Description
We used homemade florentines (lace cookies) to make cannoli shells and filled them with an easy ricotta chocolate chip filling! These are an absolutely delicious dessert, with a super thin, crispy shell that's much easier than making a regular cannoli shell.
Ingredients
Florentines:
- 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cannoli Filling:
- 2 cups ricotta, drained to remove as much moisture as possible
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)
- 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
- For serving: mini chocolate chips and finely chopped pistachios
Instructions
- Drain the ricotta: Lay out 2 pieces of paper towel on a flat surface. Spread the ricotta in a thin layer on top of the paper towel. Top with more paper towel and press down until it feels wet. Let sit for 30 minutes, replacing the paper towel once halfway through. This will remove as much moisture as possible from the ricotta so the cannoli filling is the proper consistency.
- Make the florentines: Preheat oven to 375˚F and line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the butter, brown sugar and honey until melted.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the flour, salt and vanilla until no lumps remain.
- Optional: Let the dough cool so it's easier to work with (we place ours in the freezer for 20 minutes). Each dollop of batter should be a heaping 1/2 teaspoon (~3/4 teaspoon). Place the dollops of batter on the sheet pan, making sure to leave at least 3 inches of space between each cookie. (These spread a LOT!)
- Bake for 6-8 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and carefully transfer the parchment paper + cookies to a cooling rack right away (we slide it off the pan to the cooling rack).
- Let the florentines cool for about 30 seconds just until they are cool enough to handle. Using the handle of a spatula or whisk (ours has a 3/4-inch circumference), carefully wrap the florentine around the handle so the circle overlaps. It will harden pretty quickly.
- Repeat with remaining florentines – if they start to solidify too quickly, pop them back in the oven for 15 seconds to make them pliable again.
- Make the ricotta filling: In a mixing bowl, mix together the drained ricotta, powdered sugar, vanilla, orange zest and mini chocolate chips until well combined.
- Using a round piping tip, pipe the ricotta mixture into the florentine shells. Fill one side halfway, then flip and fill the other side.
- Optional: dip each end in more mini chocolate chips or chopped pistachios. Enjoy!
Notes
To make the florentine cookie dough easier to work with, chill it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Once it's chilled, you can roll it into balls, which will give you perfectly round, uniform cookies. When the mixture is still warm, it can be more difficult to shape, and your florentines may end up a tad misshapen.
STORAGE: Without the ricotta filling, you can store the florentine cookie shells at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the refrigerator for up to a few weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Just be careful – they're fairly fragile!
Once you add the filling, these florentine cannoli are best consumed within a few hours.
Ricotta filling storage: You can keep the ricotta filling stored in an airtight container or piping bag for up to 5 days, and then pipe in the filling just before serving!
Leave plenty of space on the sheet pan when baking the florentines. They spread quite a bit! It's always better to bake more batches with fewer cookies per sheet than to risk the dough running together. Plus, these cook very quickly, so it doesn't take much extra time.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cannoli
- Calories: 89
- Sugar: 8.9 g
- Sodium: 34.1 mg
- Fat: 4.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 10.5 g
- Fiber: 0.2 g
- Protein: 2.2 g