Florentine Cannoli Recipe: Crisp Lace Cookie Shells With Creamy Ricotta

Florentine Cannoli

Florentine cannoli takes the crisp lace cookie you already love and turns it into a cannoli shell. Instead of rolling and frying dough, you bake thin florentines, wrap each one while it is still warm around the handle of a spatula or a whisk, and let it harden into a little tube.

Then you pipe in a creamy ricotta and chocolate chip filling. The finished shell is very thin and crunchy, and the whole project is far simpler than a traditional cannoli shell.

The appeal is easy to understand. There is no frying, which means no hot oil, no splatter, no heavy pot to scrub, and no fried smell hanging around the kitchen.

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Florentines bake in 6 to 8 minutes, they spread into delicate lacy circles on their own, and while they are warm they stay flexible enough to shape.

Once they cool, they hold that shape and they are sturdy enough to carry a thick ricotta filling without turning soggy.

Serve these for the holidays, on a birthday dessert table, or on a quiet weekend when you want something that looks impressive without spending the afternoon in the kitchen. The florentines are also very good left flat, so you can bake a batch, eat a few plain with coffee, and shape the rest into cannoli.

This article adapts the Florentine cannoli recipe from Crowded Kitchen. If you enjoy baking Italian style cookies at home, you may also like these Italian Christmas cookies.

Florentine Cannoli Ingredients

Most of what you need is already in the pantry.

The florentines take six ingredients and the filling takes five, plus whatever you want to dip the ends into. Read both groups before you start, because the ricotta needs to drain before anything else can happen.

For the florentines

• 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Use unsalted butter so you stay in control of the salt. Brown sugar is what gives the florentines their caramel flavor, and honey brings a floral note in both taste and smell.

For the best result, use real honey rather than a cheap grocery store bottle, which is sometimes blended with syrups such as corn syrup. All purpose flour is the tested choice here, and this recipe has not been tested with gluten free flour.

The salt and vanilla are small amounts, but do not skip them, because they balance the sweetness of the sugar and the honey.

For the cannoli filling

• 2 cups ricotta, drained to remove as much moisture as possible
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon orange zest (optional, but recommended)
• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
• Mini chocolate chips and finely chopped pistachios, for serving (optional)

Ricotta is the base, and draining it is the single most important step in the filling. Skip it and you end up with a thin, watery mixture that can soften the delicate florentine shells.

Powdered sugar adds the sweetness and can be adjusted up or down to your taste. Vanilla rounds out the flavor. Orange zest is technically optional, but even a small amount adds a surprising amount of flavor and pairs beautifully with ricotta, chocolate, and honey.

Mini chocolate chips go into the filling and get used again on the ends of the finished cannoli. Finely chopped pistachios are the other classic finish.

A quick note on yield and nutrition. The recipe makes about 30 cannoli. Based on the source nutrition, one cannoli has 89 calories, 10.5 g carbohydrates, 2.2 g protein, 4.5 g fat, 0.2 g fiber, 8.9 g sugar, and 34.1 mg sodium.

How to Make this Florentine Cannoli Recipe

Plan on about 30 minutes of prep and about 30 minutes of baking and shaping. Two things decide whether this goes smoothly: well drained ricotta and working quickly once the cookies come out of the oven. Everything else is straightforward.

1. Drain the ricotta first. Lay out 2 pieces of paper towel on a flat surface. Spread the ricotta in a thin layer on top of the paper towel, then top it with more paper towel and press down until the towel feels wet. Let it sit for 30 minutes, replacing the paper towel once halfway through. This removes as much moisture as possible so the filling reaches the proper consistency.
2. Preheat the oven and line your pans. Set the oven to 375 F and line two sheet pans with parchment paper. Parchment matters here, because you will slide the whole sheet off the pan later.
3. Melt the butter, sugar, and honey. In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the butter, brown sugar, and honey until everything is melted.
4. Whisk in the flour, salt, and vanilla. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the remaining florentine ingredients until no lumps remain. The mixture should look smooth and glossy.
5. Optional: chill the dough. Letting the dough cool makes it easier to work with, and 20 minutes in the freezer is a simple way to do that. Warm dough is much harder to portion neatly.
6. Portion the batter. Each dollop should be a heaping 1/2 teaspoon, which works out to about 3/4 teaspoon. Place the dollops on the prepared pans and leave at least 3 inches of space between each cookie, because these spread a lot. Smaller batches on each pan always beat crowded ones.
7. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Bake until the florentines are golden brown. As soon as they come out of the oven, carefully transfer the parchment paper with the cookies straight onto a cooling rack.
8. Shape the shells while they are warm. Let the florentines cool for about 30 seconds, just until they are cool enough to handle. Using the handle of a spatula or a whisk, ideally about 3/4 inch around, carefully wrap each florentine around the handle so the circle overlaps. They harden quickly, so keep moving.
9. Rescue any that set too fast. If a florentine stiffens before you can wrap it, pop it back in the oven for about 15 seconds to make it pliable again.
10. Mix the filling. In a mixing bowl, stir together the drained ricotta, powdered sugar, vanilla, orange zest, and mini chocolate chips until well combined. Taste it and add a little more powdered sugar if you prefer a sweeter filling.
11. Pipe and assemble. Using a round piping tip, pipe the ricotta mixture into the florentine shells. Fill one side halfway, then flip the shell and fill the other side so the whole tube is full.
12. Optional finish. Dip each end in extra mini chocolate chips or finely chopped pistachios just before serving.

Storage

The shells and the filling have very different shelf lives, so store them separately and fill the cannoli close to serving time.

• Unfilled florentine shells keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.
• Unfilled florentine shells keep in the refrigerator for up to a few weeks.
• Unfilled florentine shells keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• Filled cannoli are best eaten within a few hours.
• The ricotta filling keeps in an airtight container or a piping bag for up to 5 days.

Handle the empty shells gently. They are thin and fairly fragile, although they do firm up a little once they are filled.

The smartest approach is to keep the filling in a piping bag in the refrigerator and pipe it into the shells just before you serve them.

That way the shells stay crisp instead of softening, and you can make as many or as few as you need at one time.

Top tip

Chill the florentine dough in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes before you portion it. Cold dough is much easier to handle, and once it is firm you can roll it into small balls instead of spooning out dollops.

That gives you round, even cookies. Warm dough is sticky and awkward to shape, and the finished florentines tend to come out a little misshapen.

More tips

A few small habits make the difference between a smooth batch and a frustrating one.

• Be gentle with the shells. They are thin, crisp, and fragile, and they only become a little sturdier after they are filled.
• Give them room. Leave at least 3 inches between cookies on the pan, since they spread a great deal. Extra batches cost almost nothing because each one bakes so fast.
• Roll them immediately. Florentines harden in less than 2 minutes. If they firm up before you get to them, 15 to 20 seconds back in the oven makes them pliable again.
• Play with the toppings. Mini chocolate chips and pistachios are the classic choices, but you can also dip the ends in sprinkles, candied citrus pieces, English toffee pieces, or toasted coconut.
• Go fancier if you like. Dip the shell ends in melted chocolate, add your topping of choice, and dust the finished cannoli with powdered sugar before serving.
• Do not skip draining the ricotta. It takes 30 minutes, with the paper towel replaced once at the halfway point. Skipping it gives you a watery filling that softens the shell from the inside.

If you love the pistachio and chocolate combination here, these pistachio sandwich cookies with white chocolate are a natural next bake.

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Florentine Cannoli

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Florentine Cannoli Florentine cannoli takes the crisp lace cookie you already love and turns it into a cannoli shell. Instead of rolling and frying dough, you bake thin florentines, wrap each one while it is still warm around the handle of a spatula or a whisk, and let it harden into a little tube.

• Total Time: 60 min
• Yield: Makes ~30 cannoli

Ingredients

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Florentines
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cannoli Filling
2 cups ricotta, drained to remove as much moisture as possible
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
mini chocolate chips, for serving
finely chopped pistachios, for serving

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Instructions

Prep
1-Drain the ricotta: Drain the ricotta: Lay out 2 pieces of paper towel on a flat surface. Spread the ricotta in a thin layer on top of the paper towel. Top with more paper towel and press down until it feels wet. Let sit for 30 minutes, replacing the paper towel once halfway through. This will remove as much moisture as possible from the ricotta so the cannoli filling is the proper consistency.

Make the florentines
2-Preheat oven to 375˚F and line two: Preheat oven to 375˚F and line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
3-In a small saucepan over medium heat,: In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the butter, brown sugar and honey until melted.
4-Remove from heat and whisk in the: Remove from heat and whisk in the flour, salt and vanilla until no lumps remain.
5-Optional: Optional: Let the dough cool so it’s easier to work with (we place ours in the freezer for 20 minutes). Each dollop of batter should be a heaping ½ teaspoon (~¾ teaspoon). Place the dollops of batter on the sheet pan, making sure to leave at least 3 inches of space between each cookie. (These spread a LOT!)
6-Bake for 6-8 minutes, until golden brown: Bake for 6-8 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and carefully transfer the parchment paper + cookies to a cooling rack right away (we slide it off the pan to the cooling rack).
7-Let the florentines cool for about 30: Let the florentines cool for about 30 seconds just until they are cool enough to handle. Using the handle of a spatula or whisk (ours has a ¾-inch circumference), carefully wrap the florentine around the handle so the circle overlaps. It will harden pretty quickly.
8-Repeat with remaining florentines – if they: Repeat with remaining florentines – if they start to solidify too quickly, pop them back in the oven for 15 seconds to make them pliable again.

Make the ricotta filling and assemble
9-In a mixing bowl, mix together the: In a mixing bowl, mix together the drained ricotta, powdered sugar, vanilla, orange zest and mini chocolate chips until well combined.
10-Using a round piping tip, pipe the: Using a round piping tip, pipe the ricotta mixture into the florentine shells. Fill one side halfway, then flip and fill the other side.
11-Optional: Optional: dip each end in more mini chocolate chips or chopped pistachios. Enjoy!

Last Step:

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• Prep Time: 30 min
• Cook Time: 30 min
• Method: bake

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 cannoli
• Calories: 89
• Sugar: 8.9 g
• Sodium: 34.1 mg
• Fat: 4.5 g
• Carbohydrates: 10.5 g
• Fiber: 0.2 g
• Protein: 2.2 g