One of my favorite places in the whole entire world is Mike’s Pastry Shop in Boston. Located on the North End of Harvard Square, this place has a line out the door at 11:00 pm. They have dozens of flavors of cannoli’s, but I’m a classic kinda gal. (I’m also a pistachio and mocha kinda gal too because I need to eat three every time I go…)
The combo of ricotta cheese, chocolate, and the crunchy shell is just to die for. It’s not an overly sweet dessert, and it’s entirely underrated. In search of more cannoli flavor in my life, I developed a recipe I’m SUPER proud of.
Drum roll please…CANNOLI ROLLS
These rolls have all the flavors of a cannoli, deconstructed into a soft, doughy breakfast treat. Move over cinnamon rolls, cannoli rolls have arrived.
Made from a traditional roll dough, I developed a filling that will bring you back to that traditional Boston cannoli taste, in a decadent, breakfast style. These are easy enough to whip up for a lazy Sunday morning, but fancy enough to bring to a holiday brunch.
Historically, I’ve been intimidated by any kind of bread dough. This dough is so easy to whip together, the only time-consuming part is waiting for it to rise! It’s super easy to manage, but if you want to feed a crowd be sure to double the recipe.
Three tricks to making the BEST homemade bread dough…
- Rapid-rise yeast. You’ll save so much time, just trust me!
- Warm temperatures. Let your dough rise in a sunny room, or even in your oven turned to the lowest temperature possible (usually 175 F). This will make it rise much faster.
- Do NOT over knead it! 2-3 minutes TOPS. Over kneading breaks it down and ruins the enzymes needed for a nice, fluffy rise.
Another unusual trick my Mom taught me, is to always cut dough with dental floss instead of a knife. This keeps the dough from ripping, or the fillings from spilling out all over the place. It’s also quick. (Don’t worry if your floss is mint flavored, it won’t actually change the flavor of your rolls)
See? Pretty, evenly cut rolls, without any loss of cannoli filling.
These rolls are seriously so freaking good, it’s one of my favorite recipes I’ve blogged so far. I conquered my fear of dough, and I found a new Weekend fav in the process!
Cannoli Rolls
Equipment
- Dough Hook Attachment for KitchenAid
- Dental Floss
- Dish Towel
Ingredients
Rolls
- 3.5 Cups White Flour
- 1 Cup Warm Milk (NOT hot!)
- 1 Egg whisked
- 1/4 Cup Melted Butter
- 5 TBS Sugar
- 2.5 tsp Rapid-Rise Yeast (also called "Instant")
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
Filling
- 1.5 Cups Ricotta Cheese
- 1 Egg
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 2 Crushed Waffle Cones
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Icing
- 3.5 Cups Powdered Sugar
- 1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 Cup Milk or Heavy Cream
Instructions
Prepare the Yeast
- Combine the warm milk, melted butter, 5 TBS sugar, and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Set aside and let stand for 15 minutes. You'll know it's done when it's bubbly.
Make the Dough
- When the yeast is done, whisk in 1 egg, followed by the flour, then salt. If you have one, use a dough hook to mix it together, as it will go much faster. Dough will be sticky to the touch.
- On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for approximately 3 minutes.
- Coat a bowl with cooking spray or butter, and put the ball of dough into the bowl, covering with a wet dish towel. Let rise for 45-60 minutes at room temperature, or the warmest place in your house. It's done when it is twice it's original size.
Filling
- In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, 1 egg, 1/2 C sugar, and vanilla.
- Crush 2 waffle cones into small pieces (not dust!) and set aside, with the chocolate chips.
Assemble the Rolls
- Grease a 9×13 baking dish, and Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
- Again on your lightly floured surface, roll your dough into a 9×13 rectangle.
- Spread the ricotta mixture evenly across the rectangle.
- Sprinkle on chocolate chips, and waffle cone pieces.
- Starting length-wise, roll your rectangle dough into itself, covering the layer of filling. Roll it as tightly as you can, until it becomes a nice round tube. Press the ends together to keep the filling in, and seal the seam with a tiny bit of water on your fingers.
- Using your dental floss, pinch the rolls into 12 even pieces. Start with the floss underneath the roll, then pull the two sides together and cross them over. You CAN use a knife, but this is a much cleaner way to cut the rolls without ripping the dough.
- Assemble the rolls in your baking dish, placed as evenly apart as possible.
- Place your wet dishtowel over the top of the baking dish, and let your rolls rise again for 30 minutes, or until they're double the size they started.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until just barely golden brown.
Frosting
- Combine the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and milk or heavy cream in a mixer. Add powdered sugar or milk until you have the consistency you'd like. The measurements I've provided give you a thicker icing consistency that drizzles well, but sets up fast.
- Pour the icing over the rolls about 10 minutes after they come out of the oven. If desired, top with more crushed waffle cones. Serve hot.
Notes
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