Cannoli Chocolate Chip Cookies
I am certain that we all love chocolate chip cookies and have had them in many forms, but when you get a really well made chocolate chip cookie, it’s like you’re in heaven.
Interesting fact, the original chocolate chip cookie came about completely by accident. In the 1930s, a woman named Ruth Wakefield was running the Toll House Inn in Whitman Massachusetts. Toll House, sound familiar?
One faithful evening, Wakefield wanted to make a batch of chocolate cookies that required her to melt down some chocolate and mix that into her dough. However, she realized that she forgot to melt any chocolate, so in a panic she chops some chocolate into small pieces and mixes that into the dough, hoping the chocolate would melt and spread throughout the cookie. It didn’t work as expected, but it was still a very good cookie, and it evolved into one of America’s most popular cookies.
But today, I wanted to take the classic chocolate chip cookie and give it a textural and flavorful twist with some pistachios, some spices, and a bit of ricotta, giving it the classic flavors of cannoli. While it may lack the classic crunchy shell that is iconic for cannoli, I promise that these cannoli chocolate chip cookies are going to be a hit.
Makes 16-20 cookies
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground allspice
2 sticks (16 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup roughly chopped salted pistachios
Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and allspice in a medium sized bowl, then set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together, starting on low then increasing the speed to medium as it starts coming together, until the mixture is light and pale. Add the egg, ricotta and vanilla, then beat until smooth.
Dump all of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, then beat on low until almost combined, then finally add the chocolate chips and pistachios and beat until combined. Chill the cookie dough for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line two baking sheets with either parchment or silicone baking mats. Use an ice cream scoop to portion the cookie dough into 2-inch balls and place them onto the baking sheet, spacing them apart by about 2 inches.
Bake the cookies in batches for 12-16 minutes, or until the edges are firm but the middle is still very soft. Let any baked cookies sit in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
