Delicious and crispy cannoli made the easy way and without a lot of fat? Yes, that is possible if you bake them in an Air Fryer!
This wonderful recipe is perfect for those of you who love the famous Italian cookies but hate the idea of dip frying. Read on to find out how to make perfect Air Fryer cannoli with Ricotta Filling at home!
Why is this recipe good
I've always wanted to make cannoli but I am not comfortable with frying in a lot of oil. That's why I have delayed for ages making them.
But the air fryer was the best solution for my frying phobia! Baked in this wonderful oven, cannoli become crispy and tasty, just as the fried ones, but with much less fat. I am so happy with this recipe and you surely would love it if you try it out!
What ingredients you need
The dough requires just few simple ingredients: all-purpose flour, butter, salt, sugar, cocoa powder, egg, vinegar, marsala wine (or another liquor to add some flavour) and a bit of water to make the dough.
For the frosting and decoration you need ricotta, powdered sugar, ground pistachio and chocolate chips.
You will find the complete list of ingredients with their quantities below the post, in the recipe card.
Preparation tips
The hardest part of making cannoli is to roll the dough very thinly: about 1/12-1/10 inch or 2-2,5 mm. I used my pasta machine for this. You can, of course, do it by hand, with a rolling pin, it would just take you a bit more time.
The frying temperature for the cannoli is 400º F/ 200º C The frying time depends on the thickness of the dough and on your air fryer. Start with 5 minutes and increase to 7-8, if you find them not perfectly golden. In my Philips Air Fryer the ideal frying time is 6-7 minutes.
Filling & Decoration
The filling of this cannoli is just ricotta mixed with powdered sugar. It is simple and at the same time incredibly delicious in combination with the cannoli shells.
To make the taste and texture of the cannoli even better, sprinkle chocolate chips and ground pistachio on every side. With them every bite would be like a small explosion of tastes in your mouth!
Storing
You can store the filled cannoli in airtight containers for 2-3 days. Keep in mind that with the filling inside, they would loose their crispiness after the first day.
If you want to make them ahead and keep them perfectly crispy, store the cooled shells in airtight containers for up to a week. It is best if you prepare the filling right before serving. In any case it would keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Freezing
Can you freeze cannoli? Certainly but I don't recommend you doing it after filling them. You can freeze separately the cannoli shells (in ziplock bags) and the ricotta filling (in airtight container) for up to 3 months.
I am so excited with this recipe and I hope you will love it as well! Let me know in the comments what you think about it. If you made it, please share your experience!
Here are few more recipes using ricotta cheese that you might like:
- Ricotta Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
- Pumpkin, Ricotta and Quinoa muffins
- Honey Cake with Ricotta frosting and Figs
📝 Recipe
Air Fryer Cannoli
Ingredients
For the cannoli Shells:
- 2 cups/ 240 g all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp/ 25 g butter
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tbsp/ 30 g sugar
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoon marsala wine, see notes
- ½ tablespoon vinegar
- 3 tablespoon water
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
For filling and topping:
- 2 cups/ 500 g ricotta
- 1 cup/ 120 g icing sugar , + more for sprinkling
- ¼ cup/ 30 g ground pistachio
- ⅓ cup/ 30 g chocolate chips
Instructions
Cannoli Shells:
- In a bowl combine flour, sugar, salt and cocoa and mix well. Add butter and make crumbs with your hands. Add the rest of the ingredients and make a dough: it shouldn't be very soft.
- Leave the dough covered for 2 hours in the fridge.
- Roll the dough about 1/ 12-1/10 inch thin /2-2,5 mm. Cut out 4-inch/ 10 cm circles from it.
- Roll every circle around a cannoli mould. Use water to seal the opposite sides together.
- Grease the cannoli with oil and fry them for 5-7 minutes at 200ºC/ 400º F in Air Fryer.
Filling:
- Whip the ricotta with the icing sugar.
- Fill the cannoli, using a piping bag: pipe from both sides, until the shells are filled.
- Sprinkle ground pistachio and chocolate chips at the sides.
- Sprinkle the cannoli with icing sugar on top.
Notes
- Marsala wine can be substituted by other flavourful liquor or by vanilla or rum extract if you prefer these cannoli to be alcohol-free.
- Rolling the dough: if you have pasta machine, it can be helpful to roll the dough to the desired thickness. Otherwise you can use just a rolling pin which is still ok but might take a bit longer time.
- The frying time would vary depending on your air fryer model. I used Philips air fryer and it took me 6-7 minutes. You may want to test with the first cannoli starting at 5 minutes and increasing accordingly.
- Store the filled cannoli 2-3 days in airtight containers in the fridge. Beware that they would loose their crispness after the first day.
- You can also make the shells ahead and store them in dry airtight containers at room temperature for up to a week.
- Ricotta: depending on the brand, seems like some kinds of ricotta are more humid even watery. In such case you can drain the ricotta with a cheesecloth. To avoid this I recommend Italian brands like Sterilgarda or Alto Adige which are thick and don't need to be drained.
Amy says
If I omit the cocoa powder, will I compromise the dough texture or consistency?
Daniela Lambova says
Hi Amy, I think you can skip it without any issues. In case you feel that the dough is sticky, you can always add an additional tbsp flour.
Kathleen Friedman says
Can these be frozen? If not it's VERY difficult to make 15 cannoli when you live alone. I tried playing with the numbers, but, I always ended up u
With a fractional part of an egg or a fractional part of a cannoli. Any ideas?
Daniela says
Hi Kathleen, the shells can be frozen but without being filled. The last part of the post before the recipe explains it: you can freeze the shells in ziplock bags or in plastic containers.
I hope that helps! I see you left three stars and I was wondering if you found anything in the recipe that was not right?
bill says
the inside was runny, the shell was really good
Daniela says
Hi Bill,
I am glad you liked the shells! If the filling was runny, that means that the ricotta might not have been the best quality. Good ricotta is creamy and a bit grainy but not runny.
To avoid runny filling when ricotta is not the best quality, it could help draining it a bit in a cheese cloth.
Thank you
Daniela
Nancylee Saffiote Lopez says
My Sicilian Mom would ALWAYS wrap ricotta in cheese cloth and suspend it with a wooden spoon over a bowl to drain…a couple hours or overnight before using in cannoli filling or lasagna. This removed excess moisture. The times I didn’t take this step, the results were runny. Try it!
I LOVE the air fryer idea!
Daniela says
Hi Nancylee, that is a very useful tip!
The ricotta I normally use, however, does not to seem to need draining. I always buy original Italian ricotta, usually Sterilgarda or Brimi. I will add your suggestion in the comments though, since the different brands might have different level of moisture.
Thank you!