homemade cannoli

Making cannoli looks tricky, but it’s pretty simple, especially with this cannoli shell recipe. You’ll love this fabulous Italian dessert!

Cannoli Shells

all-purpose flour

sugar

salt

unsalted butter (cold)

egg yolk ((reserve the white))

marsala wine

vegetable oil (or other frying oil)

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and sprinkle over the flour mixture. Pulse the food processor several more times, until the mixture resembles coarse sand and the pieces of butter are no longer visible.

Add egg yolk and marsala wine to the flour/butter mixture and pulse until the dough comes together, forming large clumps.

On a lightly floured surface, turn out the dough and knead for several minutes, until it is smooth and pliable. Pat the dough into a round, place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Fill a large Dutch oven 5-6 inches deep with vegetable oil or other high smoke point frying oil. Heat over medium high until the oil reaches 350-360°F. *You will need to adjust the burner temp regularly during frying to maintain the oil’s temperature in this range.

Lightly spray a bit of non-stick oil on cannoli molds to ensure the cannoli shells do not stick.

Divide the dough into 2 or 3 smaller pieces. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough as thinly as possible.

Use a 4 ½-inch round biscuit cutter to cut as many circles from the dough as possible. Gather scraps and re-roll to cut additional circles. Gently wrap one circle around each cannoli mold/tube, using a bit of the reserved egg white to seal the two edges where they overlap on the form. (See NOTES)

Carefully lower the cannoli shells down into the hot oil. Fry, gently moving the tubes around in the oil to ensure the shells brown evenly on all sides. Lift from the oil and transfer to paper towels to drain grease.

With a kitchen towel to grip the cannoli in one hand and a pair of tongs in the other hand, grip the cannoli form and pull it from the center of the cannoli shell. This should be done while the cannoli is still warm.

Transfer the cannoli shells to a wire cooling rack and allow them to cool completely before adding any filling. Unfilled shells may be stored in an airtight container for a day or two.

How to make authentic tasting Sicilian Cannoli at home! This recipe will show you how to make the best homemade cannoli shells that are crispy, sweet and delicious filled with a classic ricotta filling.

Homemade Sicilian Cannoli

Italian 00 flour

tbsp cold butter ((55 grams))

egg egg

sugar ((50 grams) granulated or caster sugar)

marsala ((60 milliliters))

cinnamon

cocoa powder

tbsp white wine vinegar

Sunflower oil (for frying)

ricotta (drained (1 kg))

lemon

Candied orange (nuts or chocolate chips)

Before starting, place the ricotta in a sieve over a bowl and store it in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight if possible. It’s important to drain the ricotta or it’ll be too soft for filling the cannoli.

Add the flour, sugar, cinnamon and cocoa powder to a large bowl and mix together until thoroughly combined.

Cut the cold butter into cubes then work it into the flour mixture with your finger until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Make a well in the middle of flour and add the beaten egg, vinegar and marsala. Mix everything together with a fork until a rough dough forms.

Tip the dough onto a clean work surface and knead for 7-10 minutes. This is the secret to getting all those bubbles in your cannoli shells.

Once kneaded, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Alternatively you can leave the dough overnight.

Making the cannoli dough

Set up your pasta machine then heat a large pot of oil (2-3 inches deep) to 356F (180C) using a candy thermometer.

Lightly dust your work surface and pasta machine with flour. Cut the dough in half then flatten one half of the dough so it can fit through the widest setting of your pasta machine (usually number 0).

Pass the dough through the widest setting then fold one end of the dough over the other (see photos 7 &amp; 8). Pass the dough through the widest setting again and repeat 3-4 times.

Now your dough is ready for rolling, pass the dough through the second widest setting (usually number 1) and continue until the dough is half of ⅛ inch thick (2mm). If using a Marcato Atlas pasta machine this is number 6.

Rolling out the dough

If you don’t have a pasta machine you can simply roll the dough out with a rolling pin on a light floured surface until very thin (2mm or half of ⅛ inch if possible).

Rolling pin method (optional)

Cut out rounds using a 4-5 inch round cutter (you can make them smaller or bigger if you like). Working in batches, wrap the cut out dough around a cannoli tube using a tiny dot of egg white to seal.

Carefully, fry the cannoli in the hot oil until golden brown and puffed up. Drain on kitchen paper. If you don’t have many cannoli tubes, be careful they aren’t too hot before re-using.

Shaping

Put the drained ricotta and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl and mix together until combined. Fill a piping bag with the mixture and pipe it into the cannoli shells. Add a slice of candied orange to each end, serve.

Make the filling

You can fold chocolate chips into the ricotta if you like or sprinkle nuts on the ends instead of candied orange.

Filling options

Top notch recipe. I you follow the instructions how can you fail? Mine turned out perfectly yet again. I wish I could post a photo of how they turned out.

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Excellent. Very similar to my mom’s recipe (from Sicily). My mom used shortening instead of butter, whiskey instead of Marsala and does not use vinegar or cocoa powder. I was curious to see how your recipe compared to hers. I didn’t have Marsala so I used whiskey. Classic smell of my moms dough and I’m glad I used it. Memories came flooding back. That was the only change I made to your recipe. First off, dough texture was spot on and very easy to work with. I’m not sure the cocoa powder made any difference so I may just leave that out next time since I couldn’t detect it on taste. Did I say I loved working with this dough?

Anyway, my Mercato pasta setting only goes up to 7. I ran it through 1 (widest setting on my machine) 2 times then once on each setting and stopped at 6. Perfecto!! Perfect thickness and the dough was fantastic to roll. 😃

Now, the only other difference my mom and sister do is they cut the dough in 3” squares. That’s how I grew up making our shells but I decided to dog out my round cutter and try that. I actually liked working with the circle.

This dough is amazing.

Next, I used my little fry daddy. Put 2-3 in at a time. My first two or three batches were a little dark. It had been a while since the last time I made these, like 30 years. If anyone wants to know, 40-42 seconds in the fry daddy was the magic number. Beautiful light golden color and the shells were perfectly bubbled all over. I was so proud of myself. I’ve only ever made them with my mom.

I used my brothers filling recipe so I can’t rate that but when it was time to serve, I filled with both custard and ricotta filling and dipped in sprinkles and crushed roasted pumpkin seeds.

These shells did not disappoint. Delicate and flaky. Beautiful flavor and looked and tasted just like my moms. I could not tell a difference. This is my new recipe as I’d prefer butter or shortening. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Yes there are things you need to experiment and figure out for yourself... you definitely had shells that were way too thick.
I added slightly more wine (any delicious red wine will do) and maybe an extra tbsp of butter. We made ours vegan and they turned out fantastic.(vegan butter, vegan ricotta, just egg etc.)
You need to roll dough out very thin and laminate (fold and roll) it many times to get the light and flakey bubbles. 
Oil temp is a tricky on as i didnt have a thermometer. I would say as soon as you see the slightest bit of smoke it's too hot. You wand a good amount of rapid ripples in the oil. Test with a chunk of dough. We only fried for 25-35 seconds while holding them down with a handled fry spoon because the bubbles were floating them to the top. I only did 1 or 2 at a time. On a Cuisinart pasta machine I rolled out to a 6. I cut it into roughly 4×4" squares and used just egg to seal. Metal tubes work best as they help cook the inside of the shell ensuring crispness.
It really takes some time to dial it in and know what you like. It helpsnto be italian and have tried maaany cannolis in your life and in travles. I dialed back the sugar in the ricotta filling quite a bit. If making non vegan and cheese from scratch- a mix of sheeps milk and goats milk ricotta is best.Always drain and strain ricotta. You want dry and fluffy texture- the sugar wets the filling a bit adding to the chances of a soggy shell. Hope this helps.

I've made cannoli several times, including at a cooking course in Sicily. This is the most successful recipe I have tried. The shells were perfectly bubbly and crisp, just like the best Sicilian ones. Thank you for the recipe and method.

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