Stuffed Cannoli Cupcakes

If you’re a fan of cannoli, you’re going to fall in love with this Cannoli Cupcake Recipe. These are a fun twist on the classic Italian dessert and are so easy to customize with fun toppings. They basically have all of the goodness of cannoli with none of the work of making and frying a cannoli shell!

Ingredients 

While these Cannoli Cupcakes are super simple to make, they do require a couple of special ingredients that you may not be used to seeing in a dessert recipe. 

• Ricotta Cheese– You may have seen it in savory recipes such as lasagna, dips and even ricotta cheese fritters, but ricotta is also used in sweet recipes like Italian ricotta cheesecake and cannoli filling. You can find ricotta cheese in your local grocery store near the sour cream.
• Mascarpone Cheese– Mascarpone is basically the Italian version of American cream cheese, but it’s a bit richer and creamier because it’s made from whole cream. It makes a fabulous addition to the cannoli filling. 
• Cream Cheese– Yep, these cupcakes sure have a lot of cheese! Not a unique ingredient, but also not one you may not usually have stocked in the fridge.

From here, the baking ingredients are fairly standard.

• Dry Ingredients- flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon (another traditional cannoli flavor), fine sea salt, granulated sugar, powdered sugar
• Wet Ingredients- Vegetable oil, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract, unsalted butter (if using salted butter, omit additional salt), some people add a few grates of orange zest too
• Toppings– Mini chocolate chips and maraschino cherries, but you can leave these off or use just sprinkles or chocolate curl shavings.

How to Make  Stuffed Cannoli Cupcakes

Cannoli Filling:

1. Be sure to make the filling before you start with the cupcakes and frosting so it has time to chill in the fridge. 
2. Drain the ricotta by placing it in a colander or fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth and let it sit for several hours.
3. Mix the ricotta, mascarpone, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. Avoid over-mixing.
4. Add in the chocolate chips and mix until they are well distributed through the batter. Chill until ready to use. 

Cannoli Cupcakes:

1. Sift together flour with leaveners, salt, and cinnamon.
2. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. People tend to under blend this bit- mix well for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add other wet ingredients until combined.
4. Add flour mixture until just combined.
5. Transfer to a cupcake tin and bake until golden brown and the tops spring back lightly to the touch.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1. Beat cream cheese and butter together until fully combined.
2. Add sugar and wet ingredients, blend until smooth.

Assemble:

1. Using a little cupcake corer tool, use a strawberry huller, a piping tip (or just a regular paring knife), cut around the top of the cupcake, and pop out the small piece. 
2. Fill the hole with the frosting. 
3. Trim the replacement piece and then top again.
4. Top with the remaining frosting, chocolate chips, and a maraschino cherry.

What to Serve with Cannoli Stuffed Cupcakes

This cupcake is decadent enough to be served all on its own but it’s also perfect when paired with dalgona whipped coffee or a steamy mug of regular coffee. You can also serve it alongside other Italian treats like tiramisu and fried dough.

More Homemade Cupcake Recipes

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Made using a few baking hacks, these Small Batch Chocolate Cupcakes are the perfect easy chocolate cupcakes for when you just NEED a cupcake but not an entire batch!

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Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes

Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes are vanilla cupcakes stuffed with edible cookie dough and topped with whipped chocolate frosting. You won’t beleive how easy these are to make! 

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Carrot Cake Cupcakes

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Cannoli Cupcakes

4.66 from 20 votes

These EASY Cannoli Cupcakes are stuffed with classic cannoli filling, topped with cream cheese frosting and topped with cherries & chips.

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 13 minutes mins

Chilling/Cooling Time: 1 hour hr

Total Time: 1 hour hr 23 minutes mins

Servings: 15

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Equipment

• Cheesecloth
• 1M Wilton Star Piping Tip
• Piping Bag
• Cupcake Corer
• Muffin Tin
• Toothpicks
• Fine Mesh Strainer
• Wire Cooling Rack
• Whisk
• Stand Mixer
• Sifter

Ingredients

Filling:

• ½ cup ricotta cheese
• ½ cup mascarpone cheese
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup mini chocolate chips

Cupcake Sponge:

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 ounces cream cheese , softened
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter , softened
• 5-6 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toppings:

• mini chocolate chips
• Maraschino cherries

Instructions

Filling:

• Drain ricotta cheese in a colander or fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Lightly break apart and gently press into the sides. Allow to sit for 1-3 hours. If over 1 hour, place in the refrigerator with a bowl underneath to catch the dripping liquid.
• In a medium mixing bowl, fold together the ricotta and mascarpone cheeses. Do not overmix.
• Add in the powdered sugar vanilla and fold together until there are no dry spots remaining.
• Fold in the mini chocolate chips last. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

Cupcake Sponge:

• Preheat your oven to 350°F and add cupcake liners into a cupcake tin and set aside.
• Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to combine or use a sifter. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the butter and sugar and cream for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.
• Add the buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla and mix until just combined.
• Add in the dry mixture and mix on low speed until there are no dry spots remaining. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix for an additional 30 seconds to make sure the ingredients are fully combined, but try not to overmix.
• Fill each cupcake liner halfway with batter and gently tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
• Bake for 10-13 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in each cupcake comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the frosting by adding the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and cream for 3-4 minutes or until smooth.
• Add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, combining after each addition. Add in the vanilla last and mix until just combined.
• Add the frosting to a piping bag with a large star attachment (I use a Wilton 1M tip)

Assembly:

• Take each cupcake and use a cupcake corer, piping tip or a small knife to remove the center of each cupcake (keep the tops of what you remove).
• Fill the center of each cupcake with the cannoli filling. Trim the tops to make remove for the filling and replace the top part of the cupcake.
  
• Pipe a generous swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and top with a maraschino cherry.
• Please come back to let us know how this recipe was in the comments or ratings section!

Notes

*If using salted butter, omit additional salt. 

*Use a vanilla box cake mix, add cinnamon to dry mixture and prepare according to package instructions. 

Nutrition

Calories: 526 kcal, Carbohydrates: 69 g, Protein: 5 g, Fat: 26 g, Saturated Fat: 17 g, Trans Fat: 1 g, Cholesterol: 80 mg, Sodium: 158 mg, Potassium: 81 mg, Fiber: 1 g, Sugar: 58 g, Vitamin A: 732 IU, Vitamin C: 1 mg, Calcium: 74 mg, Iron: 1 mg

Author: Brittany Keller

Calories: 526

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: cannoli cake, cannoli cupcakes, cookie dough stuffed cupcakes

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