CANNOLI COOKIES RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes or until light and creamy. Add egg, zest and extract; beat well. Combine flour, salt and baking soda in a separate bowl. Gradually add to wet ingredients; beat in on low speed. By hand, stir in chocolate morsels.Place sugar on a shallow plate. Roll 44 level Tablespoons of dough into balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place several inches apart on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Press flat into 2 inch rounds with the bottom of a glass (dip bottom in sugar if it sticks).Bake one sheet at a time on center rack for 8 1/2 to 9 minutes or until mostly firm on tops and golden brown around edges. Cool on sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer to cooling racks to cool completely. Flip half of the cookies over, placing their flat sides up. Whip the ricotta, butter, cream cheese, orange juice, zest and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Add the powdered sugar; beat until smooth and creamy. Spoon mixture into a large piping bag fitted with a small flat or round tip. Pipe a generous amount of filling evenly onto the flat sides of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, flat sides down. Press together gently. Refrigerate uncovered for 1 hour to set filling.Heat cream and zest in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until bubbling at the edges. Add chocolate morsels and extract. Whisk until smooth. Remove from heat. Tip pan slightly and dip about 1/3 of one end of each cookie evenly into ganache. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Lightly coat top of ganache portions with sprinkles. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until ganache is set. Once set, store cookies layered with parchment in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Steps:

• Tip the flour, sugar, bicarb, cinnamon and cocoa (if using) into a bowl with a pinch of salt. Add the butter and rub it into the dry ingredients until there are no more lumps. Mix the egg yolk and marsala and add this to the bowl, then mix the whole lot together and knead to a smooth dough. Wrap and rest in the fridge. (Can be made ahead and fried the next day.)
• Fill a deep-fat fryer, wok or deep saucepan a third of the way up with oil. Cut the dough into pieces and, working one piece at a time, roll them out as thinly as you can – use a pasta machine if you have one. Heat the oil and keep an eye on it until it reaches 180C. Lay the dough out on a lightly floured surface and cut out circles about 11cm across. Wrap each one around a cannoli mould, using some of the egg white to stick the top edge down and they're ready for frying. It's important to take care when cooking with hot oil. Read our guide on how to deep-fry safely to avoid accidents in the kitchen.
• Deep-fry the cannoli (with their moulds) one at a time, making sure they cook all over. They should take about 45-60 seconds in all and should be visibly golden brown (keep cooking a little longer if they aren't) and the dough will bubble and blister. Carefully take each one out of the oil using the tongs and shake the cannoli off the mould very carefully onto kitchen paper. As you fry each one, make sure the oil stays at 180C at all times and doesn’t get any hotter. These will keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container.
• When the cannoli are cold, dip the end of each one into chocolate, then dip some of those into the pistachios. Leave to cool and harden. Beat the ricotta and mascarpone together, then stir in the candied peel and sugar. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a wide star nozzle and pipe it into the cannoli. Serve soon after filling.