If you’re looking for a crowd-pleasing dip for entertaining your hungry party guests, then look no further than this Pumpkin Spice Cannoli Dip recipe. It’s like eating a cannoli but without having to fill cannoli shells.
There’s a section of Pittsburgh often referred to as Little Italy. It’s where you can find several Italian grocery stores that sell homemade Italian goodies, including fresh pasta and homemade lady locks. Every year this neighborhood throws an Italian festival where vendors line the streets with all of the Italian food you can imagine. One of the main attractions is the cannoli; you couldn’t walk down that street without seeing at least 3-4 booths selling cannoli (actually, you couldn’t walk down the street at all because of big crowds of people). I went last year and again this year because it’s only about 10 minutes from me. 10 minutes to drive, forever to park (seriously I drove in circles through the neighborhood until I finally found a spot). It was SO hot that day, in the 90s no doubt, so I didn’t stay long. Got an iced mocha, looked at the ridiculously long lines for food, then attempted to navigate the street while not getting shoved out of the way. I ended up not buying any food and went home to my not crowded air conditioned apartment.
When I think of fall with winter not far behind (ugh), I think of entertaining – tailgating parties, Halloween, Thanksgiving, supper club parties. They all have one thing in common – groups of people who love to eat! Since I didn’t get my cannoli at the festival, I fixed that craving at home. Pair that with the fact pumpkin spice season is upon us, I decided to mash the two ideas together in a recipe perfect for entertaining a hungry crowd. However, instead of piping the filling into shells, I made it easier and turned it into Pumpkin Spice Cannoli Dip. All of the flavors of cannoli and fall in one bite.
Cannoli is an Italian pastry filled with a ricotta cheese mixture then rolled in either chocolate chips or pistachios. You can buy cannoli shells at an Italian grocery store or make them homemade. However, I decided to forego filling shells and go straight into dip mode. Why waste time filling shells when you can eat it much faster with chips? I also made my cannoli dip more season appropriate for fall by adding pumpkin and spices to it. This dip isn’t very sweet as most cannoli fillings aren’t.
For the chips, what better way to pair a pumpkin dip than with Harvest Pumpkin Chips from Food Should Taste Good? They are tortilla chips with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg, perfect to pair with pumpkin spices in cannoli dip. To give you some background on Food Should Taste Good, they focus on crafting better snacks made with real and simple ingredients. That means their products are non-GMO, certified kosher, and certified gluten free with most varieties being vegan.
For more information on Food Should Taste Good, please visit their website and say hello on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Pumpkin Spice Cannoli Dip
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, cold
- 1 cup full-fat ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl (with whisk attachment if using stand mixer), beat the heavy cream until it thickens and stiff peaks form, roughly 3-4 minutes (when you pull the beaters up, peaks will form and not fall over). Transfer to another bowl and keep cold in the refrigerator.
- In the same mixing bowl (no need to clean bowl - switch to paddle if using stand mixer), beat together the ricotta, pumpkin, powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger until smooth.
- Fold in the whipped cream until fully incorporated then fold in the chocolate chips. Chill at least 1 hour before serving.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Food Should Taste Good. Thank you for supporting me and the companies I work with as sponsored posts help pay for the costs of running Chocolate Moosey, including website hosting and groceries for recipe development.
Catherine says
Dear Carla, what a wonderful and fun dip! Perfect for all our fall festivities. xo, Catherine
Michele @ Alwayzbakin says
That dip sounds fabulous! I’m loving all the pumpkin!
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl says
I love anything pumpkin and I adore a good cannoli! Love that you combined the two!
Amy @Very Culinary says
I just want to do a face plant into that bowl. Will look for those chips! Pinned.
Lori @ RecipeGirl says
What a fun fall snack! I need to make this for my family soon!
Miss @ Miss in the Kitchen says
Love the fall flavors of this dip! So delicious!
Susan says
There are a few Italian festivals in a number of the Italian neighbors in each of the boroughs. We went to the Brooklyn one this year and while it was just okay we did discover an awesome Italian pastry shop with some incredible looking cannolis. We opted for gelato but that cannoli craving is still there. I’m liking your option because I can have chips. The shell is always the best part, right? I think the same with the chips!
Lori @ Foxes Love Lemons says
Haha yeah, there’s some food festivals like that near me. They sound like a good idea in theory, but then you get there, realize it’s 95 degrees, there’s huge lines for everything, there’s no place to stand or be because there are soooo many people, and the food is way too expensive for what you’re actually getting. It’s like “ummm…..wanna just go home?”
I’d MUCH rather make something awesome at home, like this cannoli dip, then wait in a long line! The Harvest Pumpkin chips sound amazing. So perfect to take to a party or get-together this time of year. Preferably with dip :)
Monique @ Ambitious Kitchen says
This was made for me. Love the chips and dip combo!
Rebecca says
hi! I wanted to make your cannoli dip for our Thanksgiving, after having tried the harvest pumpkin chips and everyone in the family liking them, so I got all the ingredients for the dip, but now none of the stores where I live are selling the chips anymore (which I can’t believe, I mean – c’mon folks, Thanksgiving is STILL pumpkin season!!). So, I am wondering, if you were to pair this cannoli dip with any other chip, what would you pair it with?? I am so desperate to make this dip and try it, but I think it wouldn’t be very classy for me to just stand there at Thanksgiving and eat it right out of the bowl with a spoon (… you know, with nothing to dip in there)….
Carla says
I’m surprised they stopped selling them in stores too as I figured they’d be around until December. Food Should Taste Good makes sweet potato chips that would work wonderful for a dessert dip (I wrote about them here for reference https://www.chocolatemoosey.com/2015/11/16/maple-pecan-cheesecake-dip/). I think the sweet potato chips are a regular flavor and not seasonal. However, if you can’t find those either, graham crackers would work. If you’re feeling really adventurous, you can make your own tortilla chips and sprinkle pumpkin spice mixture on them before baking.
Rebecca says
Good idea, i’ll try the sweet potatoe chips! I love those, though 2 of my 3 kids aren’t huge fans of them, I don’t see how they could resist with your dip! :) I also saw online that Trader Joe’s has a pumpkin chip that seems to get rave reviews, so maybe i’ll make an extra trek into town to find some of those. Can’t wait to try this!!! :)
Carla says
Hopefully the dip will change their minds about the sweet potato chips :) Enjoy the dip!