Quick Cannoli Cookies Recipe gives you crisp edges, tender middles, and a creamy ricotta-orange flavor studded with mini chocolate chips. It suits busy bakers, holiday trays, and late-night cravings, and it takes 30 minutes from start to finish. I learned this shortcut during a string of dessert emergencies in my tiny NYC kitchen.
Quick Cannoli Cookies Recipe
This Quick Cannoli Cookies Recipe uses one bowl, pantry staples, and no piping tubes. You skip shells and frying, yet you still get classic cannoli notes from ricotta, orange zest, and chocolate chips. A cookie scoop keeps portioning fast and even, so your batch bakes up at the same time.
You mix everything with a hand mixer, then fold in chips. You do not chill the dough, so you move straight to baking. That speed makes weeknight baking feel doable.
Ingredients You Need
- All-purpose flour: 2 cups, spooned and leveled. Use a 1:1 gluten-free blend if needed, and hold back 2 tablespoons to assess texture.
- Baking powder: 1 teaspoon for lift.
- Kosher salt: 1/2 teaspoon to balance sweetness.
- Granulated sugar: 3/4 cup for a clean, classic cookie sweetness.
- Unsalted butter: 1/2 cup, softened to room temp for proper creaming. Popular brands soften predictably.
- Whole milk ricotta: 3/4 cup, blotted dry for 5 minutes. Galbani and BelGioioso both work well; drain off excess moisture for best texture.
- Large egg: 1 for structure.
- Vanilla extract: 2 teaspoons for warmth. You can swap 1/2 teaspoon almond extract for a bakery-style twist.
- Orange zest: 1 tablespoon finely grated. Orange oil works in a pinch; start with 1/4 teaspoon.
- Ground cinnamon: 1/4 teaspoon optional, for a subtle cannoli bakery vibe.
- Mini chocolate chips: 3/4 cup. Minis distribute better than regular chips.
- Chopped pistachios: 1/3 cup optional for a nutty crunch.
- Powdered sugar: for dusting after cooling.
- Optional finish: 3 ounces melted chocolate for dipping, plus extra chopped pistachios.
Equipment:
- Mixing bowl, hand mixer or stand mixer with paddle
- Microplane for zest
- Rubber spatula
- Cookie scoop, 1.5 tablespoons size
- Parchment-lined sheet pans
- Wire rack
How to Make Cannoli Cookies
- Prep: 10 minutes
- Cook: 12 minutes per batch
- Total: 30 minutes
- Heat the oven to 350 F. Line two sheet pans with parchment.
- Blot the ricotta: Spoon it onto a few paper towels and press gently for 5 minutes. You want it thick, not watery.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set it aside.
- Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl on medium speed until light and creamy, 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl.
- Add drained ricotta, egg, vanilla, and orange zest. Mix on low until smooth and combined.
- Add dry ingredients. Mix on low until flour disappears. Stop as soon as the streaks go away.
- Fold in mini chocolate chips and pistachios if using. The dough will feel soft and scoopable.
- Scoop 1.5-tablespoon mounds onto the pans, spacing 2 inches apart. If the dough looks loose, chill it for 10 minutes while the oven finishes heating.
- Bake 11 to 13 minutes until edges look set and bottoms turn light golden. The tops should look matte and spring back when you tap one.
- Cool on the pan 5 minutes, then move cookies to a rack. Dust with powdered sugar once they cool, or dip a cooled edge in melted chocolate and pistachios.
Tips & Common Mistakes
- Blot the ricotta so the dough stays thick and bakes up plush, not cakey and flat.
- Cream butter and sugar long enough to look lighter in color for better lift.
- Weigh your flour or spoon and level to avoid dry, bready cookies.
- Stop mixing right after flour disappears to keep the texture tender.
- Use mini chips so chocolate spreads evenly in every bite.
- Scoop evenly so cookies bake at the same speed.
- Pull the pan when edges set and bottoms lightly golden; overbaking dries the center.
- Zest only the orange peel, not the bitter white pith.
- Dust with powdered sugar after the cookies cool so the sugar does not melt.
- If you dip in chocolate, let the chocolate set on parchment for clean edges.
Variations I’ve Tried
- Lemon pistachio: Swap lemon zest for orange and bump pistachios to 1/2 cup.
- Chocolate-dipped: Dip half of each cookie in dark chocolate and sprinkle with crushed pistachios.
- Almond anise bakery style: Use 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, and a few drops of anise extract.
- Gluten-free: Use a 1:1 baking blend; add 1 tablespoon milk if the dough looks crumbly.
- Mascarpone swap: Replace ricotta with mascarpone and cut butter to 6 tablespoons for a silkier crumb.
- Espresso glaze: Whisk 1 cup powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon cooled espresso and drizzle over cooled cookies.
- Candied cherry bits: Fold in 1/3 cup finely chopped candied cherries for a festive look.
How to Serve Cannoli Cookies
Set the cookies on a platter and shower them with a light snowfall of powdered sugar. Pair them with espresso, cappuccino, or hot cocoa for a cozy finish. Add fresh berries or sliced oranges on the side to echo the zest. For party trays, mix them with biscotti and chocolate crinkle cookies for contrast.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Chill the dough up to 48 hours for easy bake-on-demand cookies; scoop straight from the fridge and add 1 minute to bake time. Freeze scooped dough balls on a sheet pan until firm, then bag them for up to 2 months; bake from frozen and add 2 to 3 minutes.
Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temp for 3 days. Refrigerate up to 5 days. Refresh cookies in a 300 F oven for 4 minutes to perk up texture. Freeze baked cookies up to 2 months; thaw at room temp and dust with fresh powdered sugar.
Nutrition Information
Approximate per cookie, based on 24 cookies: 120 calories; fat 6 g; saturated fat 3.5 g; carbs 14 g; sugar 8 g; protein 2 g; fiber 0 to 1 g; sodium 60 mg. Numbers will vary by brand and add-ins.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, cream together the ricotta cheese, butter, and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, and orange zest, mixing until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing just until combined.
- Fold in the mini chocolate chips and chopped pistachios if using.
- Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.