Holy Cannoli Cookies, an easy recipe for cannoli cookies with ricotta, chocolate chips, and pistachios! Fun Italian Christmas cookies, inspired by Italian cannolis, that will make a great addition to your Christmas cookie baskets and gifts this year!
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Ever have a cannoli? Growing up with an Italian American parent, we had cannolis regularly and they are one of my favorite desserts! Since we’re approaching Christmas cookie season, I thought it was about time to make some Holy Cannoli Cookies, inspired by one of my favorite Italian pastries! These Cannoli Cookies may not be an authentic Italian cookie recipe, but I love them as my own Italian Christmas cookies!
Ohhh how I love making an assortment of cookies for the holidays, don’t you? My Elvis Inspired Cookie Cups and Chocolate Turtle Cookies are always a popular choice, but thought I’d try some new flavors and cookies this year and thus these fun Holy Cannoli Cookies were born!
If you’re looking for more fun Italian inspired cookies check out these Tiramisu cookies and Italian Sprinkle Cookies.
These Cannoli Cookies have a cake-like texture, and no they do not taste exactly like cannolis. Nothing tastes exactly like a cannoli besides a cannoli. But they are delicious and have a lot of great flavor!
Cannolis are different to different people, so if you make substitutions or changes, you may have different results.
What is a Cannoli?
Wondering what the heck a cannoli is? Maybe we should start with that.
Cannolis are from the Sicily region of Italy but have become very Americanized. I asked a lot of my Italian American friends what kinds of cannolis they grew up with. Like pizza, everyone had their own favorites!
Cannolis are made up of a fried pastry dough tube that is generally crispy.
What’s in a cannoli? They are generally filled with sweetened ricotta cheese. Cannolis may be plain with the sweetened ricotta and no additional ingredients. Or the cannoli filling may contain such things as chocolate chips, candied fruit, citrus zest/juice, wine, pistachios (or other nuts), maraschino cherries, and/or cinnamon.
You can usually find cannolis at most Italian bakeries, specialty grocery stores, and even sometimes your neighborhood grocery store. You can even find a cannoli kit on Amazon and sometimes at local specialty grocery stores. Even our Costco carries a great cannoli kit around the holidays.
Or if you’re wondering where to buy cannoli shells so you can fill them yourself, try these different types on Amazon or your local specialty grocery stores. You can even ask the Italian bakeries to sell you just the cannoli shells so you can make your own filling of choice.
How to Make Cannoli Cookies:
(Full printable recipe is at bottom of the post. Be sure to check out my How to Bake Cookies that are Perfect Every Time for great cookie tips.)
There are many MANY varieties of Cannoli Cookies. I’m not sure I’d say any are really authentic Italian cookies (so don’t send me hate mail….) but rather a fun twist on the Italian pastry.
To make things easy, I made the whole cannoli cookie dough right in one bowl. You probably should mix the dry ingredients separately and be a little more careful, but I really didn’t want a huge cleanup. Feel free to be more careful if you’d like. :)
To start, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Then mix in the eggs.
Next mix in the ricotta cheese. You can use regular or low fat ricotta cheese, although I would not use a no fat substitute, nor would I substitute cream cheese or cottage cheese.
Then mix in the vanilla extract, cinnamon, and orange zest to the cannoli cookie batter. The cinnamon and orange zest aren’t really strong in this recipe, but they do give a nice subtle flavor.
When all of that is well mixed, mix in the baking soda, baking powder, and salt followed by the flour.
Stir in the mini chocolate chips and chopped pistachios. If you want you could substitute your favorite chopped nuts and/or chips.
Cover and chill the dough about one hour or until it firms up just a little more. Then using a cookie scoop or spoons, spoon the cookie dough onto lightly greased baking sheets or baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake the cookies for about 8-11 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Cool for a few minutes then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.
When the cookies are completely cool, melt the rest of the chocolate chips and drizzle over the cookies. Allow them to sit a little while until the chocolate sets.
Then it’s time to enjoy these cookies with a big cup of coffee or how about Italian Hot Chocolate! Yum!
Are you ready to make some cookies this year? Happy baking!
Here’s a quick video to show you the recipe for Cannoli Cookies from beginning to end:
Check out some of my other popular cookie recipes including my Mudslide Cookies, S’mores Bars, Buckeye Thumbprints, and Strawberry Daiquiri Cookies!
Holy Cannoli Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 10 ounce bag mini chocolate chips divided
- 1 cup chopped pistachios
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs then ricotta cheese until well combined then mix in the vanilla extract, cinnamon, and fresh orange zest.
- Next, mix in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Mix in the flour. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips and the pistachios. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least one hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease.
- Using a medium cookie scoop or spoon, drop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of cookie dough for each cookie leaving about 2 inches between each cookie.
- Bake cookies at 375 degrees F for about 8-11 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Cool slightly then move to wire racks to cool completely.
- Microwave remaining chocolate chips on high in a small microwave safe bowl in 20 second intervals, stirring after each interval until melted and smooth. Spoon melted chocolate into a small resealable bag, clip one corner slightly, then drizzle melted chocolate over cookies. Let cool for chocolate to set.
Notes
Looking for other Italian dessert recipes? How about this Tiramisu from Electric Blue Food? Love that it’s made in little glasses! Or this Chocolate Panna Cotta from Inside the Rustic Kitchen looks heavenly! These Almond Biscotti from Munaty Cooking look so easy to make!
Judi says
The cookies were easy to make and very good. My cookies also flattened out but were still very good. I will make them again.
Anna says
Question: My Grandmother’s canoli recipe uses cream sherry, no orange flavor. Cream Sherry is really strong, her recipe has me using 3-5 tablespoons for 12 canoli. How would I translate that to your cookies? Her recipe uses 1 cup of flour, so would I use 5 tablespoons in your recipe since it uses 2 cups?
Lisa Huff says
5 tablespoons is a lot of extra liquid to add to these cookies. You can try it, but honestly, I have no idea how it will turn out and whether you’d even taste the sherry. I’d just add a few teaspoons personally or even better, mix a little in with the melted chocolate for the drizzle on top instead.
Kathryn Barajas says
I left off the drizzle and added a maraschino cherry to the top before baking. I love this recipe, turned out very well and everyone loved them. Thank you!
Lisa Huff says
So happy to hear you enjoyed! Love the cherry addition!
Pmakel says
They came out very good, however, would like to increase flavor. Any suggestions?
Lisa Huff says
Really personal preference. You can increase orange zest and/or cinnamon. Or add some lemon zest or extract. Or also almond extract or Fiori di Sicilia would also be good additions.
Pmakel says
Would I omit vanilla extract and add suggested flavorings? Will definitely increase orange zest. Also, used salted pistachios and chopped in food processor. Sifted out pistachio powder and had nice chopped pistachio pieces. Did not add any salt from recipe. Pistachio powder mixed in might take away flavor of other ingredients. Rolled into balls and rolled them in a bowl of sugar and Valencia orange zest by McCormack. Flattened balls slightly, they came out really nice. Used powdered sugar as suggested by others.
Lisa Huff says
You don’t have to omit the vanilla as long as you’re not planning on adding A LOT of other liquid/extracts. It will probably be fine. Drizzled chocolate on top also gives a lot of flavor but if you’re not a chocolate fan, might not like.
Pmakel says
Made a second batch. Came out perfect. Added a little more zest. Placed some wax paper over half a row of cookies, sprinkled powdered sugar which created half moon. Looked nice on tray. These cookies are delicious. Everyone keeps going back for more. Great recipe. Highly recommend.
Lisa Huff says
Oh good! So happy to hear they turned out for you! Happy holidays!
Trisha says
AMAZING!
They do taste like cannoli! I baked on silpats and they baked up perfectly, they are rounded and beautiful. A great new addition to my baking. And not just for the holidays.
P.S.
I did freeze them. Pulled one out yesterday to taste test and they were still divine.
Thank you for such a unique recipe!
Lisa Huff says
Thanks Trisha!! Happy to hear you enjoyed the cookies. Happy holidays!! :)
Barbara Nassaur says
Tried these yesterday as part of my Christmas baking marathon. Was not impressed. Was hoping for more cannoli flavor. If I do them again I will definitely increase the spices and eliminate the chocolate on top as another person commented on and will use powdered sugar instead.
Lisa Huff says
Sorry you didn’t like them. Some people seem to love them, some hate them. Personal preference I guess. Happy holidays! :)
LJ says
Made these for Thanksgiving-they were a hit! Requested to be on Christmas Cookie List! I used pecans instead of pistachios-and sprinkled with powdered sugar instead of melted chocolate since some reviews said it didn’t stick to cookies. Delish!!
Question….? If I make prior to Christmas-I saw they can be frozen-the dough? Or cooked cookies?
Thanks!
Lisa Huff says
Yay! Glad everyone liked them! You can definitely freeze the cooked cookies. I haven’t tried freezing the dough, although don’t see why you couldn’t freeze in balls like other cookies. Merry Christmas!
Trisha says
These sound wonderful! I’m ready to make a batch first thing tomorrow. I was Wondering, do they freeze well?
Thanks for the recipe
Lisa Huff says
They do! I don’t think cookies are ever as good as they are fresh, but they do freeze ok and just personal preference.
Leslie says
Let me start by saying that I am definitely not a baker but I made them today. The only ones that came out flat were the last few of the scrapings on the bowl. They are delicious! I did not add the additional salt but followed everything else exactly. I’ll be making them again for Christmas!
Lisa Huff says
Thanks Leslie! Happy to hear they turned out well for you!!
Pati says
My cookies seemed to spread out while baking and came out very flat, instead of dome-shaped. Any suggestions? They taste good, but don’t look like the picture.
Lisa Huff says
Did you make any substitutions? What kind of pan did you use?
Pati says
I omitted the nuts. Used a little orange flavoring instead of zest (1 tsp.). Baked on parchment on a nonstick cookie sheet. ?
Lisa Huff says
Hmmm hard to say for sure. I would guess maybe oven temperature then. Possible your oven was not preheated or the temperature is off. Could be the nonstick pan too. The pans I used were not nonstick. Sorry they didn’t turn out for you. Here’s a great article on some possible causes with the spreading… https://www.thespruceeats.com/why-do-cookies-spread-when-baked-995121
Toni Comtois says
Mine also came out flatter. I omitted the chocolate chocolate chips and used walnuts instead
Lisa Huff says
Did you chill the dough until it was cold?
Paula says
My cookies also came out flat. I tried 1 pan with and without parchment paper and same result. Maybe it the aluminum pan or they are not cold enough. Next time I may put them in the freezer for a bit. Looks like the butter is oozing out. It’s a shame bc they taste good but they’re not pretty.
Lisa Huff says
Hmmm, If your cookies are flat a few suggestions to try….
1) Make sure the dough is WELL chilled. You can even chill overnight. An hour may not be long enough if people are in and out of the fridge, or your dough is really deep, etc. If you need to bake in batches, keep rest of dough in fridge while others are baking. I’m thinking this may be the issue for most of you.
2) Bake on good quality ungreased baking sheets (not nonstick pans) with parchment paper and bake in middle of oven. And bake on COOLED sheets.
3) Check your baking soda and baking powder. Check the expiration date AND test them (add a little baking soda to something acidic like vinegar and it should fizz, same with baking powder but with water).
4) Make sure you didn’t make any ingredient substitutions (like different kind of flour, margarine, etc).
5) If all else fails, maybe even try an oven thermometer JUST to make sure your oven temp is what it says it is.
Cindy says
If I omit the pistachios, how much extra mini chocolate chips would you recommend? An entire extra cup seems like a lot.
Lisa Huff says
You don’t have to add any extra chocolate chips if you don’t want, or can eyeball it to your personal preference. I’d just add a little at a time.
Tina Menor says
Hi! I’m in the middle of making these and was wondering if I need to alter the recipe since I live in the high altitude in utah…
Lisa Huff says
Hi! Sorry, I haven’t done any high altitude baking so not the best person to ask. Looks like there are some tips here that might help… https://www.wheatmontana.com/content/high-altitude-baking-how-make-your-recipes-work-mountains