Mini Cannoli Cups

I've never tried a cannoli before, but when I was asked to make it for Amanda's bridal shower, I jumped on the opportunity.  Mostly because I'm pretty much obsessed with making desserts, which I'm sure you already know if you follow my blog, and I'm always willing to try new things!  Due to this, I logged onto my trusty computer and started searching for different cannoli recipes, just so that I could make some comparisons.  Needless to say, I found a TON!!  To be honest though, it was almost too overwhelming, mostly because I had no idea what a cannoli was suppose to taste like.

Well......after a lot of searching and comparing, I settled on these mini cannoli cups.  Not only did they turn out delicious, but compared to some of the other recipes I found, they were super, super easy and tasted delicious!  There were quite a few people at the shower who ended up asking for the recipe, so here it is!

Mini Cannoli Cups
Printer-FriendlyVersion

Ingredients:

For the crust:
Flour for dusting work surface
Pillsbury pie dough (2 rolls)
3 Tbsp. Sugar in the Raw
1 tsp. cinnamon (I used more, because I like cinnamon)

For the Filling:

15 oz. container whole milk ricotta cheese
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Garnish:

Mini chocolate chips
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the ricotta cheese, confectioner’s sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla.  Mix on a medium-low speed until all the ingredients are well combined.  Cover the filling and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  The cream will thicken up slightly during this time.

Gently unroll the pie crusts, one at a time, onto a lightly floured work surface.  Sprinkle the top of the dough with the sugar in the raw and cinnamon.  (Feel free to sprinkle on more, until your desired amount is reached.)  Using a rolling pin, lightly roll over the cinnamon and sugar in order to spread the dough out a little further and press the cinnamon and sugar pieces further into the dough.

Using a round biscuit cutter, or round cookie cutter, cut the dough into small circles and gently press the dough pieces into the bottom of, and slightly up the sides of an ungreased mini cupcake pan.  (I made mine in a regular size cupcake pan, and they turned out great!) 

Bake the crusts for about 10 minutes or until they start to turn a light golden brown.  Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  Once the crusts have cooled slightly, remove them from the pan and allow time to cool completely before filling.

Once the crusts have cooled, place the refrigerated filling into a pastry bag fitted with desired tip (or no tip) and pipe about 1 tablespoon of the filling into the crusts.  Garnish with mini chocolate chips and dust with powdered sugar.

Source: Cooking with Sugar