Italian Spumoni Cookies

The deep cold arrived this week — single digits Tuesday night, into the negatives Wednesday, the kind of week that the woodstove and I both rise to. I increased the feeding rotation to three hours, kept the long-burning rounds for the overnight, and the house held seventy in the kitchen and sixty-four in the bedroom, which is the working temperature target for a Vermont winter. The pipes did not freeze. The car started. The dog walked in his coat without complaining. The week was navigated.

Made a heavy lentil and sausage stew Wednesday — the kind of dish that single-digit weather demands, the lentils cooked with onion and garlic and Italian sausage and tomato and broth, the whole thing simmered for an hour and finished with a drizzle of olive oil and a heavy crack of pepper. I ate it for four nights, the leftover thickening into something near a casserole by the fourth night, the small adjustments of the lentils continuing to absorb the broth. The dish is one of those that makes a single household possible — one pot, four meals, no waste.

The grandchildren's gift-name draw was finalized this week — Sarah had been managing it via group text with the various adults in the family, and the assignments were locked in by Wednesday. I drew Teddy this year. I had been hoping to draw Anna or Lucy because the giving is easier when I have a clearer picture of the recipient's tastes, but Teddy is a known quantity and I have already settled on the gift, which is a small sharpening stone I bought from the kitchen supply place when I bought him the chef's knife last year. The knife will need to be sharpened regularly to be useful and the stone will let him do it himself, which is the kind of practical follow-up gift that fathers and grandfathers give to young men learning a craft.

Bill called Sunday — his Christmas planning, his menu, the question of whether he was going to attempt the Beef Wellington he had been thinking about since October. He had been reading recipes and watching videos and had decided to commit. I told him: Beef Wellington is a difficult dish but a doable one, and the keys are the beef temperature (well-rested before wrapping), the duxelles (cooked dry, not wet), and the pastry (cold, not warm). He took notes. We talked for an hour. Bill at sixty-five attempting Beef Wellington for Christmas with his wife and her family is the kind of culinary risk that I admire, and the call was the sort of call I look forward to in early December — the planning and the consultation and the mutual encouragement of two grandfathers in two states preparing for their respective holidays.

The week ended with the pipes intact, the stew eaten down to the last thickened bowl, and Christmas beginning to take real shape — Teddy’s gift sorted, Bill’s Beef Wellington consultation complete, Sarah’s gift draw finalized. That kind of week, when the practical machinery of winter and family all holds together, deserves something deliberately festive on the other side of it, and these Italian Spumoni Cookies are exactly that: three distinct layers — chocolate, cherry, pistachio — pressed together and sliced clean, the same kind of orderly, satisfying result that a well-managed cold week produces. I made them on Saturday, when the temperature climbed back above twenty and the light returned a little, and they went straight into a tin for the holiday.

Prep Time: 30 min + 2 hr chill | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 2 hr 45 min | Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup maraschino cherries, well drained and finely chopped
2–3 drops red food coloring
1/4 cup shelled pistachios, finely chopped
2–3 drops green food coloring

Instructions

Make the base dough. Beat softened butter and powdered sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until fully combined. Reduce speed to low and mix in the flour and salt until a smooth, cohesive dough forms.
Divide the dough. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and divide it into three roughly equal portions (approximately 1 cup each). Set each portion in a separate bowl.
Make the chocolate layer. To the first portion, add the cocoa powder and mini chocolate chips. Mix thoroughly by hand until the cocoa is fully incorporated and the dough is uniform in color.
Make the cherry layer. To the second portion, add the drained chopped cherries and the red food coloring. Mix by hand until the cherries are evenly distributed and the dough has a consistent pale pink color.
Make the pistachio layer. To the third portion, add the chopped pistachios and green food coloring. Mix by hand until the nuts are evenly distributed and the dough is lightly tinted green.
Layer and shape the log. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on your work surface. Press the chocolate dough into a flat rectangle roughly 3 inches wide and 8 inches long. Press the cherry layer on top to the same dimensions, then the pistachio layer on top of that. Press the stack firmly together and roll tightly in the plastic wrap, shaping it into a neat rectangular or round log approximately 2 inches in diameter. Twist the ends to seal.
Chill. Refrigerate the dough log for at least 2 hours, or overnight. The dough must be fully firm before slicing or the layers will blur.
Preheat and slice. When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the log from the refrigerator and use a sharp knife to cut clean, even slices approximately 1/4 inch thick. Arrange on prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart.
Bake. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are just set and the bottoms are very lightly golden. Do not overbake — these cookies are meant to remain tender. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Nutrition (per serving)

Italian Spumoni Cookies — A Christmas Sweet After a Week of Cold and Planning