Cannoli Cones – An easy way to make a homemade cannoli without the hassle of frying cannoli shells. Made with sugar ice cream cones which are stuffed with homemade cannoli cream and dipped in your favorite cannoli toppings.
There’s something about a fresh cannoli with creamy ricotta cheese filling and covered in chocolate that just speaks my language. I love how all the textures and flavors come together to make one well-rounded dessert – crunchy, creamy, sweet, salty, rich, tangy. There’s nothing I don’t love about them!
But when it comes to making cannoli at home from scratch, I’m just not committed enough to attempt it…not yet, anyway. The ricotta filling is easy to make but the shells are a little trickier. You need to make a dough, wrap it around special cannoli tubes, and fry until crispy. I just don’t have the energy for all of that.
So I decided to take a little shortcut! Sugar ice cream cones have the same crunchy texture that cannoli shells have so I decided to use those instead. Plus, it makes for a fun presentation.
Check out my Cannoli Cones!
Working with Ricotta Cheese
Ricotta cheese is a creamy cheese that is used in many Italian recipes – lasagna, stuffed shells, and cannoli. It’s important to drain it for at least 8 hours to remove excess liquid from the ricotta. This is especially important for cannoli because you won’t be able to achieve a creamy, fluffy cannoli cream filling with the excess liquid – the cream will be gloopy and loose if the ricotta is too wet.
To remove the liquid, line a mesh strainer with a cheesecloth. Add ricotta cheese and press into cloth and cover with excess cloth. Let it sit over a medium bowl to drain overnight.
How to make this recipe
Once the ricotta is drained, you’re ready to make this recipe!
First, you need to prepare the cannoli cones. I like my cannoli shells dipped in chocolate to achieve that extra crunch. So I dipped the tops of my cones in chocolate to achieve the same texture.
While the chocolate hardens, it’s time to make the cannoli cream. The cannoli cream is made by whipping the drained ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract. Then, we fold in the mini chocolate chips.
After the cannoli cream is whipped, add the cream to a piping bag and pipe the cream into the prepared cones. Finally, the cones are dipped in your favorite cannoli toppings – I used mini chocolate chips and crushed pistachios.
Tips & Tricks
As always, here are a few tips to ensure these cannoli cones come out perfectly:
- To ensure my cannoli cream fluffs up easily, I chill my mixer bowl and beater attachment in the freezer for 30 minutes. This is also a great tip for making homemade whipped cream – it gets whipped so quickly when the ingredients stay super cold.
- I have to use a piping bag to fill the cannoli to make sure they look as pretty as possible. If I just fill with a spoon, they look so messy and, dare I say, quite ugly.
- Do not make these cannoli cones ahead of time. The longer the cream sits in the cones, the softer the cone gets and you’ll lose that crunch. However, you can make the cannoli cream ahead of time and simply fill the cones when serving.
Cannoli Cones
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips divided
- 12 sugar cones
- 4 ounces semi sweet chocolate
- 1/2 cup chopped pistachios
Instructions
- Set a mesh strainer over a medium bowl. Line the inside of the strainer with a cheese cloth, making sure excess cloth hangs over the sides of the strainer. Add ricotta cheese to the cheesecloth and cover with the excess cloth to prevent the cheese from getting crusty. Refrigerate for 8 hours to drain the excess water from the ricotta cheese.
- While the cheese is draining, you can prepare the cones. Melt the 4 ounces of semi sweet chocolate in the microwave in 30-second intervals. Dip the tops of the cones into the chocolate and gently tap off the excess. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to dry and harden.
- 30 minutes before you use the cheese, place the bowl of a stand mixer and the whisk attachment in the freezer so it gets extra cold.
- Once the cheese is ready and the bowl is chilled, add the cheese, heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract to the bowl. Beat on low to combine. Then, raise the speed to medium high and beat until the mixture is nice and thick, about 3 minutes. Be careful not to overmix or the mixture will break and get gloopy.
- Add 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips to the mixture and fold in. Fill pastry bag (without a piping tip) with ricotta mixture. Cut about 1 1/2 inches off the top of the bag. Fill the sugar cones with cannoli cream. Dip into mini chocolate chips or chopped pistachios. Serve immediately.
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More recipes you’d love:
Classic Cannoli Dip
Pistachio Biscotti
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecakes
Ohhh, I have a soft spot for anything with ricotta, so these cannoli cones are my perfect dessert. Plus, the presentation in a cone is so cute and fun. Thanks for sharing!
These cones look absolutely delicious, and seem so approachable! I actually have a couple of tubs of ricotta in my refrigerator right now, and was searching for recipes earlier to use with them. I think this is fate to stumble upon your recipe! I cannot wait to make these!
These look so pretty. I’d love to make a few and serve them at the next get together we have. Absolutely gorgeous and looks yum
What a genius idea to serve the cannoli filling in sugar cones! I love that these are easier to hold and really fun to display, plus you can see the gorgeous toppings so much better in these cones!
How cute are these cannoli cones!! My kids would love to make these with me! I dont use ricotta cheese a ton so your info was super helpful! Can’t wait to try these out with the kids!
Oh my I just want to reach through the screen and bite into one of these right now!!
True story: I bought a set of cannoli pastry molds about 10 years ago and have never used them. Every now and then, I notice them in the cupboard and think, “One of these days…”. But, maybe I should just give them away now, because using ice cream cones to make cannolis is BRILLIANT. Seriously. I’m so in love with this idea. Thank you so much for sharing!
Haha! I am the same way about my pasta maker! One of these days…
I keep seeing these and wanting to grab one out of my screen. My family would ADORE these, they look so fun and yummy!
Awesome idea!
These look like the ultimate summer snack!
Ooh I want one right now!!! I’ll take this over ice cream gladly 😀 Such an awesome idea and so fun for summer. My family would love this ^_^
Oh my goodness I NEED to try these!!! This looks amazing
I love cannoli! I’ve alwyas wanted to try them out at home. Thanks!
These look so yummy! Using ice cream cones is such a good idea.
I have never heard of a cannoli until now, but boy oh boy, I cannot wait to have one! That ricotta cream look incredible and I love the cones dipped in chocolate. I bet my girls will have a blast making these with me and especially sampling the finished product!
Marrying in to an Italian family cannolis are well, a requirement to know how to make including the shells. It’s a labor of love to say the least. I’m seriously LOVING the shortcut you took on making these with sugar cones. They are super fun and cute and definitely a crowd favorite! AND YES!!! Finally someone else that explains why you have to strain the ricotta for hours. I do this too and it’s such a crucial step!
This is such a great idea! I have never made homemade cannoli either, but absolutely love anything with ricotta. So this is a genius recipe in my book. Great idea!
My husband loves canolies. I am going to have to make these for him as a special treat.
What a great idea! They were so easy and my kids loved them! Thanks for the fantastic recipe 🙂
This reminds me of a treat I’d get at Disneyland! I love this; can’t wait to have these on a hot day; looks perfectly delicious!
These are adorable! I love the idea of using cones for the shell. I’m horrible at deep frying so this is perfect for me!
These cones are so cute! I am so glad I have stumbled upon your recipe because most of others that I saw are pretty complex. Yours looks easy, quick and beautiful. Very excited!
Yum! These are so cute and look almost too perfect to eat! But, let’s be real, I’ll take 20!
I can guarantee I would never ever fry my own cones – I just think of the mess, the waste and the smell! But I could def get behind this cannoli shortcut.
What a fantastic summer treat! My kiddos would go crazy for these. And they would be fun to bring to a summer block party.