Mini Chocolate Chips

Recipe—Cannoli Dip

Yesterday I did my first ever Instagram Live Cooking Demo. Did anyone catch it? If so, what did you think? Any feedback? I know there was certainly areas for improvement but I had fun and know what I can do better next time! If you want to view it you can do so here.

This was my first time ever doing any sort of live cooking demo so when Sac State UNIQUE Programs asked me if I would be willing to be a part of their summer virtual programming I jumped at the opportunity. I have never done any sort of cooking demo or Instagram Live video so I was absolutely stoked to do something outside my comfort zone. After all, virtual programming and activities have become such a big part of life these last several months.

For the cooking demo I was given a 1-hour timeslot and could make anything I wanted. I thought about it for a couple of days and knew I wanted to do a dinner and dessert. My go to favorite meal these days is my Italian Chicken Dinner. (It is so freaking easy and it is an entire meal!) Once I had that established, I decided to commit to an Italian theme. My first thought for dessert was tiramisu or cannolis. However, both are relatively time consuming and complex and since this was my first time cooking live I wanted to be sure it was something I could pull off. I decided to try and do a quick adaptation of cannolis and came up with this cannoli dip. Dessert dips are kind of my thing. You may recall that I have also posted recipes for Funfetti Cake Batter Cookie Dip, Sweet Cherry Chip Dip, Toffee Apple Dip, and a Sweet Cream Dip with Strawberries.

For those of you that may not know, a cannoli, it is a traditional Italian dessert that is a fried pastry tube filled with a sweet cream made with ricotta cheese as the base and then the ends are traditionally dipped in assorted garnishes, pistachios, chocolate chips, cherries, etc. If you have never had a cannoli, you may be thinking ricotta cheese in a pastry? The answer is, YES! YES! YES! Ricotta is a cheese that can be used in both savory or sweet dishes. The fluffy ricotta cheese is completely transformed in this recipe to a light and sweet cream filling that you could eat by the spoonful. This recipe is fantastic to take to a party or just to serve up for the family for a night in. I served it with broken waffle cones but it also goes great with strawberries, graham crackers, and Nilla wafers. The possibilities are really endless!

INGREDIENTS
1 c ricotta cheese
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c powdered sugar
1 c mini chocolate chips
box of waffle cones, broken up into chip sizes

STEPS

Place the ricotta, cream cheese, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beat using a handheld or standing mixer on medium speed for 3–5 minutes or until smooth.
Add in the powdered sugar and continue to mix for another 1–2 minutes making sure it is all evenly incorporated.
Add most of the chocolate chips to the bowl and fold in using a rubber spatula or spoon. (Be sure to save a small handful to sprinkle over the top as garnish!)
Transfer the dip to a serving dish, garnish with remaining chocolate chips, and serve along with the broken waffle cones.

Chocolate Chip Scone

I can’t remember if I have brought it up on this blog before or not, but one of my first jobs in high school was working at a little mom and pop owned coffee shop in my small town. I loved it! So much so, that I frequently ponder what it would be like to throw my career out the window and open my own little coffee shop. There was just something so touching about being part of someone’s morning. Pretty much everyone was a regular and I knew what they did for work every day, I knew their families, and almost 20 years later I still remember several of their orders. I kind of have a crazy memory like that. LOL

While I started out as a barista for the first couple of months, I actually got the opportunity to start baking on the weekends too. I loved it! I would go in at 5 am on Saturday and Sunday mornings, crank up the radio, and had the whole kitchen to myself. I would bake dozens of assorted muffins, croissants, cinnamon rolls, cookies, and some of my favorite items were the scones. Chocolate chip scones to be exact. You have not lived if you have not had a scone fresh out of the oven. If they are done right, they are crumbly on the outside and just a little doughy in the middle, have just the right amount of density, and are a little sweet, but not too sweet (unless they are savory scones).

Scones are the perfect thing to make for special occasions, or even just on a lazy Sunday around the house. Making these for my family the other weekend brought back so many memories of that coffee shop. It is amazing how certain food can do that.

So, what food item do you associate with certain memories or a time in your life? Share in the comments below. I would love to hear from you. 😀

INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 c flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick cold butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 c mini chocolate chips
3/4 c heavy cream
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

STEPS

Preheat oven to 400º.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
Add the cubed butter to the mix and using a fork or pastry cutter, cut the butter into the dry ingredients. (The mixture should become very crumbly with no large chunks of butter remaining.)
Stir in the chocolate chips.
In a small separate bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, egg, and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredient to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Transfer the dough mix to a cutting board and using your hands form the dough into an 8-inch circle.
Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 8 evenly sized triangles.
Brush the tops of the scones with heavy cream and then transfer to the parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Bake for 14–17 minutes or until the edges are a nice golden brown.