Cannoli Cookies are made with all of the cannoli flavors you love in a light and fluffy ricotta cookie! With pistachios, chocolate, orange zest, cinnamon and nutmeg, these Italian cookies is sure to be your new favorite and great for the holiday season.
Cannoli Cookies are such a treat and a fun twist on traditional cannoli, but in cookie form! These little cookies are perfect for the holiday cookie trays, gift giving, or anytime you are craving those delicious cannoli flavors without the fuss of making cannoli shells and cannoli filling.
These light and fluffy cookies are subtlety sweet and have the most perfect cake-like texture, thanks to the ricotta cheese. You could even drizzle these with Italian Pistachio Cream for a delicious treat!
If you love fluffy ricotta cookies, then you’ll definitely want to try Almond Ricotta Cookies and these super popular Lemon Ricotta Cookies or Limoncello Ricotta Cookies. Both are super fluffy and the perfect Italian Christmas cookie to serve along with your authentic Torrone!
So give this delicious and simple Cannoli Cookie recipe a try; it may just be your new favorite cannoli recipe.
Traditional Cannoli Cookie Flavors
Cannoli are traditionally flavored with chocolate chips, pistachios, orange and/or lemon zest, and a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg. These are all of the flavors included in my Cannoli Cookies.
But the main star of the cannoli is the delicious ricotta filling. In this recipe, I add an entire a cup of ricotta cheese to really play up the soft and delicate flavors of the cannoli.
As a final touch, these cookies are drizzled with chocolate. You could also dust with powdered sugar, which is the most common way to finish off traditional cannoli.
I love use the traditional cannoli flavors in my baking. If you are looking for a fun brunch recipe, Cannoli Baked French Toast is an excellent dish for entertaining. For a delicious treat, be sure to try Cannoli Pound Cake, a super moist and flavorful cake thats alway a hit with guests.
Ingredients for Cannoli Cookies
- Sugar: granulated sugar for the cookie dough.
- Butter: use room temperature unsalted butter.
- Orange Zest: orange zest is a common flavor in cannoli. You can leave it out and use vanilla extract instead if you’d like.
- Ricotta: whole milk ricotta is best. If the ricotta is wet, be sure to drain it before using.
- Egg: use one whole egg.
- Flour: all purpose flour. Weigh the flour for best results.
- Baking Powder: make sure you are using baking powder and not baking soda.
- Cinnamon: ground cinnamon.
- Nutmeg: use a bit of freshly ground nutmeg.
- Salt: kosher salt is best.
- Chocolate: I like to use diced dark chocolate chunks. Mini chocolate chips work great too.
- Pistachios: use shelled unsalted pistachios. Roughly dice them before adding to the batter.
How to Make Cannoli Cookies
This cannoli cookie recipe really does fit the bill when you are craving cannoli! While not the traditional way to make cannoli, I think you’ll agree that this recipe is simple and perfect for every occasion.
The dough will need time to chill before baking, so be sure to plan accordingly.
Step 1: Make the cookie dough
To start, mix together the dry ingredients. Here all you need is flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Next, in a separate large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the butter, sugar, and orange zest. You want to mix for about 2 minutes on medium speed so that the sugar has a chance to dissolve in the butter.
Then, add in the ricotta cheese and one large egg. I recommend draining the ricotta before using it to avoid making the dough too wet.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix to combine.
Step 2: Add in the pistachios and chocolate
Once fully incorporated, add in the chopped pistachios and chopped chocolate. Use a rubber spatula to make sure the ingredients are well incorporated.
A Note on Pistachios and Chocolate
When it comes to pistachios for the cannoli cookies, it’s always best to buy the already shelled pistachios. However, in a pinch you could shell them yourself. Be sure to give the pistachios a coarse chop or even bang them in a bag to break them up a bit.
The chocolate you use in the cannoli cookies is really up to you. Traditionally, mini chocolate chips are used. However, I like the look of little specks of chocolate. So you can either chop up a chocolate bar, coarsely chop full-sized chocolate chips (which I did here), or use mini chocolate chips.
Step 3: Refrigerate the cannoli cookie dough and bake
The dough will be sticky and slightly wet compared to traditional cookie dough. It is best to refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours before baking so that the cookie holds it shape.
Simply cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours before baking. You could even freeze the dough for up to a month in advance.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with either parchment paper or a non stick cooking mat. Use a cookie scoop to scoop out about tablespoon amount of batter. Roll into tablespoon-sized balls using your hands and place on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart from each other.
Bake the cookies for about 12-14 minutes, or until the bottoms turn slightly golden brown in color. Note that the cookies won’t change color much.
Let the cookies cool on the pan for about 5 minutes, then move to wire rack to cool completely. When completely cool, dust the tops of the cookies with powdered sugar or drizzle with melted chocolate.
Storing Cannoli Cookies
Cannoli cookies can be baked and frozen, or refrigerated in an airtight container. You can bake and freeze up to a month in advance, or bake and refrigerate up to a week in advance.
If you choose to bake ahead, be sure to bring to room temperate then sprinkle on the powdered sugar. Otherwise, the cookie will absorb the powdered sugar and you won’t get that freshly dusted look.
You can also make the batter for the cookies ahead of time and refrigerate up to two days in advance before rolling and baking the cookies. You can freeze the batter as well, just be sure to thaw in the refrigerator ahead of time.
For another delicious Italian cookie, be sure to try this Chocolate Espresso Cookie made with chocolate chips and instant espresso powder!
More Italian Ricotta Desserts
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or review in the comments section further down the page.
Cannoli Cookies
Equipment
- baking sheet
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour (260 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup butter, room temperature (one stick)
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese (drained)
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup dark chocolate chunks, chopped slightly (mini chocolate chips work too)
- ½ cups shelled pistachios, lightly chopped
Topping
- 2 tablespoons dark chocolate, melted (for drizzling)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to mix together the sugar, butter, and orange zest, until mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Then, mix in the ricotta, and egg, until combined. Add in the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in the chopped chocolate and pistachios.
- Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Remove cookie dough from refrigerator and use a cookie scoop to measure out about 1 ½ tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Place on prepared baking leaving about 2 inches between each cookie.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the bottom of the cookie starts to brown slightly. Note that the cookies will not change color much. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, drizzle melted chocolate over the top of the cookies. Alternatively you can dust the top of the cookies with the powdered sugar.
These are delicious, will be saving this recipe! Wondering why they need to be refrigerated?
Because of the ricotta 🙂
Can you leave out the pistachio?
Followed recipe & cookies turned out delicious. Used Polly O ricotta. I didn’t glaze as I love confection sugar. Would definitely make again!
My canolli cookies are much too soft. Aren’t they supposed to be somewhat crisp? Very disappointed.
Sorry to disappoint. These are supposed to be soft cake-like cookies, not crisp at all. Hope you enjoyed the flavor otherwise!
These will always be on my Christmas cookie rotation from now on! The flavor is heavenly and the texture is similar to the sour cream cookies my mom used to make when I was little. I have them stored in a container (large Rubbermaid) and they are so soft and pillowy. Just a delightful little cookie. I toasted the pistachios and chopped them up very fine so my husband can enjoy them too. I followed the recipe to a T except for the icing because powdered sugar was just sweet enough and the orange zest shines through without the icing. It probably would have made them too sweet for us. I used a pink #60 Volrath scoop and got around 4 dozen cookies. Great recipe if you love canolli and don’t have time to make them or have access to a bakery that makes them. Thanks for sharing!
They were amazing. Made them for a party and everyone loved them. Delicious. Now I need a re iOS for gluten-free please.
Hello, Can these cookies be made with Mascarpone cheese instead of Ricotta? Just curious, thank you.
You’d probably get a denser dough than with using ricotta. But I’m sure it would turn out delicious either way!
what type of butter is used? unsalted or salted?
unsalted butter
Hello. In the body you report using a whole 15 oz container of ricotta but the recipe says 1 cup of ricotta. What do I do? Want to make these tomorrow. Thanks!
You will need to use one cup of drained ricotta. Hope you love them!
Would these be a good addition to Christmas cookie tins or are they best enjoyed in a party setting?
Because of the ricotta, they aren’t as shelf stable as other cookies. But still delicious and great for holiday gifting.
@angelakallison, The recipe states 1 cup of Ricotta but you state you use the entire 15oz container. Which one is correct?
It’s one cup of ricotta.
I love the flavor and texture of this cookie.
Oh these are so delicious! They taste just like cannolis! My kids gobbled them up!
So happy you and your kids loved them!
Your Cannoli Cookies look delicious and I love how they’re so quick and easy to make. Off to check I’ve got some pistachios in my pantry, can’t wait to try one with a cup of coffee. Thanks for sharing.
These cookies are a perfect companies to a cup of coffee! Love all the flavours in them and can’t wait to try making them with pistachios next time!
These cookies are one of my favorites! They’re so light and crisp and are he perfect size for a quick nibble. Love the spices in them!