Cannolis are great, but they get soggy if you don’t enjoy them right away. That’s why this Cannoli Dip recipe is so good. It’s served on the side of crushed waffle cones, so nothing gets soggy. Plus, it only takes five minutes to make.
For more sweets, check out all of our dessert recipes.
I love cannolis. They’re a very classic Italian dessert that’s sweet and crunchy and delicious … as long as you eat them pretty much right away. See, a cannoli doesn’t last that long. The powdered sugar on the shell disappears. The crunchy shell gets super soggy. And so, when you bite it, the filling still taste good, but the shell smushes instead of crunches. So it’s not great.
That’s why I love this cannoli dip.
It’s basically the creamy filling of a cannoli, but in dip form, served with crushed waffle cone pieces. Since you’re using the latter as dippers, the cannoli dip never sits on them for more than a moment. Which means the shell never get soggy.
It’s a big hit every time I make it. So definitely make this next time you need a dessert to bring somewhere. Especially if you’re pressed for time. This sweet dip takes about five minutes to make it, so it’s a really good last minute idea too.
Cannoli Dip Recipe
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Cannoli Dip Ingredients:
- 15 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese
- 8 oz. mascarpone cheese
- 1.5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
How To Make Cannoli Dip
Drain any excess water from the ricotta cheese.
The easiest way to do this is to lay two layers of paper towels on the counter. Pour the ricotta cheese onto the paper towels. Lay a paper towel on top and push down to remove any liquid. Toss that one and do it again.
If you skip this step, the ricotta cheese will hold excess liquid and will make your dip gritty rather than smooth.
Put the drained ricotta cheese and mascarpone cheese into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium speed until combined, about three minutes.
Add the powdered sugar and vanilla to the stand mixer bowl and mix on low speed, about two minutes, until sugar is completely incorporated.
Remove the bowl from the mixer.
Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
Keep the dip in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. It’s fine at room temperature, but it’s delicious cold.
Whenever you’re ready to serve, spoon the dip into a bowl and add a few remaining mini chocolate chips on top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
What to dip in cannoli dip:
Waffle cones broken into large pieces tare our favorite dippers. Of course, I make sure to sprinkle them with a little powdered sugar before serving so they resemble cannoli shells.
You could also use classic cannoli shells (our local grocery stores don’t carry them), honey graham crackers, vanilla wafers, pizzelle cookies broken into pieces, or fresh fruit.
If you really have a sweet tooth, you could even dip chocolate chip cookies into it.
Cannoli Dip: Frequently Asked Questions
Store any leftover cannoli dip in an airtight container in the fridge.
Cannoli dip is good for up to a week in the fridge.
If you can’t find mascarpone cheese, the next best thing to use is cream cheese. It’s not the same, but let’s talk about that for a minute.
People refer to mascarpone as Italian cream cheese. It’s not. Mascarpone uses whole cream and American cream cheese uses milk. So cream cheese is a lot thinner than mascarpone. Mascarpone also has a lot more flavor and a nuttier taste.
When you use mascarpone, you end up with a thicker dip that’s more flavorful. If you use American cream cheese, you get a thinner dip that’s runnier and doesn’t exactly taste right. It tastes good, but it doesn’t taste like cannoli filling. So if you serve it to people who have had cannolis before, they’re gonna smile and eat it, but they’re gonna tell you it doesn’t actually taste like the inside of a cannoli.
There are a lot of recipes that I tried to change up seasonally. Like adding red and green M&M’s onto fudge for Christmas.
I tried that with this cannoli dip recipe so I could bring a festive dessert to a Christmas party. Bad idea. The colors from the coating melted all over the tip, making it this Pepto Bismol pink color with these very strange looking chocolate pieces floating in it. It was terrible. No matter how carefully I folded the M&M’s in, they bled all over.
So, learn from my mistake, and don’t add anything with a colored candy coating in instead of mini chocolate chips. You can add something like chopped pistachio nuts (which is a popular addition to authentic cannolis). But nothing with color that can bleed.
I love our stand mixer and use it whenever I have to mix anything. But, for a long time, I didn’t have a stand mixer and just used a hand mixer any time I needed to mix something.
So, if all you have is a hand mixer, that will totally work for this dip. You may have to mix just a little bit longer than the recipe above to make sure all your ingredients combine to form a really creamy dip.
I do suggest using some sort of electric mixer rather than trying to mix this by hand for the best results. Mixing by hand doesn’t really combine the ingredients very well and instead of a creamy cannoli dip you end up with a lumpy one that’s not great.
More No Bake Dessert recipes:
Cannoli dip is great because it’s no bake, which means there’s no need to pre-heat an oven or wait for something to bake and cool. So it’s an easy sweet treat for when you want dessert after dinner or need to bring something to a party.
Our favorite no bake recipes are chocolate bark or homemade fudge. Those do require microwaving, but no baking.
We also have a really great No Bake Watermelon Cake Pops recipe that’s the perfect sweet treat for summer.
Cannoli Dip
Cannolis are great, but they get soggy if you don't enjoy them right away. That's why this Cannoli Dip recipe is so good. It's served on the side of crushed waffle cones, so nothing gets soggy. Plus, this easy dip only takes five minutes to make.
Ingredients
- 15 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese
- 8 oz. mascarpone cheese
- 1.5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Drain any excess water from the ricotta cheese.
- Put the drained ricotta cheese and mascarpone cheese into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium speed until combined, about three minutes.
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla to the stand mixer bowl and mix on low speed, about two minutes, until sugar is completely incorporated.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer.
- Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
- Sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top before serving.
Notes
The easiest way to drain the ricotta is to lay two layers of paper towels on the counter. Pour the ricotta cheese onto the paper towels. Lay a paper towel on top and push down to remove any liquid. Toss that one and do it again.
Nutrition Information
Yield
32Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 101Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 16mgSodium 43mgCarbohydrates 9gFiber 0gSugar 8gProtein 2g
Have you tried this homemade Cannoli Dip recipe? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Paula Short
Tuesday 19th of September 2023
Lisa, I've never had cannolis. This dip sounds fabulous and there are a variety of things to be dipped in it. Thanks bunches for sharing this recipe.
Stephanie
Thursday 14th of September 2023
That looks good - not thought about sweet dips before, and not sure why not!
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome
Wednesday 13th of September 2023
I love a sweet element at a party and this is perfect!!
Perfectly Imperfect Life with Lyndsey
Monday 11th of September 2023
This sounds absolutely fabulous. I can never find mascarpone cheese, but I'm pinning this in case I come across it.
Jennifer Wise
Sunday 10th of September 2023
What a great idea! This would be delicious. Pinning.