Mini Cannoli Cups

Ingredients

• 2 refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box
• 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese, strained
• 1 cup mascarpone cheese
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• Dash of lemon juice
• Mini chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Combine the cinnamon and turbinado sugar in a small bowl.
3. Unroll one room temperature pie crust onto lightly floured surface or cutting board.
4. Sprinkle the dough with half the cinnamon sugar mixture.
5. Using a rolling pin, flatten the dough until it’s about 1/8 inch thick.
6. Use a 2-1/2 inch round biscuit cutter, round cookie cutter, or a cup, cut out roughly 24 rounds of pie crust (you will need to re-roll the dough a few times).
7. Place the rounds in a ungreased mini muffin tin. Use your fingers to press the dough to fit the pan.
8. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until the cups are golden brown.
9. Remove the cups from the oven snd allow to cool for 15 minutes.
10. Repeat this process with the other pie crust.
11. In a medium bowl, mix together the strained ricotta, mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract until creamy.
12. Place the filling in a prepared piping bag with an open star/large round tip or a 1-gallon zip-top resealable bag; seal the bag and refrigerate until ready to serve.
13. Just before serving, remove the filling from the refrigerator; if using a resealable bag, snip one corner off.
14. Pipe approximately 1 tablespoon of filling into the cooled pastry cups.
15. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips over the filling, dust with additional powdered sugar, if desired, and serve.

To make these incredible bite-sized desserts, I combined two different recipes; they can be found here and here.