Easy and quick Mini Cannoli Bites with a creamy filling and topped with chocolate chips and pistachios! Such a fun party dessert!
Bite sized things are SO MUCH CUTER!
Agreed? Agreed.
Last November we took a little coastal trip out to Cali to visit the grandparents. Well, we may or may not have enjoyed a day at Disneyland (we did. oh we totally did.). But we also visited my grandparents. Gosh they’re adorable. Nearing their nineties, still get a long, and healthy as horses.
Plus grandma makes a mean freshly squeezed OJ and gramps is a Racko champion.
Anyway, on this much-needed relaxing vacay I took a little trip with grandma to the farmers market in Vista. Have I mentioned that I love farmer’s markets?? I do. We don’t have the best ones around here but I so wish that we did. At the one in Vista they had vendors selling all sorts of insanely delicious-smelling foods.
After trying 1 or 17 samples including everything from something called “bitchin’ sauce” (no seriously though) to some kind of African goat dish with collard greens (that was… interesting) we got a taste of the most amazing cannoli filling. They were serving it out of little cups with teeny tiny spoons. Vanilla, lemon, orange. Oh my gosh they were incredible.
I highly doubt if I tried for the next 38 years that I could ever replicate that cannoli cream but I have to say, these homemade cannoli bites are pretty darn tasty and the orange zest in the filling is just a little bit reminiscent of that farmer’s market trip with grandma.
I love when delicious food tastes a little on the nostalgic side.
Mini Cannoli Bites
Ingredients
- 2 refrigerated pie crusts
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- toppings: mini chocolate chips, powdered sugar, chopped pistachios (such as Diamond of California)
Filling
- 1 15-ounce container whole milk ricotta cheese
- ½ – 1 cup powdered sugar - (depending on how sweet you want it)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
- If pie crusts have been frozen, allow to thaw. Roll out the pie crusts on a flat surface. Whisk sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle over pie crusts. Use a 2-inch round cookie cutter to cut as many circles from the pie crusts as you can.
- Gently press each circle into greased muffin tins to form little “cups”. Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes until golden. Allow to cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Prepare the filling by mixing ricotta cheese and powdered sugar on medium speed for a minute, then high speed until smooth. Add remaining filling ingredients and mix well. Transfer mixture to a large ziplock bag, seal, and chill until ready to use.
- Just before serving, snip the corner off of the ziplock bag holding the filling. Press the filling out of the snipped corner into each cooled pie crust “cup”. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips or crushed pistachios as desired and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Adapted from love bakes good cakes
I tried this recipe and love the taste of the filling, but for some reason, I couldn’t get it to set! Any idea why?
Cannoli Pie
Good work.
abc