Homemade Cannoli Recipe
Learn how to make this Sicilian-style homemade Cannoli Recipe stuffed with sweet ricotta cheese and chocolate chips.
Equipment
- Cannoli Tubes
Ingredients
For the Filling:
- 800 g sheep’s milk ricotta or 3 cups
- 300 g sugar or 1 ½ cups
- 250 g mini semi-sweet chocolate chips or ½ cup
For the Shells:
- 250 g 00 flour or 1 ½ cups
- 20 g sugar or 1 ½ tablespoon
- 3 g salt 3 or 1/2 teaspoon
- 2 g cocoa powder or 1 teaspoon
- 25 g lard or 1 tablespoon
- 45 g eggs or 1 egg, whisked + 1 more separate
- 50 g marsala wine or ¼ cup
- 8 g white wine vinegar or 1 teaspoon
Instructions
- Filling: Add the ricotta cheese to a chinois or a strainer lined with cheesecloth and place it over a bowl and in the refrigerator to drain excess liquid for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Remove the ricotta and place it in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and whip on low speed while slowly adding in the sugar.
- Mix until the cheese is smooth and then fold in the chocolate chips until they are completely mixed in. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Shells: Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, and cocoa powder into a large bowl.
- Add in the lard, egg, wine, and vinegar and mix by hand until combined, about 2 minutes.
- Transfer to a clean surface dusted with flour and knead the dough for 10-15 minutes.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Remove the dough and place on a clean surface dusted with flour and roll it out until it is about a ¼” to 1/3” thick.
- Using a 1 ½” diameter circle round cutter, cut as many rounds as possible out of the dough as possible, which will make about 20-25.
- Roll each round out until they are about 5” to 6” in diameter, be sure to dust with flour wherhe needed to avoid any sticking.
- Whisk 1 egg together in a bowl and set aside.
- Wrap each rolled out dough round around a metal cannoli cylinder and rub a little whisked egg onto the end of the cannoli dough and wrap the other end over top and gently press to secure. Repeat until all of the cannoli shells are prepped.
- Fry in oil at 350° for 1 to 2 minutes or until browned. Set aside to drain on paper towels or a rack on a sheet tray.
- Once they are cool, remove the shells from the metal cannoli cylinders.
- To Stuff: Take the filling out of the refrigerator and add it to a piping back with no tip.
- Once the filling is in there use scissors to cut off the end of the piping bag, which is about a ½” up from the tip of the bag.
- Generously stuff each cannoli shell using the filling in the piping bag. You will have to pipe in one side then turn it to pipe in the other side.
- Generously sprinkle on powdered sugar and serve!
Notes
Make-Ahead: While best served and eaten within a few hours of making them, you can make these up to 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
How to Store: Place covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. They will also freeze well-covered for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day or until softened.
You can re-roll out the dough to make even more cannoli shells.
Do not form the dough around the cannoli metal molds to hang over the edges; otherwise, it will cook over and ruin when trying to release it from the metal mold.
You should get fried air pockets in the cannoli shells when frying them.
Some Sicilian filling variations include thickened cream with milk and cornstarch, which is not authentic.
Northern Italy uses whole milk ricotta most often, while Southern Italy and Sicily use sheep’s milk ricotta.
When kneading the dough, think of pasta. It’s the exact same technique and takes the same amount of time.
Some filling will be left, which is perfect for dipping Graham crackers in.
Nutrition
Calories: 215kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 5gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 24mgSodium: 77mgPotassium: 105mgFiber: 1gSugar: 17gVitamin A: 157IUCalcium: 75mgIron: 1mg