Cannoli Cupcakes
Today we are sharing a delicious recipe for Cannoli Cupcakes!
This dessert, inspired by the popular Italian pastry, consists of moist vanilla cupcakes with a mascarpone chocolate chip filling, and whipped mascarpone frosting.
If you love layer cakes, make sure to check out our Cannoli Cake and Chocolate Cannoli Cake recipes as well!
Table of Contents
How to Make Cannoli Cupcakes
You can find the full, printable cake recipe below. Here is a quick look at our steps!
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, line cupcake pan(s) with cupcake liners.
- Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt for 30 seconds. Set aside
- Wet Ingredients: In another bowl, add the buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and mix at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and continue to mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of wet).
- After the last addition, mix just until combined. Be careful not to over mix.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just few crumbs attached. The tops should spring back when lightly touched. Baking times may vary.
- We like to remove the cupcakes from the pans just after they are taken from the oven to prevent further baking. Cool them on a cooling rack.
Mascarpone Filling
Our cannoli filling is a simple combination of mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and mini chocolate chips.
Cannoli fillings often call for ricotta cheese, while others use mascarpone filling or a combination of the two. We like the creamier consistency of the mascarpone. You will love this easy and delicious filling!
Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting
The mascarpone whipped cream frosting is similar to the filling (but with a bit more powdered sugar- and minus the mini chocolate chips). After mixing the mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract, we combined it with freshly whipped cream.
You can do this step by hand with a spatula, or as we did with a hand mixer on low speed. The result is a dreamy whipped frosting-- the mascarpone cheese creates a thicker consistency than ordinary whipped cream, but it is still light, fluffy, and wonderful.
Filling and Frosting the Cupcakes
Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, it is time to add the filling and the frosting.
Fill a piping bag with the mascarpone chocolate chip filling and snip the tip away (creating about ½ inch opening). It should be wide enough that the mini chocolate chips can easily flow through the opening.
Insert the bag halfway into the top of the cupcake and squeeze for about 3 seconds to fill. Repeat for each cupcake. (see notes in the recipe card for tips for filling cupcakes).
If you have a spare cupcake, you can do a trial run and slice it in half to see how much filling is inside-- or simply pipe onto a plate for a count of 3 to get an idea of how much filling will be in each cupcake, adjusting as needed.
Here is a peek inside!
Next, we swirled each cupcake with the mascarpone whipped cream, using a 2D piping tip. (We started on the outer edge and spiraled inward and upward).
We topped them off with a few mini chocolate chips.
More Cupcakes to Try
We have many more cupcake recipes for you to try! Some of our favorites are our lemonade cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, coconut cupcakes, and butter pecan cupcakes (from cake mix) but there are so many more!
Thanks so much for stopping by today! We hope that you enjoy the cannoli cupcakes. They would be perfect for birthdays, potlucks, holidays, and more!
Don't miss our full collection of cake recipes and free cake decorating tutorials. We have so many more cakes and ideas to share with you.
Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!
Cannoli Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened/room temp (170g)
- 2 cups sugar (400g)
- 4 eggs, room temperature (if in a hurry, you can place eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes).
- 3 cups cake flour (342g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (8g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (3g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk (360g)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (12g)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (54g)
For the Mascarpone Chocolate Chip Filling
- 8 oz Mascarpone Cheese
- ½ cup powdered sugar (41g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon (.5g)
- ¼ cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips (adjust amount to your liking)
For the Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting
- 1.5 cups heavy cream or whipping cream (348g)
- 8 oz mascarpone cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar (116g)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon (1g)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (2g)
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, line cupcake pan(s) with cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt for 30 seconds. Set aside
- In another bowl, add the buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and mix at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and continue to mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of wet).
- After the last addition, mix just until combined. Be careful not to over mix.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just few crumbs attached. The tops should spring back when lightly touched. Baking times may vary.
- We like to remove the cupcakes from the pans just after they are taken from the oven to prevent further baking. Cool them on a cooling rack.
For the Mascarpone Chocolate Chip Filling
- Using a hand mixer on the lowest speed (or mixing by hand), combine the mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Mix just until combined smooth as over mixing can cause separation. Fold in the mini chocolate chips. Refrigerate until ready to use. This makes about 1¼ cups of filling.
Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting
- Chill the mixing bowl and whisk attachment/beaters in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
- Pour the cream into the chilled bowl. Using the chilled beaters of a hand mixer (or the whisk attachment of a stand mixer), mix the cream on high speed until stiff peaks form. This happens fairly quickly.You've reached stiff peak stage when you lift the beater and the cream stands straight up forming a peak.
- In another bowl, combine the mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Mix on low speed just until combined and smooth- be very careful not to over mix.
- Add the mascarpone mixture to the whipped cream mixture and mix together on low speed with hand mixer (you could also do this step by hand with a spatula). Once well combined, cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Makes just under 4 cups frosting.
Assembly of the Cupcakes
- Once the cupcakes have cooled, it is time to fill them with the chocolate chip mascarpone filling. Fill a piping bag with the filling and snip the tip away (about ½ inch opening). It should be wide enough that the mini chocolate chips can easily flow through the opening.
- Insert the bag halfway into the top of the cupcake and squeeze for about 3 seconds to fill. Repeat for each cupcake. (see notes on tips for filling cupcakes)
- Next, we swirled each cupcake with the mascarpone whipped cream, using a 2D piping tip. (We started on the outer edge and spiraled inward and upward). We topped with a few mini chocolate chips.
Storage
- Because of the filling and frosting, these cupcakes should be refrigerated (in an airtight container, sealed bakery box, or under a cake dome). However, for the best texture, it is best to serve these close to room temperature. Remove from the refrigerator a couple of hours before serving.
They look delish! Definitely need to try them! :-)