Growing up I went to the bakery on Sunday mornings with my Dad.  We would get a dozen plain rolls nothing more- well maybe sometimes a sugar cookie.  We weren't a family brought up with traditional bakery sweets. At Christmas we would get a platter of cookies, sometimes a 7 layer cake and a lemon cake with chocolate icing from Walter's in Woodside, NY.   When I was 14 I lied about my age and got my first job at Georgette's Bakery on Dutch Broadway in Elmont, NY.   That's where I tasted the likes of Napoleons, Eclairs, lace cookies, black and white cookies (put thru the bread slicer to get the perfect slices) and RAINBOW COOKIES!  Rainbow cookies were my favorite!!!   A few years ago my friend Jen Novak made them for an office party. They were fantastic and I couldn't believe they were homemade.  I found a recipe and wanted to try it, but every time I looked at the recipe I was too intimidated.  This year I finally tackled them for a cookie swap with my book club.  After reading the reviews by others on the website, I tweaked the recipe (see comments below) and they turned out great.  They do take time, but the results are worth it. I got lots of compliments including from my friend's mom, Mrs. Sote, who wouldn't believe they weren't from a bakery. The proof is in the pictures below.  They are tried and true.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Rainbow-Cookies/Detail.aspx?prop24=etaf

Rainbow Cookies

Ingredients

• 8 ounces almond paste (I used 10 ounces of almond filling instead of paste easier to work with)
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 drops red food coloring
• 6 drops green food coloring
• 1/4 cup seedless red raspberry jam
• 1/4 cup apricot jam (I used only raspberry, but would try the apricot next time)
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted (I added 4 ounces of heavy cream to this so it was easier to cut the cookies)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line three 9x13 inch baking pans with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, break apart almond paste with a fork, and cream together with butter, sugar, and egg yolks. When mixture is fluffy and smooth, stir in flour to form a dough. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into the dough. Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Mix one portion with red food coloring, and one with green food coloring. Spread each portion into one of the prepared baking pans.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. Carefully remove from pan and parchment paper, and cool completely on wire racks.
4. Place green layer onto a piece of plastic wrap large enough to wrap all three layers. Spread green layer with raspberry jam, and top with uncolored layer. Spread with apricot jam, and top with pink layer. Transfer layers to a baking sheet, and enclose with plastic wrap. Place a heavy pan or cutting board on top of wrapped layers to compress. Chill in the refrigerator 8 hours, or overnight.
5. Remove plastic wrap. Top with melted chocolate chips, and refrigerate 1 hour, or until chocolate is firm. Slice into small squares to serve.