Mini Cannoli Bites Recipe
These Mini Cannoli Bites are a delightful, easy-to-make dessert featuring flaky pie crust cups filled with a creamy, sweet ricotta and mascarpone mixture studded with mini chocolate chips. Perfect for parties or a sweet snack, they combine traditional cannoli tastes in a bite-sized, user-friendly format.
- Author: Elena
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 12 mini cannoli bites 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
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
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit to prepare for baking the pie crust cups.
- Cut Pie Crust: 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 a cup to cut out 12 rounds of pie crust.
- Form Pie Cups: Place the cut rounds into an ungreased mini muffin tin. Press the dough gently with your fingers to fit the muffin tin shape, forming little crust cups.
- Bake Crust Cups: Bake the pie cups for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until they turn a light golden brown. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for 15 minutes.
- Prepare Filling: In a medium bowl, combine strained ricotta, mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips. Mix until fully combined.
- Fill Cups: Spoon the ricotta mixture into the cooled pie crust cups. For an elegant look, transfer the filling into a zip-lock bag or pastry bag with a star tip, cut off a corner, and pipe the filling into each cup.
- Garnish and Serve: Sprinkle additional mini chocolate chips on top of each filled cup, dust with powdered sugar, and enjoy your mini cannoli bites!
Notes
- Make sure the ricotta cheese is well strained to avoid a watery filling.
- You can use a star tip piping bag or a simple zip-lock bag to pipe the filling neatly.
- Let the pie crust cool completely before filling to prevent soggy crusts.
- Store assembled cannoli bites in the refrigerator and consume within 2-3 days for best freshness.
- For a different flavor, add a teaspoon of orange zest or cinnamon into the filling mix.
Keywords: mini cannoli bites, ricotta, mascarpone, pie crust dessert, Italian dessert, easy cannoli recipe, bite-sized desserts