Brown Butter Rum Cannoli


Notice anything about those cannoli cookies? Look close, because those are not the traditional cannoli cookie. Nope, those are cannoli cookies made easy with baked wonton wrappers. Gasp. Okay, not really, but if you are a traditionalist this might make you frown with disapproval or maybe not since they take a fraction of the time to make and are not deep fried. As for the cannoli filling I went with a mascarpone base instead of ricotta and added brown butter for some nuttiness and threw in a little rum to cut through the sweetness.

Honestly, I’ve been wanting to make cannolis for some time now and bought the forms a year ago, but never got around to it because they seem too labor intensive. I also don’t like frying anything because I don’t really have the right tools to do it. But then I got the idea of using wontons after I had some left over from another meal. I gave it a go and love it.





Of course it’s not the same. The wonton cannoli cookies are crisp, thin and a little crunchier. They do not have the deep fried flavor, nor the flaky crispness that crumbles at the slightest bite. But then again, maybe the wonton cannoli cookies if deep fried would be a good contender against the classic since it would have that deep-fried-easy-crumble factor.


If someone beats me to testing this, come back and let the rest of us know. Until then – I can assure you these are pretty damn tasty as a cannoli shortcut.


BROWN BUTTER RUM CANNOLI



Ingredients:

WONTON CANNOLI COOKIES
20 wonton sheets
4 tablespoon butter, melted
BROWN BUTTER RUM MASCARPONE FILLING
16 oz mascarpone cheese
6 tablespoons butter, browned
2 tablespoons gold rum
3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups confectioner sugar
6 oz. chocolate,melted
4 oz. almonds, crushed


Directions:

PREPARATION

Heat oven to 376 degrees F.

TO MAKE WONTON CANNOLI COOKIE

Use a 3 1/2 inch round cutter and stamp out a circle from each wonton sheet. Using a pastry brush, cover each side of wonton round with butter.

Wrap wonton around cannoli form and place on a bake sheet with seam side up. Bake at 375 degrees for about 5-7 minutes or until golden brown (start checking for doneness at 5 minutes). Remove bake sheet from oven and then remove cannoli cookies from forms. Place cookies on a rack to cool.

TO MAKE MASCARPONE FILLING

Place butter in a small pan and heat until butter is brown and nutty in aroma. Remove from heat and strain. Set aside to cool, but still liquid. Add rum to cooled butter and stir to combine.

Place mascarpone and confectioner sugar in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment; beat until smooth. Add in butter mixture and beat until combined.
Transfer filling to a pastry bag fitted with preferred tip.




ASSEMBLY

Dip ends of cannoli cookie into chocolate. Dip chocolate covered ends into crushed nuts. Set aside until chocolate hardens and sets.
Pipe filling into both ends of cookies. Drizzle with remaining chocolate and dust with confectioner sugar.
A few notes:

The cannoli cookies go from golden to burnt quickly, so make a few extras to test and find the right bake time before you fill a bake sheet full of cannoli cookies. Make sure to check the the cookies at the five minute mark and then every 3o seconds after to establish the exact bake time for your oven.

Cannoli cookies can made 3 days in advance and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

To adjust the filling to fit your textured preference, add more confectioner sugar to stiffen and add one tablespoon of heavy cream at a time to loosen. The filling can be made 5 days in advance and kept in an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator.

Skip the rum for a non-boozy version.




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