the Neapolitan cookies. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
   Now comes the fun part! Take one of the cookie dough clusters—containing one pumpkin vanilla dough ball, one pumpkin spice dough ball, and one chocolate dough ball—and press them together so that they adhere together and form one giant cookie dough ball. Repeat until you have 18 tri-colored cookie dough balls.
   
   
2. Coat the cookies. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
   To go the extra mile, I rolled each Neapolitan cookie dough ball in sugar, similar to how I would roll my best snickerdoodles in a cinnamon sugar coating topping. This extra sugar makes the cookies sparkly and fun!

Finally, bake the cookies.

1. Arrange the cookies for baking. (Work Time: <5 minutes)
   Place the coated cookies at least 3 inches apart on half sheet pans lined with parchment paper. The cookies will spread a lot, so I only put between 6 to 8 cookie dough balls on each sheet pan. Then, gently pat each cookie with your palm to flatten slightly. Doing so helps the cookies spread evenly in the oven.
   
   
2. Bake the cookies. (Bake Time: 10 minutes)
   You need to bake the cookies for 10 minutes, or until the edges and bottoms of the cookies have set and feel firm to the touch. The centers should still look a little doughy—that’s totally normal, I promise! It’s the secret to perfectly chewy centers.

Recipe Troubleshooting and FAQ

Can I refrigerate the pumpkin Neapolitan cookie dough overnight before baking?

Yes! In fact, I encourage you to do so. Why? There’s research that states that resting your cookie dough will lead to a more delicious, flavorful cookie. You can learn more in this Serious Eats post about the science behind the best chocolate chip cookies.

Although you can refrigerate the pumpkin sugar cookie dough base, I highly encourage you to divide the sugar cookie dough base into the different flavors first. That way, the extra time in the refrigerator allows the flour and sugar to absorb more flavors from the freeze-dried strawberries and cocoa powder. You can refrigerate these different doughs and then scoop and portion them into the pumpkin Neapolitan cookies. However, I encourage you to scoop and portion them into the cookies and THEN refrigerate them as dough balls. Again, doing so will make a more flavorful cookie!

Can you freeze pumpkin Neapolitan cookies?

Yes! You can freeze these cookies in the following ways:

1. Freeze the UNBAKED cookies.
   Follow the recipe instructions to make the pumpkin Neapolitan cookie dough balls. However, there’s no need toll them in the sugar topping—you’ll freeze the cookies without them! Instead, place the cookie dough balls in a small sheet pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1 hour, or until the cookie dough balls are frozen solid. Transfer the cookie dough balls to a zip-top bag and freeze for up to 1 year.
   
   To bake the frozen cookie dough balls, follow the recipe’s instructions for preheating the oven. As the oven preheats, roll each cookie dough ball in the granulated sugar. There’s no need to thaw the cookie dough beforehand. Follow the recipe instructions for arranging the cookie dough balls on a sheet pan. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the edges have set but the centers are still gooey.
   
   
2. Freeze the BAKED cookies.
   Individually wrap any leftover pumpkin Neapolitan cookies in two layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil. The aluminum foil will prevent the cookies from absorbing any other flavors or odors in the freezer. When ready to serve, transfer to the refrigerator to chill overnight. Rewarm in the microwave or in the oven at 350°F for 5 minutes before serving.

Video Tutorial

@hummingbirdhigh

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♬ Stuck in the Middle – Tai Verdes