Chocolate Cannoli Recipe
Authentic Sicilian chocolate cannoli: crispy homemade shells piped with creamy chocolate ricotta filling. Step-by-step recipe + tips.
Chocolate cannoli are a traditional Sicilian dessert loved around the world for their mix of crunchy fried shells and rich, creamy filling.
This recipe walks you through both parts: the crispy cocoa cannoli shells made from scratch, and a creamy chocolate cannoli filling made with just three ingredients.
The dough for the shells is made with simple ingredients such as flour, Marsala wine, and cocoa powder, then rolled thin and fried until blistered and crisp.
The classic ricotta filling for cannoli is made with just cheese and sugar, but it often includes chocolate, candied fruit, or nuts.
In this version, melted dark chocolate is whipped into the ricotta for a filling that tastes like a cross between chocolate mousse and cheesecake.
Growing up in Messina, the Sicilian city where chocolate cannoli were invented, my favorite Sunday treat was chocolate cannoli from the best pastry shop in town.
Since moving abroad, I've started making Sicilian cannoli at home and I'm so happy with the results!
Trust me, once you try this traditional recipe for chocolate cannoli, you won't need to travel all the way to Sicily for an authentic taste.
Why you'll love this recipe
- A complete homemade chocolate cannoli recipe: crispy cocoa shells and a creamy 3-ingredient chocolate ricotta filling.
- The key tips to avoid the most common mistakes: runny or grainy filling, thick chewy shells, and soggy cannoli.
- Make-ahead friendly. Shells and filling can be prepared days in advance, then filled just before serving.
Jump to:
What are cannoli?
Cannoli is one of the most loved Sicilian desserts in the world, together with granita and cassata.
The origin of the name "cannoli" most probably comes from the little tubes used to fry the shells.
Originally, sticks of sugar canes ( "canna da zucchero" in Italian) were used to give cannoli their shape. Nowadays, we use these stainless steel little tubes.
The origin of cannoli dates back to the time when Arabs ruled in Sicily, and they first appeared in the Sicilian town of Caltanissetta.
The recipe was then perfected in Palermo, but it was in Messina that the chocolate cannoli recipe made its first appearance, and that's the recipe I will be sharing today.
Cannoli were traditionally served during Carnival season (just like chiacchiere cookies), but today they're available all year round.
Chocolate cannoli ingredients
The beauty of this chocolate cannoli recipe is you can make a showstopping Italian dessert with just a handful of ingredients.
Here's a list of the ingredients you will need:
Cannoli shells ingredients:
- Flour: I use Italian flour 00 or regular all-purpose flour.
- Sugar: Caster sugar or raw cane sugar both work.
- Vinegar: Just a tablespoon of white vinegar keeps the dough tender and helps create those classic bubbles.
- Lemon: You'll need lemon zest, so iI recommend using an unwaxed organic lemon.
- Butter: Traditionally cannoli shells are made with lard, but cold butter gives equally crisp results.
- Cocoa powder: Use your favorite high-quality cocoa powder. Both natural and Dutch-processed work, and it gives the shells their dark color and a subtle chocolate note.
- Eggs: The yolks go into the dough. The white is used to seal the shells before frying.
- Marsala: Marsala wine gives the dough a lovely sweet, aromatic note and helps make the shells extra crispy. You can substitute dry white wine if necessary.
Chocolate cannoli filling ingredients:
- Ricotta: Use fresh whole sheep or cow's milk ricotta. Make sure you strain overnight before use.
- Icing sugar: Opt for icing sugar that doesn't contain cornstarch, or make your own powdered sugar in a blender.
- Chocolate: Pick a high-quality 70% dark chocolate for the best flavor.
How to make chocolate cannoli
Below you can find a quick overview of the step-by-step process to make the best chocolate cannoli at home!
Scroll down until the end of the post for the full printable recipe
- Combine the dough ingredients, and knead until you have you a smooth dough. Wrap and rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Prepare the cannoli filling by mixing the ricotta until smooth, then whisk in the melted chocolate and powdered sugar. Transfer to a piping bag and refrigerate until needed.
- Divide the dough into pieces, and roll each piece as thin as possible, using a pasta machine if available. Cut into 10 cm/4-inch circles, wrap each circle around a cannoli tube, brushing with egg white to seal the top edge.
- Fry one cannoli at a time, until it's golden brown. Remove from the oil and transfer on kitchen paper, then carefully remove from the mold. Fill each cannoli with the ricotta filling and serve immediately.
Cannoli filling variations
- Chocolate chip cannoli: Skip the melted chocolate and fold mini chocolate chips into the sweetened ricotta.
- Double chocolate: Make the chocolate filling as written, then fold in a handful of mini chocolate chips for texture.
- Orange and chocolate: Add finely grated orange zest or chopped candied orange peel, a traditional Sicilian pairing.
- Different toppings: Instead of pistachios, dip the ends in chocolate chips, chopped hazelnuts, or candied cherries.
- Leftover filling: Serve any extra filling as a cannoli dip with broken shells, cookies, or fresh strawberries.
Storage tips
I always recommend storing the cannoli shells and the filling separately.
Cannoli shells: Keep them at room temperature in an airtight container lined with paper towel, which absorbs excess moisture and keeps them crispy. They keep for up to 5 days.
Chocolate cannoli filling: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Filled cannoli are best eaten straight away.
Cannoli recipe tips
- You can make the cannoli shell dough up to 3 days ahead and keep it wrapped in the fridge.
- Make sure the butter is very cold. This helps you get crispy shells.
- The dough needs to be rolled very thinly, so I recommend using a pasta machine if you have one.
- For the characteristic bubbles on the shells, wrap each disk around the tube and fry it straight away.
- Keep the oil at 360°F/180°C. If the oil is cooler, the shells take longer to fry, absorb more oil, and turn out softer and less crisp.
- Fill the cannoli right before serving, otherwise the shells lose their crunch.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Skipping the ricotta draining. Undrained ricotta gives you a loose filling that soaks into the shells within minutes.
- Adding hot chocolate to the ricotta. Let the melted chocolate cool to lukewarm first, and add it gradually.
- Using granulated sugar in the filling. It won't dissolve in cold ricotta and leaves a grainy texture. Always use powdered sugar.
- Rolling the dough too thick. Thick dough fries up hard and chewy instead of light and crackly. You should almost be able to see through it.
- Brushing egg white where the dough touches the tube. Seal only the overlapping edge, or the shell will stick to the mold.
- Frying at the wrong temperature. Use a thermometer. Too cool and the shells are greasy, too hot and they brown before they crisp.
- Filling too early. Even perfect shells soften once filled, so pipe them just before serving.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, as long as you keep the components separate. The dough keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days, the fried shells keep at room temperature for several days, and the filling keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days. Fill just before serving.
Use a piping bag with a large plain tip, or a sturdy food bag with one corner cut off. Pipe from one end of the shell toward the center, then turn it around and fill from the other end so the cream reaches all the way through.
This recipe is developed for frying. You may bake them in the oven, but Bbaked shells won't develop the classic blistered, crackly texture.
More Italian desserts to try
If you've fallen for cannoli, you're in for a treat, because Sicilian and Italian desserts are my favorite thing to bake.
For another classic pastry from the south, my Zeppole di San Giuseppe are just as fun to fill and pipe.
Still have ricotta in the fridge? Use it up in my zesty Lemon Ricotta Cake or my super easy Ricotta Cheesecake, which needs just three ingredients.
And if you're after something to serve with an espresso, you can't go wrong with chewy Amaretti, Baci di Dama hazelnut cookies, Pizzicati, or my simple Italian Butter Cookies.
Hosting a crowd? My Classic Tiramisu Without Eggs is always the first dessert to disappear, the famous Hangover Cake is a guaranteed conversation starter, and around the holidays, my Pandoro Christmas Tree Cake makes the easiest showstopper.
DID YOU TRY THIS RECIPE?
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Recipe
Chocolate Cannoli Recipe
Ingredients
For the cannoli filling:
- 600 g fresh ricotta cheese, approx 2 cups + ½ cup
- 200 g dark chocolate, approx 1 cup
- 120 g powdered sugar, approx 1 cup
- 2 tablespoon pistachio, finely chopped
For the cannoli shells
- 240 g all-purpose flour or flour 00, approx 1 cups + ½ cup
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- a pinch of sea salt
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 40 g cold butter, cut into cubes, approx 3 tablespoons
- 60 ml Marsala wine, approx ¼ cup
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 2 large egg yolks, approx 43g/1.5oz in total
- 1 egg white, for brushing
- 1 liter sunflower oil, approx 4 ½ cups, for frying
Instructions
For the cannoli filling:
- Start by draining your ricotta. Place the ricotta in a fine mesh strainer and set it over a larger bowl. Let sit in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl in the microwave at 30-second intervals, until it's completely melted. Allow the melted chocolate to cool slightly.
- Place the ricotta in a large bowl and whisk with a hand mixer for 10-20 seconds, until creamy and fluffy. Whisk in the powdered sugar, then slowly incorporate the dark chocolate, until fully combined.
- Prepare a piping bag or a small plastic bag with a cut corner and fill it with the ricotta filling. Store in the fridge until ready to use.
For the cannoli shells:
- In a large bowl, combine flour, lemon zest, sugar, salt, and cocoa powder. Incorporate the butter into the flour mixture using your hands until the mixture reaches a sandy texture.
- Add Marsala wine, vinegar and egg yolks, mixing until a dough comes together. Give the dough a few kneads in the bowl, it will feel very dry at the beginning, the more you knead it the more it smoothens. Flatten the dough into a circular shape, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Divide the dough into pieces, and roll each piece as thin as possible, using a pasta machine if available. Cut out circles approximately 10cm/4-inch in diameter. Wrap each circle around a cannoli tube, brushing the edges with egg white to seal them.
- Pour the vegetable oil into a deep saucepan until it's about one-third full and heat the oil to 360℉/180℃, use a kitchen thermometer to check the temperature.
- Fry the cannoli individually, by placing them on a slotted spoon and submerging them into the oil. Fry for about a minute, or until golden-brown, then remove from the oil and place on kitchen paper to absorb the oil in excess. Let the cannoli shells cool completely then carefully remove the cannoli tubes.
- Pipe the cannoli filling into each cannoli shell, then garnish with chopped pistachio, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Recipe published in November 2014 and updated in October 2026
Just made this and this is the best recipe for cannoli shells and filling I have ever tried! Thank you 🙂
That looks awesome! I've never tried chocolate cannoli but they sound great. 🙂
Oh yes you should really really try it! It s sicilian most favorite dessert, there must be a reason.. we re such foodies in sicily 🙂
These look fantastic! I love cannoli, but I've never made them for myself. Your recipe looks quick and simple, but ever so elegant. And as you've said, it also looks lighter than many recipes. I'm looking forward to trying these!
Jamie I'm so glad you liked it 🙂 Even if I'm sicilian, I only recently started to make cannoli by myself, and it's so satisfying!! When you try to make them, let me know the result 🙂