Description
These Cannoli Bites are a delightful and easy-to-make snack or dessert featuring crispy mini pie crust cups filled with a creamy ricotta and mascarpone mixture, enhanced with chocolate chips and vanilla for authentic cannoli flavor.
Ingredients
Scale
Pie Crust
- 1 premade pie crust
Filling
- 1/2 cup whole milk ricotta cheese, strained
- 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips, plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit to prepare for baking the pie crust rounds.
- Prepare Pie Crust Rounds: Unroll the room temperature pie crust onto a lightly floured surface or cutting board. Use a 2 ½ inch round biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or cup to cut out 12 rounds of pie crust. Place these rounds into an ungreased mini muffin tin and press the dough with your fingers to fit the pan shape.
- Bake Pie Cups: Bake the crust rounds for 12 minutes or until they turn a light golden brown. After baking, allow them to cool completely for 15 minutes in the muffin tin.
- Make Filling: In a medium bowl, combine the strained ricotta cheese, mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and mini chocolate chips. Mix until smooth and well incorporated.
- Fill Pie Cups: Spoon the ricotta filling into the cooled pie cups. For a decorative touch, transfer the filling into a zip-lock bag or pastry bag, cut a corner or use a star tip, and pipe the filling neatly into each cup.
- Add Toppings and Serve: Sprinkle additional mini chocolate chips on top of the filled cups and dust with powdered sugar. Serve immediately and enjoy these delicious cannoli bites!
Notes
- Straining ricotta cheese is essential to remove excess moisture for a thicker filling.
- Use a piping bag or zip-lock bag with a cut corner for neat, professional-looking filling.
- If mini muffin tins are not available, you can use a similar-sized baking mold but adjust baking time accordingly.
- For a dairy-free version, substitute ricotta and mascarpone with vegan cream cheese alternatives.
- These bites are best served fresh but can be refrigerated for up to 2 days; let them come to room temperature before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 mini bite
- Calories: 120 kcal
- Sugar: 7 g
- Sodium: 90 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 12 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 15 mg
