This Cannoli Cheese Ball has the flavors of cannoli filling turned into a cheese ball. It is a super easy recipe for entertaining!
I love a good dessert cheese ball! If you are a fan, you can also try this Red Velvet Cheese Ball or this S’mores Cheese Ball.
If you’ve never made a dessert cheese ball before, it is seriously the easiest recipe. It might get a little bit messy, but it’s totally worth it.
And if you love cannoli, but don’t want to go to all of the work of making them, this Cannoli Cheese Ball is a great alternative that gives you that cannoli flavor!
This is the perfect dessert for a holiday party or potluck. It is definitely a crowd pleaser!
Ingredients
- Cream Cheese: For the best results, use full fat cream cheese.
- Ricotta Cheese: You want to make sure you are using a fairly firm ricotta cheese. The best ricotta will be full fat without any stabilizers, but most grocery store brands do have the stabilizers. If it is not creamy and thick, you will want to drain it before adding it.
- Powdered Sugar: The powdered sugar will give the cheese ball some sweetness.
- Cinnamon: You can add more cinnamon or use less, depending on your tastes. I thought the amount was subtle, but add to your preference.
- Chocolate Chips: You want to use mini chocolate chips – to make it easier to coat in the chocolate, and easier to serve.
- Dippers: I used vanilla wafers, but you could also use graham crackers or broken cannoli shells. A reader even suggested using broken up sugar cones, which I think is a great idea!
How to Make a Cannoli Cheese Ball
- Beat the cream cheese until it is smooth. I used a hand mixer. Add the ricotta, powdered sugar, and cinnamon and beat to combine. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips.
- Lay out two pieces of plastic wrap perpendicular to each other. Place the mixture in the middle, then wrap it up and refrigerate the mixture for at least 2 hours.
- Lay the remaining chocolate chips on a plate, then unwrap the cheese ball and roll it in the chocolate chips.
- Serve!
Cannoli Cheese Ball Video
Tips and Tricks
While I have never had a hard time having the cheese ball set up, some have said that their dip was too runny to serve as a cheese ball. You want to make sure the ricotta is not too wet, and if it is, you’ll want to drain it before using.
If your ingredients don’t firm up, you can just serve this as a dip. Simply sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top.
While this can set up in as little as 2 hours, I prefer to make it the day before and let it refrigerate overnight.
The leftovers can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated.
More Crowd Pleasing Desserts
Dump Cake Recipe
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Fruit Pizza
Italian Cream Cake
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip
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Cannoli Cheese Ball
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 3/4 cups mini chocolate chips, divided
- vanilla wafers or graham crackers, for serving
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the ricotta, powdered sugar, and cinnamon and beat until combined. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips.
- Lay out 2 pieces of plastic wrap perpendicular to each other. Dump the mixture out into the center. Gather the plastic up around the mixture and shape into a ball shape. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours, or overnight.
- Place the remaining chocolate chips on a plate. Remove the cheeseball from the plastic wrap onto the chocolate chips. Roll in the chocolate chips to coat.
- Serve the cheese ball with vanilla wafers or graham crackers.
Missy says
Just made this for Super Bowl party tonight-not runny AT ALL. I’m not sure what ya’ll are doing but there are no ingredients in this that should make it “runny.” With that said, I myself used low fat cream cheese and part skim ricotta and it was still fine…and SO good!!! Had to refrigerate it again after rolling onto chocolate chips, (maybe cause of reduced fat ingredients,) but no biggie! I’m not gonna lie, about three tablespoons of it didn’t make it to the “ball!”
susie says
Used full fat ingredients and got very runny results…milkshake consistency. It’s chilling in a bowl at the moment, but doesn’t seem promising. Unless a miracle occurs, there is no way I’ll be serving this at my super bowl party!
Mariano says
Maybe as someone else posted here… the ricotta cheese might has not be fully drained. There are variants of ricotta, some of them has more liquid than another… Check that, may you must get another ricotta…
sarah says
I made this and it turned out awesome! Not runny at all! Thank you for sharing!!
Deborah says
So glad you loved it!!
Rebecca says
I just made this! Its in the fridge chilling at the moment. I’m taking it to a dinner party tonight and I have a feeling its going to be a big hit! If someone else’s turned out runny, it isn’t the recipe because I followed it to a T and it turned out perfect. Thanks for posting this!
Deborah says
I’m so glad you loved it!!
Susan says
Made mine tonight, turned out PERFECT! I used whole milk ricotta, did not stir it first, left juices in bottom half of a new container. Very good, but prefer a little less cinnamon….next time ; ) I’ll never pay $3.99 for a Cannoli again~
Deborah says
yay!! I’m so glad it worked out for you.
Renee says
I have never had a cannoli before in my life. I have never lived in a place where cannolis were ever made. They look so good & I would like to sometime like to try one. This cheese ball looks really good & I’m thinking of making it, but after reading other comments it seems to come out runny instead of kind of firm. I don’t want a cannoli dip, I want a cannoli cheese ball. Guess all I can do is follow instructions to a “T” & hope it comes out correct.
Deborah says
Renee – Just make sure you use full fat ingredients and it shouldn’t be runny.
Tracy says
Those saying the mixture is runny must not have drained the ricotta cheese first.
Ger says
I had to use cheese cloth and a paper towel to get all the liquid out of the ricotta cheese to get the final result of firm. But, I do believe it was not full fat.
Amber says
is there a shelf stable version of this I could use? Or a way to use a cream cheese emulsion with a shelf stable substance instead of the cream cheese?
Deborah says
I’m not quite sure, as I haven’t tried any substitutions. Sorry!
jennifer says
Followed recipe perfectly.. And it turned out almost runny… Any ideas on how to firm it up? Tastes great, and worked well as a dip I suppose.
Deborah says
It shouldn’t be runny – it will be pretty soft before it gets refrigerated, though. Just make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature, and that it’s not microwaved or melted.
krystine says
Mine was runny also, made more of a dip. It turned even more runny after adding the powdered sugar. I have a friend who made it too and same thing happened to her and she did hers by hand while I did mine with my kitchenaid. Tried adding more sugar but I would have had to add a minimum of 3 cups to reach a thicker consistancy. 🙁
Deborah says
Was it just soft or actually runny? It is soft before you refrigerate it, but it shouldn’t be runny at all. If it was a dip consistency, then it will firm up in the refrigerator.
Dianne says
I’ll thrid that. I made it and it was runny. Not soft actually kinda liguidy. Like dip and pour off spoon runny.
Deborah says
Can you let me know what kind of ingredients you are using? Were they full fat, or lowfat/skim?
Joanne says
Being UBER italian, my family always has cannolis on the dessert table…but maybe this year we should mix it up and have cannoli cheeseball instead!
Nidhi@peppergarlickitchen.com says
This is so apt for a party…easy and yummm
Chels R. says
Such a fun idea! I have never made any cheese ball of any variety. I’m going to need to jump on the bandwagon here at some point.
Angelyn @ Everyday Desserts says
this looks amazing!
Amy @Very Culinary says
It’s like our recipes are cousins! Love yours. Pinned.