Neapolitan Cookies

Makes about 20 cookies

Food blogger Sarah Kieffer’s new cookbook, “100 Cookies” ( Chronicle Books), came out in October and is already on its third printing. Consider it a must- get for the cookie obsessed, with a mix of classic- yetperfect and inventive cookie recipes from the creator of the viral pan- banging cookie technique. For the uninitiated, that’s when you take the cookies out midway through baking and slam the sheet on your counter several times to produce a flat, rippled and extra chewy cookie. Kieffer recommends using a black cocoa powder and red food coloring to make the colors really pop, as well as rolling each individual color of dough into the same color of sprinkles — but the cookies will still be delicious without these flourishes. She also suggests storing the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days.

2 ½ cups plus 1 tablespoon ( 364 g)

all- purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt

½ cup ( 8 g) freeze- dried strawberries

1 cup ( 2 sticks or 227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 ¾ cups ( 350 g) granulated sugar

1 large egg plus

1 large yolk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 or 3 drops red food coloring ( optional)

2 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa powder

White, pink and brown sprinkles, for rolling

( optional)

Instructions: Adjust an oven rack to the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line three sheet pans with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade, pulverize the strawberries into a powder.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg, yolk and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.

Dump the dough onto a work surface and divide it into three equal portions. Put one- third of the dough back into the mixer and add the powdered strawberries and food coloring, if using. Mix on low speed until totally combined, then remove the dough and quickly wipe out the bowl of the mixer.

Add another third of dough to the mixer. Add the cocoa powder and mix on low speed until totally combined.

Pinch a small portion ( about ½ ounce ( 15 g)) of each of the three doughs, and press them gently together so they adhere to each other but keep their unique colors. Press the piece into a cookie scoop or roll it into a ball, then roll the ball into sprinkles ( if using). Place six or seven cookies on each sheet pan. Bake the cookies one pan at a time, rotating halfway through baking. Bake until the sides are set and the cookies are puffed, 10 to 11 minutes.

Transfer the sheet pan to a wire rack and let the cookies cool for 5 to 10 minutes on the pan, then remove them and let them cool completely on the wire rack.