Description

Mini Cannoli Cups are a delightful Italian-inspired dessert featuring crispy baked pie crust cups filled with a creamy, sweet ricotta mixture, flavored with citrus zest and vanilla. Topped with mini chocolate chips or pistachios and a dusting of powdered sugar, these bite-sized treats offer an easy and elegant way to enjoy the classic flavors of cannoli in every crunchy, creamy mouthful.

Ingredients

Scale

Filling

1 container whole-milk ricotta cheese (15 oz., drained)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated orange or lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crust

1 box refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box (2 count)
3 tablespoons turbinado sugar (raw sugar)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Garnish

1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips or finely chopped pistachios
Additional powdered sugar for dusting

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Instructions

Preheat the oven: Set your oven to 425°F to prepare for baking the crust cups.
Prepare the crusts: Lightly flour a work surface and unroll the softened pie crusts. Sprinkle them evenly with turbinado sugar and cinnamon. Using a rolling pin, gently press the sugar and cinnamon into the dough to ensure an even coating. Use a 2½-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter to cut out pastry rounds. Press each round gently into ungreased mini muffin cups. If needed, re-roll the scraps and cut additional rounds until you have 48 cups.
Bake the crust cups: Place the mini muffin pans in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the cups turn golden brown. Once baked, allow them to cool completely in the pans for about 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully before filling.
Make the filling: While the cups cool, combine the whole-milk ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, granulated sugar, finely grated citrus zest, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Transfer the filling to a 1-gallon zip-top resealable bag, seal, and refrigerate until ready to use.
Fill the cups: Just before serving, remove the filling from the refrigerator. Snip off one corner of the bag and pipe about 1 tablespoon of the filling into each cooled pastry cup.
Garnish and serve: Sprinkle the filled cups with miniature semisweet chocolate chips or finely chopped pistachios. Dust the tops lightly with additional powdered sugar and serve immediately for best texture and flavor.

Notes

Ensure the ricotta cheese is well-drained to prevent a watery filling.
You can substitute lemon zest for orange zest depending on your flavor preference.
Pastry cups should be completely cool before filling to avoid sogginess.
Prepare the filling ahead, but fill cups just before serving to maintain crunchiness.
Leftover filling can be refrigerated and used within 1-2 days.