BAKED CANNOLI

Notes: I love cannoli, but I don’t want to set up a frying station to have some so I developed a recipe for a baked version of cannoli that adheres well to the molds, is delicate, and most importantly, delicious. I think you’ll find that there’s no need for frying once you try these. The dough also freezes well if you decide to make a bigger batch and don’t want to bake all the cannoli tubes at once.

You will need come sort of cylindrical molds that won’t burn in the oven. Bamboo tubes were used back in the day, but now there are excellent (and cheap) metal ones that are hollow (which is what you want) and bend so you can squeeze them a bit to help unstick the cannoli after baking (or frying). IMPORTANT: Don’t try to unmold the baked cannolis until they are room temp. I got my cannoli molds on Amazon, and there are 15 to a set.

.According to food historians, cannoli (meaning little tubes) originated in Sicily during the Arab rule of the island (then known as the Emirate of Sicily), between 827 and 1091. The etymology of the word “cannoli” is thought to be derived from the Arabic word “qanawāt,” meaning “tubes,” referring to their distinctive shape. During this time, Arab influence led to the introduction of new ingredients and techniques in Sicilian baking. Candied fruits, pistacchios, and cinnamon became popular additions to sweets due to the cultural influence, and has of course remained.

You will want to use full-fat, low moisture ricotta for the filling. If it’s not low moisture you will need to strain it. Organic Valley makes a good full-fat, low moisture ricotta, but your grocer can help you if you’re not sure about what you have locally.

I decorated mine with pistacchios and dark chocolate, but you can use candied fruits, other nuts like almonds, or nothing at all! This was one is fun, pretty, doesn’t take long to make. This recipe makes approximately twelve 3.5”-4” cannoli.

Prep time: 35 mins, Bake time: 8-11 mins. Total time: 43-46 mins

Equipment:

Cannoli molds (Amazon)

A round cookie cutter or jar lid that is ~3.5” in diameter.

Parchment paper

*Optionally a stand mixer for the filling

Ingredients:

Cannoli shells:

• Sugar: 25 g

• Honey: 2 tbsp (45g)

• Butter: 40 g

• Cream: 40 mL

• Salt (I used pink Himalayan, might use slightly less if using table salt): 1/2 tsp

• AP flour: 150 g

• Egg: 1

• Olive or vegetable oil to coat the molds

*Optional egg wash (to make them shiny and toastier):

• Egg: 1

• Honey: 1.5 tsp

• Water: 3 tbsp

Filling and Toppings:

• Ricotta (Full fat, Low moisture): 425 g (~2 cups)

• Vanilla extract: 1.5 tsp

• Salt (might use slightly less if not using the same salt as me): 1/2 tsp

• Powdered sugar: 1/3 cup

• Chopped pistacchios and dark chocolate (or whatever toppings you like)

Baked cannoli topped with chopped pistacchios and dark chocolate.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C)

2. Mix sugar, melted butter, and cream together for ~1 min until smooth.

3. Add honey, egg, and salt and mix (~2 min), mixture should be thickened and smooth. Add flour and mix until no visible flour is left, the dough will be sticky in texture.

4. With a gloved oiled hand (or with a clean oiled hand) pick up and transfer the dough to a lightly oiled piece of parchment paper and dust with flour and place another parchment paper on top.

5. Roll out the covered dough until it's roughly 0.4 cm thick. *You will not have enough surface area to cut out all the cannolis at once. So just reroll the scraps and cut out more dough circles until you have ~12.

6. Cut out dough circles using a 3.5-4 inch (x cm) circular cutter.

7. Oil your hands, or wear gloves and oil them so the dough circles do not stick to you.

8. Oil each cannoli mold (do not forget this part!) and then wrap and form the sticky dough around each one, and pat the seam down to seal it.

9. Bake for 8 mins (rotating the pan half-way through)

10. *Optional:To make them shiny and a little more toasty in color prepare the honey egg wash and brush over the tops of the hot cannoli shells. Place back in the oven for 3 mins (again rotating half way through if possible). Let the shells cool for at least 15 mins (or until room temp) before pushing them off the molds.

11. If your ricotta is not low moisture, you will need to strain it. You can put the ricotta in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and push down on the ricotta with some paper towels to remove some of the moisture. Or you can let it in the strainer over a bowl in the fridge for a couple hours.

12. To make the filling either whip/mix the ricotta, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and salt in a mixing bowl or do this in a stand mixer to get a more uniform and vigorous mix. The ricotta will stay a bit grainy, which is normal and expected.

13. Fill the cooled shells with ricotta and then coat the ends with chopped pistacchios and dark chocolate, or other things you like (candied fruits like cherries or orange peel, or other nuts like almonds would be nice too). And finally dust the tops with powdered sugar right before serving.

These can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days. The shells will soften, but they will still taste delicioso!

Baked cannoli shells right before coating with egg wash and honey for toastier color and shine.