Creamy Cannoli Dip
This creamy cannoli dip is a sweet dip made with ricotta and mascarpone cheese and packed with mini chocolate chips.
I love cannoli with their crunchy pastry crust and their sweet ricotta filling. Making them at home means making the cannoli shells yourself and that requires special equipment and lots of frying so I have never gotten around to trying it.
This easy Cannoli Dip skips the whole fried pastry part and goes straight to the good stuff! Scoop it up on a waffle cone and enjoy! It takes about 10 minutes to make and 30 minutes to chill in the refrigerator, so it’s an easy dessert for parties.
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Ingredients You’ll Need
- Whole milk ricotta cheese – We recommend using whole milk ricotta vs skim milk because you will get a better texture and flavor.
- Mascarpone cheese – This creamy Italian cheese is similar to American cream cheese.
- Powdered sugar – This will sweeten the dip
- Vanilla extract – every dessert needs a little vanilla extract for flavor.
- Mini Chocolate Chips – Use the mini chips so you can scoop up more in every bite! If you don’t have mini chips you can use regular chocolate chips and chop them up a bit before adding to the dip.
How to Make Cannoli Dip
This dip is just cannoli filling in a bowl. It couldn’t be any easier to make!
Step 1 – Mix cheeses. In medium bowl, mix ricotta cheese, mascarpone together, with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer, until smooth.
Step 2 – Sweeten. Slowly add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time mixing until smooth. Add vanilla and mix.
Step 3 – Add-ins. Add mini chocolate chips and fold them into the cannoli mixture.
Step 4 – Chill. Put the cannoli dip in an airtight container and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Step 5 – Serve. Serve with waffle cone pieces, cookies, or graham crackers.
Traditionally cannoli are made with ricotta, but over time people have started adding mascarpone and I thought it was the perfect addition for this sweet dip. Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese which is similar to our American cream cheese but is richer and creamier because it is made from whole cream. The mascarpone and ricotta mixed together gives this dip a great texture and a rich, creamy taste.
Yes! Cream cheese can be a substitution for mascarpone cheese BUT you need to make a few modifications to it. Mix together 8 ounces of cream cheese, 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons of sour cream, and 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons of heavy cream. Whip together until smooth.
The added sour cream adds a little tangy flavor to the cream cheese that more closely resembles mascarpone and the heavy cream helps give it a smooth, creamy texture.
The amount of liquid in ricotta cheese can vary by brand. This excess liquid can make your cannoli dip runny.
If your ricotta cheese seems a little runny you can thicken it by placing a piece of cheesecloth in a bowl and spooning the ricotta cheese onto the cloth. Wrap it up tightly and squeeze. The liquid will drain out of the cheese.
You don’t want the cheese to be completely dry you want it to be a spreadable texture without being runny.
You can serve this with all sorts of dippers. We suggest suggest waffle cones broken up into pieces, pizzelle cookies, store bought cannoli shells broken into large pieces, vanilla wafers, or graham crackers. If you’re really ambitious, you can make the pastry dough used for cannoli and fried it into chips.
You can also use strawberries if you want to add some fruit.
If you store your Creamy Cannoli Dip in an airtight container in the refrigerator it will stay good for 3-5 days.
Looking for More Dessert Dip Recipes?
- Cherry Cheesecake Dip
- Banana Cream Cheesecake Dip
- No Bake Cheesecake Dip
- Caramel Apple Dip
- Easy Pumpkin Pie Dip
- More Dip Recipes…
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Creamy Cannoli Dip
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Whole Milk Ricotta cheese, drained
- 8 ounces Mascarpone cheese
- 1 1/2 cups Powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups Mini Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- In medium bowl, mix ricotta cheese, mascarpone together until smooth.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time mixing until smooth. Add vanilla and mix.
- Add mini chocolate chips and fold them into the cannoli mixture.
- Put the cannoli dip in an airtight container and refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Serve with waffle cone pieces, cookies, or graham crackers.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
You had me at cannoli!
can you make this in a Cuisinart without it turning to butter?
I haven’t tried using a food processor or blender but I think it would be fine. Just keep and eye on it.
I made this, my husband hated it! He said it didn’t taste like cannoli at all. And he .loves his Cannoli. I thought it was okay but had higher expectations. I think maybe to much sugar.
I made this and it was really bland. My husband and daughter didn’t like it. I tried adding chocolate sauce and that didn’t help. Then aA friend suggested adding nutella and that did the trick.
The taste is good but for some reason it was grainy. I followed the recipe, used whole milk ricotta. The graininess was there when I blended the cheeses together. The chips disguise this a bit but why would that happen?
Ricotta is always a little grainy in my opinion but you can try pushing it through a fine sieve before mixing it with the other ingredients next time to see if that helps you with the texture.
I made this exactly as the recipe said and my guests and I did not love it. It was runny and kind of bland. Served with pizelles and broken waffle cones. Threw most of it away. Disappointed.
I love this cannoli dip! Taste amazing with broken waffle cones or chocolate graham crackers. Makes more than I needed but easy enough to break down by half or even a quarter for a great family dessert.