Turn Cannoli Into An Easy Dip With Only 5 Ingredients

Cannoli are one of the most popular and delectable desserts from Italy, with their luscious, creamy filling melding with the crunchy shell and rich chocolate chips. The tube-shaped pastry is perfect as a delectable sweet ending to a family meal — but for a big party, you can turn cannoli into a fun, quick, and easy dip with just five ingredients.

This dip is essentially cannoli filling without the shells, served with various dippers to scoop it up. It comes together in just a few minutes with no cooking involved, giving you one less thing to stress about when hosting a get-together. You'll need two cups of ricotta cheese, 8 ounces of mascarpone (or cream cheese), confectioner's sugar, vanilla extract, and mini chocolate chips. Mix the cheeses together until they're smooth, then stir in a cup of the sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla (or more to taste), plus a cup of the chips. Prepare your dippers while the mixture chills in the refrigerator, and it's ready to serve!

While this dip is super simple to make by default, some tips can make it even easier. Take the cheeses out of the refrigerator about 20 to 30 minutes before making the dip, to warm up a bit. That will make them easier to blend, which can be done with a hand mixer or a whisk. Ricotta can also be watery, so drain it ahead of time by letting it sit in a strainer for 30 minutes, stirring a few times. It's an extra step you shouldn't skip with ricotta desserts.

It's worth noting that swapping in cream cheese for mascarpone will change your cannoli dip a bit. Mascarpone is a traditional Italian dairy product that also appears in other desserts like tiramisu. It's softer and richer than American cream cheese with more than twice the milk fat, and tastes a little sweet, while cream cheese is more sour. Cream cheese is a fine substitute if you have trouble finding mascarpone, or prefer more tang in your dip.

You can add more flavors to this creamy dip with some cinnamon, or a little almond or rum extract. Garnish with sprinkled chopped pistachios or orange zest, flavors true to cannoli's Sicilian roots, or more chocolate chips or shaved chocolate. There are also a huge range of dippers to choose from. Stay closest to tradition by breaking up empty cannoli shells into dipping-size pieces, or do the same thing with waffle or sugar ice cream cones (already the perfect shortcut for cannoli). You can also keep things Italian with pizzelle cookies – even using some pro tips to make pizzelles yourself – or try some biscotti. 

Graham crackers, Biscoff cookies, and even chocolate chip cookies would also work with the rich cannoli flavors. For a fresher option, dip in fruit like apples slices or strawberries, making a kind of strawberries-and-cream and chocolate-covered strawberries mash-up. You could even go for a sweet and salty combo with plain or chocolate-drizzled pretzel rods.