• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Midwest Nice logo

  • Recipes
    • All Recipes
    • Recipe Index
  • Ebooks
    • Venison Ebook
    • Coffee Ebook
  • About
  • Contact
  • Portfolio
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipe Search
  • Recipe Index
  • Ebooks
    • Venison Ebook
    • Coffee Ebook
  • About
  • Contact
  • Portfolio
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×
    Home » Desserts

    December 23, 2016 · Updated March 14, 2023

    Mini Cannoli

    2 Comments

    · by Amanda Gajdosik

    I’m writing this from the airport. It only took me 10 minutes to check my bag and get through security. Guess I’ve got some good travel karma going on. Holla! Even if it had taken longer, I wouldn’t have minded. I’m at the airport irrationally early. I just couldn’t wait anymore – I’m ready to be home!!!

    Mini Cannoli | www.midwestniceblog.com

    I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M FINALLY GOING HOME!!!!!!

    Can you tell I’m excited? If not, allow me to elaborate, I! AM!! GOING!!! HOME!!!!

    Mini Cannoli | www.midwestniceblog.com

    Home, where there’s family and friends and snow, yadda, yadda…

    Sure, I’m excited about that, obviously. I’m not dead inside. But, can I tell you what I’m really excited about?

    The food.

    Mini Cannoli | www.midwestniceblog.com

    Are we surprised at all?

    Home has direct access to my favorite fish fries and my favorite pizza and my favorite cannoli.

    In the two-plus years I’ve been in the South I have yet to find a decent cannoli. Or even an indecent cannoli. I haven’t really found any.

    They’re a thing in Chicago. They’re a thing in Little Italy in Baltimore. They’re a thing at my family’s Christmas celebrations. They’re just not really a thing where I live.

    Mini Cannoli | www.midwestniceblog.com

    Until now.

    My sister-in-law shared her recipe and technique with me when she came to visit a few months ago. Since then, I’ve decided to make them a thing in the South. And you should too. The process is involved, and requires cannoli molds and frying in hot oil, but the result is oh-so worth it. Crisp shells around creamy filling with just enough punch from orange zest and allspice all covered in a light dusting of powdered sugar. Sigh.

    Mini Cannoli | www.midwestniceblog.com

    Wherever you are, North or South, give these a try.

    Mini Cannoli

    (makes about 50 mini cannoli, adapted from this recipe)

    2 cups flour

    1 tablespoon sugar

    ½ tsp. salt

    3 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into cubes

    1 egg yolk

    ¼ - ½ cup white wine

    ½ cup heavy cream

    1 cup ricotta cheese

    8 oz. mascarpone cheese, softened

    ½ cup powdered sugar

    1 tsp. vanilla extract

    Zest of one orange

    ¼ tsp. ground allspice

    ½ cup mini chocolate chips

    Oil, for frying, preferably canola

    Eggwash

    For the shells: Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until no pieces larger than a pea remain. Using a fork, stir in egg yolk and ¼ cup of wine. Continue adding wine until dough comes together in a ball. Wrap in plastic and allow to rest while you’re making the filling.

    For the filling: In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form, set aside.

    Stir together the ricotta, mascarpone, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth. Stir in the zest, allspice, salt, and chocolate chips. Slowly and carefully fold in the whipped cream, being careful not to overbeat as the cream may fall. Refrigerate until ready to use.

    Rolling and frying: In a large cast iron skillet, heat up 1 inch of oil until little bubble appear along the edges of the pan or when a sprinkling of flour sizzles across the top of the oil.

    While the oil is heating, divide the dough in half. On a floured surface, roll the first half of the dough out to a little less than ⅛ of an inch. You’ll want the dough very thin to fry evenly and quickly. Using a cookie cutter or large glass, cut round of dough large enough to fit around the cannoli molds.

    Roll molds in flour, tapping off excess. Wrap dough around the molds and secure with a little egg wash brushed along the seam, pressing gently.

    Fry in hot oil for 1 – 2 minutes, or until shells are golden. Using tongs, rotate the molds at least once to ensure even browning. Remove to a rack place over a paper towel lined cookie sheet. Allow to cool for a few minute or until the molds are cool enough to touch. Gently remove shells and repeat process with remaining dough.

    Once all the shells are fried and cooled, transfer filling to a large piping bag or a large plastic bag with the corner snipped off. Pipe filling into cooled shells.

    Dip each end into additional chocolate chips or dust with powdered sugar if desire. Serve immediately.

    *Shells can be made ahead of time and frozen in an airtight container until ready to use. Pipe filling into frozen shells and leave out until the cannoli reach room temperature before serving.

    Mini Cannoli | www.midwestniceblog.com

     

     

     

     

     

    Browse More Recipes!

    • A slice of raspberry pretzel jello salad sits on a white plate garnished with fresh raspberries.
      Raspberry Jello Pretzel Salad (using fresh or frozen berries)
    • A small glass dish filled with Oreo fluff and garnished with a whole cookie.
      Oreo Fluff with Cream Cheese and Cool Whip
    • No-Churn Cranberry Ice Cream
    • An ice cream scoop filled with mulberry ice cream sits in a pan of mulberry ice cream.
      No-Churn Mulberry Ice Cream
    • Share this Recipe!
    • Send this Recipe!

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a rating and review! Cancel reply

    Did you love the recipe? Let me know! And let others know too by leaving a comment and star rating. Reviews are so useful in helping other people find my site and make my recipes. Your support means the world to me!

    Amanda

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Hey, Yall!

    Amanda, a food photographer and recipe developer, leans against a kitchen counter. She is smiling and holding a camera. She wears a white shirt and black jeans.
    Hi! I'm Amanda, and I believe in good food for good people. I hope you enjoy the homemade recipes you'll find on my site.
    • instagram
    • facebook
    • pinterest

    Choose a Category

    Looking For Something?

    Recently

    • Lemon Drop Jello Shots (Using Real Lemons!)
    • Ground Venison Taco Salad (Great for Leftovers!)
    • London Fog Latte with Lavender Syrup (Hot or Iced)
    • Ground Venison Tater Tot Hotdish (Midwestern Casserole)
    • Three Ingredient Mandarin Orange Jello Salad (No Cottage Cheese)
    • Sweet & Spicy Dirty Chai Espresso Martini
    • One Pan Venison Hamburger Helper
    • Strawberry Rosé Jello Shots (3 Ingredients!)
    • Old Fashioned Green Jello Salad with Pineapple and Cool Whip
    • Three Ingredient Champagne Jello Shots (No Vodka!)

    Archived Posts

    Meet Amanda

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Wisconsin Classics

    • Brandy slush cocktail 
    • Beer battered fish fry
    • Wisconsin brandy old fashioned
    • Grasshopper cocktail
    • Beer brats and onions
    • Pink squirrel with ice cream
    • Raspberry jello pretzel salad

    Venison Dinners

    • Seared venison tenderloin 
    • Venison dry rub 
    • Juicy venison burger
    • Red wine venison roast
    • Venison meat sauce 
    • Smoked venison backstrap
    • Grilled venison tenderloin

    Coffee at Home

    • Pumpkin cream cold brew 
    • Vanilla iced coffee
    • Dirty chai latte 
    • Pistachio cream cold brew
    • Maple syrup latte
    • Vanilla sweet cream cold brew
    • Homemade chai concentrate

    About / Contact / Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2025 Midwest Nice