Yesterday was the first time in a very, very long time that we had no plans to go anywhere or do anything. I was revelling in the fact that I didn’t need to go anywhere. I put on something comfy, tackled a few things like dishes and laundry, but mostly I planned to bake a few things, cook a few things, and relax in-between. At one point, though, the kids expressed a bit of boredom, to which I looked at Abigail and told her to find a recipe to make. We have a plethora of fruit in the freezer and plenty of other things to bake with, I thought she could find something fun.
And she did. I will not lie and say that I was really excited to see this recipe cross my vision. We did have almost everything on hand for it, but I just knew it was going to be tedious and irritating to make. Sigh. But she wanted to make them, so I sucked it up and ran to the store for a carton of whipping cream- the only ingredient missing, and then we set to making these cookies.
I did have Abigail do everything herself to begin with. She mixed together the cookie batter, mixed together the filling, and then when we baked up the first few batches I made sure she did all the rolling of the hot cookies on a wooden spoon. But in the end, she wasn’t working quite fast enough to get all the cookies rolled up before they cooled so I helped her out. Those cookies were hot! In the end we came up with a method where we used a small spatula to scoop the cookies onto a wooden spoon, and then used a baking rack to hold the cookie in place while it cooled. We were both sporting slightly burned fingers when all was said and done with that part…
And then there was the filling of the cookies. Oy- first we had to find a piping bag small enough to fit in these cookies, and then each one got a squeeze of filling in both ends. Again, I had Abigail do the piping, but I did hold the cookies and flip them for her. A quick dunk of each end of cookie into mini chocolate chips, and then these cookies went into the fridge to set.
Wow! These are seriously delicious cookies. They really did remind me of cannoli- a treat that I have yet to find well made in this part of the country. They were such an incredible PAIN to make though- I’m not going to sugar coat it. So many steps, and each one needed to be handled several times in the end. Thank goodness this recipe only makes about two dozen cookies.
You can make these any flavor you want by changing up the jam you use in the filling. We opted for raspberry with mini chocolate chips (a perfect combo, btw). But the original recipe used strawberry jam and then they chopped up strawberries for the ends of the cookies. The cookies are pretty small, so I’m not sure how chopped fruit would actually work in application. The mini chips worked great, and I thought sprinkles, coconut or chopped nuts would work too. Instead of using jam you could use two tablespoons of hot fudge for a chocolate version too…
In the end, these are very good and sort of worth the tediousness. For an everyday cookie, not so much, but I could see making these for a special occasion, and I guess I am very glad that Abigail chose to make them. The original recipe is from Taste of Home Bakeshop Favorites- that recipe calls for food coloring in the filling. There is truly no need to add artificial color to these cookies, so I’m leaving that out of the recipe.
Raspberry Tuille Cannoli Cookies
4 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup sugar 2 tablespoons seedless jam (we used raspberry with seeds) 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream- whipped Batter: 1/2 cup sugar 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 2 egg whites 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled Mini chocolate chips for garnish (or sprinkles, chopped nuts, etc.)Directions:
For filling, in a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and jam until blended. Fold in the whipped cream and then chill until needed.
In a small bowl, whisk the sugar, flour, egg whites, vanilla and salt until smooth. Whisk in butter until blended. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Prepare four cookies at a time, drop batter by 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls 4 inches apart onto prepared pans. Bake at 400ºF for 5-8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
Loosen each cookie and curl around a wooden spoon handle. Press lightly to seal; hold until set, about 20 seconds. Remove and place on waxed paper (or baking rack) to cool. Continue with remaining cookies. If cookies become too cool to shape, return to oven for 1 minute to soften.
Just before serving, pipe or spoon filling into cookie shells. Dip ends of cookies in mini chocolate chips. Refrigerate until serving (and after serving with any leftovers).