Inside-Out Cannoli Dip

Name: Inside-Out Cannoli Dip
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 16
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened; 1/2 cup powdered sugar; 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream; 1/2 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel; 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 sleeve (from 14.4-oz package) Annie’s™ organic honey grahams (9 crackers); 1/2 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips; 1/4 cup caramel sauce

1 Ratings

1 Comments

Kitchen Tested

Prep 15 min
Total 15 min
Servings 16

This easy, pretty dip is a feast for the eyes — and for the mouth. Inspired by the classic Italian dessert, it starts with a sweet cinnamon-orange cream cheese, then gets heaped with layers of chocolate chips, caramel and crushed graham crackers. Holy cannoli, it’s good! (Sorry, we had to.) MORE+ LESS-

By Tablespoon Kitchens

Updated February 12, 2018

Ingredients

packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

1/2

cup powdered sugar

1/2

cup heavy whipping cream

1/2

teaspoon finely shredded orange peel

1/4

teaspoon ground cinnamon

sleeve (from 14.4-oz package) Annie’s™ organic honey grahams (9 crackers)

1/2

cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

1/4

cup caramel sauce

Steps

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1

In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, whipping cream, orange peel and cinnamon with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Place 4 crackers in small resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal, and coarsely crush.
2

In ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate, spread cream cheese mixture with spatula. Top with chocolate chips and crushed crackers; drizzle with caramel sauce. Serve with remaining crackers.

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Expert Tips

Using a microplane is an easy way to finely shred the peel of citrus without taking off the white pith, which tends to be bitter.
To soften cream cheese, just microwave unwrapped cream cheese in microwavable bowl uncovered on High 10 to 15 seconds.
An easy mess-free way to drizzle caramel is to seal it in a small resealable food-storage plastic bag, snip off a small part of the corner and gently squeeze.

Nutrition Information

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Serving

Calories: 220
Calories from Fat: 130

% Daily Value

Total Fat: 15g; 23%
Saturated Fat 8g 41% Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol: 40mg; 14%
Sodium: 160mg; 7%
Potassium: 70mg; 2%
Total Carbohydrate: 19g; 6%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4% Sugars 12g
Protein: 2g

% Daily Value*:

Vitamin A: 10%; 10%
Vitamin C: 0%; 0%
Calcium: 4%; 4%
Iron: 0%; 0%

Exchanges:

1/2 Starch; 0 Fruit; 1 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 3 Fat;

Carbohydrate Choice

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

More About This Recipe

Cannolis are a traditional Italian dessert consisting of a crispy, tube-shaped pastry filled with decadent, spiced cream. Usually, the ricotta-based filling includes nuts, candied fruit or chocolate. Needless to say, if you’ve ever had one, you know why we couldn’t resist recreating this blissful treat with our own sweet spin. We replaced ricotta with cream cheese (because who doesn’t love cream cheese?) and swapped fried pastry with sweet, crunchy, no-fuss graham crackers. A handful of chocolate chips and a hint of orange zest later and we had an easy, no-bake cannoli dip that also passes as a munchable snack. We can’t think of anything better than that—well, except for these other no-bake desserts.