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Family-friendly meals made easy!
Make everyday family moments count, with easy recipes that everyone will love. Join our email community to receive tested recipes and tips.
Make everyday family moments count, with easy recipes that everyone will love. Join our email community to receive tested recipes and tips.
Cannoli, one of Italy’s best-loved pastries, is all about a crisp pastry shell and a thick, creamy filling. The contrast of the crunchy shell and sweet creaminess of the filling makes cannoli hard to pass by! Originally from the southern Italian island of Sicily, cannoli (or cannolo in the singular), were most likely created as an indulgent treat during the huge public celebrations of Carnevale before Lent began. But their roots may go as far back as the 11th century, when sugar and almond-based sweets were introduced to Sicily during Arab rule. Over the years, cannoli have been made both large (giganteschi) and quite small (cannolicchi).
The name for cannoli shells comes from canna, the woody river reeds that were once cut into sections to make the molds to form the rich dough that is then deep-fried. Now there are metal cannoli forms, but unless you’re a serious Italian baker, you probably don’t have them on hand. That’s why this cannoli recipe explains how to make your own molds from aluminum foil. And not all cannoli are fried; sometimes the dough is baked until golden, like in this recipe.
Traditional cannoli are filled with a full-fat ricotta or mascarpone cheese and sometimes whipped cream. Favorite flavorings range from small chocolate chunks, orange or lemon zest, bits of candied fruit, or chopped nuts like pistachios. European cannoli fillings tend to be simple, based on a rich ricotta base spiked with a little powdered sugar and vanilla, while American cannoli fillings tend to be sweeter and more indulgent.
Speed through the intricate process of traditional cannoli by using Pillsbury™ Refrigerated Pie Crust. Our recipe features fragrant orange zest and mini chocolate chips—a classic in the realm of cannoli flavors. The recipe guides you carefully through every short-cut, but here are the highlights.
Heavy-duty foil is easy to roll into tubes that are the perfect size needed to form the cannoli shells. It is sturdier that regular foil and will help the tubes keep their shape. The cannoli molds are easy to make by cutting 12-inch squares of foil, folding in half and rolling up. Be sure to generously spray with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
Soften the pie crusts as directed on the package to make them easier to work with. Use a 4½-inch bowl as a template to cut the two sheets of pastry into 8 circles with a small knife or pizza cutter. Using ready-to-bake pie pastry makes cannoli shells into a single ingredient recipe! You now have lots of time to consider the world of flavors and fun stir-ins for the filling. It’s even possible to divide the filling in half, and flavor each half differently.
Roll each pastry circle around a foil tube; seal connecting edges with egg wash. Freeze for 10 minutes. Bake in a 425°F oven on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, then slide the foil tubes out of the pastry while it’s still warm.
Combine the whipped cream cheese and whipped topping together with powdered sugar, orange zest, vanilla, and mini chocolate chips with a rubber spatula or mixing spoon until well blended. To ensure a very creamy base for the cannoli filling, our recipe calls for whipped cream cheese mixed with whipped topping. The cream cheese offers a similar tang to mascarpone, a higher fat fresh Italian cheese. A full-fat ricotta cheese is more traditional but has more texture—it’s a matter of taste as to which you choose.
Spoon the filling into a disposable pastry bag or large resealable plastic bag. Snip off the tip of the disposable pastry bag or cut a small corner from the disposable bag. Squeeze the filling into each pastry shell. Piping the filling into the shells is the best way to neatly fill the shells without breakage.
Sprinkle ends of the creamy filling with more mini chocolate chips, pressing in slightly if needed. Dust with powdered sugar and the cannoli are ready to serve.
If you’d like to move into special occasion or gift mode, try dipping one end of the baked cannoli shells into melted chocolate. Then sprinkle with finely chopped nuts for a little extra crunch. Allow them to dry on a cooling rack before piping in the filling.
For additional cannoli filling flavorings and stir-ins, vanilla, lemon or orange zest, chocolate chunks, or candied fruit like citron are favorites. But modern cannoli recipes embrace so much more, like espresso or mocha cream, caramel cream with toffee baking bits, toasted hazelnut rum cream, pistachio cream, peppermint chocolate mousse, banana cream, lemon meringue, candied ginger lime, or blends of warm spices or herbs—chai tea or dried lavender with lemon zest would make particularly delicate fillings. You could also explore the inviting selections of coffee syrups or baking extracts to easily boost the flavor quotient of a simple creamy base filling.
Easy Cannoli Dip is definitely worth a try – all the flavor of traditional cannoli in a bowl with crispy pie crust squares for dipping. It’s the perfect party food.
To get the most shelf life from your cannoli, it is best to store the baked unfilled cannoli shells in an airtight container at room temperature. If possible, prep the filling right before filling the shells and serving. If you are prepping ahead, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Remove the filling from the refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to use to allow it to soften enough to pipe into the shells.
Filled cannoli will hold for up to 4 hours in the refrigerator. Simply remove from the refrigerator and serve. Note, over time, the moist filling will make the pastry a little soggy. The great flavor will remain, but the shell texture will not be as crisp.
Italians love their sweet treats—and many favorite desserts and cookie recipes came to the United States with long-ago immigrants. Give one of these Italian-inspired desserts a try.
Cranberry Biscotti is the perfect dessert pairing for your afternoon coffee.
Meringue-Filled Italian Sugar Cookies look fancy but Pillsbury™ Sugar Cookie Dough makes these meringue-stuffed cookies super easy to make.
Easy Italian Christmas Cookies take center stage on any cookie platter. This spin uses Pillsbury™ Sugar Cookie Dough as the base. Topped with a simple powdered sugar glaze and festive holiday sprinkles, these cookies are sure to please.
Spumoni Bars with a pistachio cookie base, creamy cherry center, and rich chocolate topping brings all the flavors of spumoni into a hand-held treat.
Use a small bowl as a template for cutting out pastry rounds. Or make a circle template out of parchment or foil.
After brushing each unbaked pastry shell with egg wash, sprinkle on some cinnamon sugar.
Freezing the pastry dough once it’s wrapped around the foil tubes is an important step. It keeps the dough from sliding off the foil in the first several minutes of baking.
If you’d like to try using traditional full-fat ricotta cheese in the filling, it needs to be drained for a few hours in a strainer with cheesecloth. Then mix it with the whipped topping, sugar, and any flavorings you’d like.
Save the leftover pie pastry dough after cutting out the circles for the cannoli shells to make shortbread cookies. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls, and flatten them with the bottom of a water glass. Bake at 350°F for about 10 minutes until set.
| Food Component / Nutrient | Amount | % , Daily Value* |
|---|---|---|
| Total Fat | 24g | 36% |
| Saturated Fat | 12g | 61% |
| Trans Fat | 0g | % Value Not Available |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 8g | % Value Not Available |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 1&½g | % Value Not Available |
| Omega-3 | 0g | % Value Not Available |
| Cholesterol | 45mg | 15% |
| Sodium | 320mg | 13% |
| Total Carbohydrate | 36g | 12% |
| Dietary Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Soluble Fiber | 0g | % Value Not Available |
| Insoluble Fiber | 0g | % Value Not Available |
| Sugars | 10g | % Value Not Available |
| Protein | 3g | % Value Not Available |
| Vitamin D | Value Not Available | 2% |
| Calcium | Value Not Available | 4% |
| Iron | Value Not Available | 10% |
| Potassium | 80mg | 2% |
| Vitamin A | Value Not Available | 4% |
| Vitamin C | Value Not Available | 0% |
| Vitamin E | Value Not Available | 0% |
| Thiamin | Value Not Available | 0% |
| Riboflavin | Value Not Available | 6% |
| Niacin | Value Not Available | 0% |
| Vitamin B6 | Value Not Available | 0% |
| Folic Acid | Value Not Available | 0% |
| Vitamin B12 | Value Not Available | 2% |
| Pantothenic Acid | Value Not Available | 2% |
| Phosphorus | Value Not Available | 4% |
| Magnesium | Value Not Available | 4% |
| Zinc | Value Not Available | 2% |
| Manganese | Value Not Available | 4% |
| Selenium | Value Not Available | 6% |
| Copper | Value Not Available | 4% |
| Beta-Carotene | Value Not Available | % Value Not Available |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. | ||
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