This classic cannoli is a traditional Italian dessert: crisp, cinnamon-scented shells filled with sweetened ricotta and mini chocolate chips for a perfect balance of crunch and creamy sweetness.
TL;DR (Quick-Answer Box)
- What it is: A classic Italian pastry: thin, crisp shells flavored with cinnamon and rum and filled with a sweet ricotta mixture with chocolate.
- Why you’ll love it: Bakery-quality crunch with a silky, flavorful filling that’s impressive for holidays, parties, or any Italian-inspired meal.
- How to make it: Fry thin ovals of homemade dough until golden, cool and remove from the tubes, then pipe in a sweetened ricotta filling and dust with confectioners’ sugar.
This recipe comes from a long family pastry tradition. The author’s father opened his own pastry shop in 1961 after years at DeLillo’s on 187th Street in the Bronx’s Italian neighborhood. The cannoli here likely reflect those sold at that shop: crisp, flaky shells and a properly drained, flavorful ricotta filling that kept customers lining up.
Classic Cannoli
David Leite
Equipment
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Cannoli cutter (oval-shaped cookie cutter); cannoli rods or pastry tubes
Ingredients
For the cannoli shells
- Oil, for deep frying
- 2 cups cake flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 8 tablespoons lard
- 1 tablespoon rum
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Pinch salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 large egg
- 1 to 2 tablespoons cold water
- Egg wash, (2 eggs whisked with 2 tablespoons water)
For the cannoli filling
- 1 pound dry ricotta, or use good-quality ricotta drained in cheesecloth overnight
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips or finely chopped chocolate
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Instructions
Make the cannoli shells
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Heat the oil in a deep fryer or a deep pot to 320°F (160°C).
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In a mixer, combine cake flour, all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, lard, rum, honey, salt, cinnamon, and the egg. Add just enough cold water to bring the mixture into a firm dough. The exact amount of water depends on humidity and temperature.
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Roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness (pasta-thin). Use an oval cutter to cut shapes. Lay several ovals in a row, place a cannoli rod along the center, fold the dough over the rod and seal the seam with a little egg wash so the edges adhere.
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Fry the shells without crowding the pan until golden and bubbly, about 3 minutes. Remove from the oil, slip them off the rods, and cool completely on a rack so they crisp up.
Make the cannoli filling
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Combine drained ricotta, granulated sugar, ground cinnamon, and chocolate chips. Stir or beat briefly until smooth and evenly mixed. Taste and adjust sweetness if needed.
Assemble the cannoli
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Using a pastry bag with a large tip, pipe the ricotta filling into cooled shells. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving so the shells stay crisp.
Adapted From
The Arthur Avenue Cookbook
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Nutrition
Calories: 210 kcal
Carbohydrates: 24 g
Protein: 6 g
Fat: 10 g
Nutrition information is an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This recipe passed a rigorous blind testing process and earned the Leite’s Culinaria stamp of approval.
Jenny Latreille
I’d never made cannoli before and learned a lot from this recipe. My shells were a little thick and the filling a bit lumpy, but the flavors were spot on.
I improvised equipment—using pastry horns and a reshaped cookie cutter—which worked well enough but highlighted how much easier the process is with proper tools. My shells needed a bit more rolling and a touch more frying to become sturdier, but they were flaky and delicious.
This batch yielded about 20 cannoli. They disappeared quickly, and despite the challenges, I enjoyed the process and the result. Pastry and deep-frying felt intimidating at first, but the final flavor was worth it.