Gluten-Free Chocolate Dipped Cannoli's

Who doesn’t love an authentic cannoli? This is one of my favorite Italian desserts that my Nonna would always make. There are many variations of a cannoli but a traditional Sicilian Cannoli contains a sweet ricotta filling with a flakey, crispy shell. I’ve taken it upon myself to create a healthier alternative to your traditional cannoli. Aren’t you excited??!!

You can make this decadent homemade Italian cannoli at home without all the hard work with the help from New Grains Gluten Free Bakery. You can order their Gluten-Free Cannoli Dough and they will ship it right to your door step. It doesn’t get much easier than that!  Their gluten-free products have the simplest, wholesome ingredients which is why I love using their products. 

The instructions for the Cannoli Tubes suggest frying them in canola oil but I decided to bake mine instead using an egg wash to create a golden brown, crispy exterior. The secret behind this magic egg wash is what is known as the Maillard Reaction. When exposed to extreme heat, the proteins from the egg wash and the sugar from the pastry dough create a reaction, yielding our desired golden brown appearance. This egg wash also holds another function, binding together the edges of the dough! 
As for the filling, I’ve opted out of the traditional sweet ricotta filling and created chickpea cookie dough to stuff inside of these bad boys. That makes this treat a good source of protein, fiber, magnesium and folate. What better excuse to indulge in a cannoli?? 

I used the top of a mason jar to cut out circles from my dough then rolled the dough in one direction making the circles into ovals. 

Use your egg wash to bind the edges of the dough together. 

Once their baked and cooled you can dip them into your melted chocolate wafers! 

Yields 12 Cannolis


Ingredients:
1 package Gluten-Free Cannoli Dough from New Grains Gluten-Free Bakery
1 15oz can chickpeas (no salt added)
1/2 cup egg whites
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips 
1/2 cup chocolate melting wafers 
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt


Directions:

For the Cannoli Tubes

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees 
2. Roll out your Gluten-Free Cannoli Dough into about 1/16th of an inch
3. Cut the dough into circles the diameter of your cannoli tubes (I used mason jar lids as cookie cutters)
4. Stretch and roll the dough in one direction, making the circles into ovals
5. Loosely wrap one oval piece of dough around your cannoli tube
6. Seal the overlapping edges where they meet with beaten egg white wash
7. Repeat with remaining dough and place onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
8. Brush each Cannoli Tube with the egg white wash and place into the oven for 10-12 minutes (Until they become golden-brown)
9. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
10. Once they are cooled, heat the chocolate melting wafers in the microwave at 30 second intervals for 2 minutes (stirring in between)
11. Dip the ends of your cannoli tubes into the melted chocolate and place back onto the parchment paper to cool

Chickpea Cookie Dough Filling

1. Puree the chickpeas in a blender
2. Add the peanut butter, vanilla extract, honey and salt
3. Fold in the mini chocolate chips
4. Use a pastry bag to pipe the filling into the shells

I highly recommend filling them right before serving them. If you won’t be serving them all right away, store the remaining unfilled shells in an airtight container until they are ready to be filled.