Cannolis were not something I ever thought I would attempt at home. They were a special treat and I thought that they would be way too difficult to make. I put off making them for years but bought one every chance I got!
Big Bear loves them, my dad loves them and I love them (although mine HAVE to have mini chocolate chips in them or they’re not worthy haha).
I remember my dad ordering them a lot when we would go out to eat at Italian restaurants when I was little, they were pretty much always a guaranteed dessert for him if they were on the menu.
When we lived at Camp Lejeune, I use to stock up on them because our Commissary (grocery store) on base sold them for like .25 cents a piece. I would come home with a whole box for BigBear anytime I went to the store.
When we moved back to VA I had a hard time finding them. I’ve found 2, maybe 3 restaurants here that serve them and they’re going to cost me about $3-$4 PER CANNOLI depending on where I go. Yikes.
Let’s just say that the days of surprising BigBear with tons of cannolis is long gone…. or so I thought!
When I was down in NC the other day at my sister’s new store (she’s the Customer Service Manager now for a nice grocery store in Chapel Hill) I noticed that their bakery had cannolis for sale!
Being the awesome wife that I am, I scooped up a box for Big Bear and took them home to him.
Once I was home and BigBear was enjoying his mini Cannolis, I again thought to myself, “Self, you really should make these at home, I bet you could.”
And then I remembered something! When I was in Savannah, GA a month or so ago I had bought a set of metal Cannoli tubes! You know, the ones you wrap the dough around when you fry them!
HOLY MOLY! I can make them now!
So that’s what I did. I finally jumped into the kitchen and with Big Bear’s help (hey they’re so much easier to make if you have help!) we cranked out some holiday themed Chocolate Chip Eggnog Cannolis!
Now let’s talk about the making of these cannolis for a bit. I’m not going to lie to you and be all like “OMG these are so easy to make and are super simple and quick!” Because I don’t want to lie to you. That wouldn’t be very nice now would it.
Now are these Chocolate Chip Eggnog Cannolis worth it? Totally! But they’re gonna take a little work and patience.
Here are some helpful tips:
- Don’t get the oil too hot! You’ll burn them before they’re ready to come out!
- Try to only fry one or two at a time. If you throw too many in there the temperature will drop and they might bump into each other and pop open!
- Make the dough thin! If you make it too thick, they’ll pop open while you’re frying them and you’ll be sad. No one can stuff a flat pancake with cannoli filling.
- Make sure to seal the edges really well or they will pop open.
- Don’t throw them into the hot oil….because you guessed it… they’ll pop open. haha
- Let them cool completely before filling them or your gonna melt your filling.
Hope you love them!
Chocolate Chip Holiday Nog Cannolis – Chocolate Chip Eggnog Cannolis
Chocolate Chip Holiday Nog Cannolis – Chocolate Chip Eggnog Cannolis
- Yield: Makes 24
Ingredients
For Shells:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons softened butter
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 eggs yolks
- 3 1/2 ounces Marsala cooking wine
- Canola Oil for Frying
- Cannoli Tubes (Metal Tubes to wrap dough around while frying)
For Filling
- 1 cup of ricotta
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup Silk Holiday Nog
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown suagr salt, soft butter, egg yolks and cinnamon.
- Using a pastry blender (or a fork) cut the butter and egg yolks into the dry ingredients until the mixture reaches the consistency of crumbs about the size of green peas.
- Stir in the marsala cooking wine. Stir well to combine.
- Next, use your hands to press all of the mixture into dough.
- Let sit, uncovered for 30 minutes.
- Heat oil to 340F.
- Lightly flour your working surface and roll dough out until it\'s paper thin. (After trying a few different thicknesses of dough, the paper thin ones did best!)
- Using a round cookie cutter (or glass about 5 inches in diameter) cut circles of dough out.
- Wrap a circle of dough around one of the metal cannoli tubes and seal edges. Make sure to seal the edges good or they will pop open when frying! Also if they are too thick they will pop open too!
- Fry in hot oil for 2-3 minutes or until brown and crispy! Carefully remove from oil and place on a paper towel lined plate to cool. We had best results with frying 1-2 at a time.
- The the stand of a mixer, combine: ricotta, powdered sugar and holiday nog. Mix well. If too thick add a little more holiday nog, if too thin add more powdered sugar.
- Mix in mini chocolate chips.
- Pipe thick filling mixture into both sides of cooled cannoli shells. Serve Immediately.
- Shells can be made ahead of time and filling placed into fridge in a container until ready to serve.
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This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.
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