MINI CANNOLI CUPS

Ingredients

Filling
1 container (15 oz) whole-milk ricotta cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated orange or lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cannoli Cups
1 box (2 count) refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box
3 tablespoons turbinado sugar (raw sugar)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Garnish
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips or finely chopped pistachios
additional powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Lightly flour a work surface and unroll the pie crusts. Sprinkle both of the pie crusts with turbinado sugar and cinnamon. Gently roll a rolling pin over the top of the pie crusts to press the sugar and cinnamon into the dough. With a 2½-inch round cookie/biscuit cutter, cut out pastry rounds. Gently press each pastry round into ungreased mini muffin cups. (Note, you may need to gently re-roll the pie crusts and cut out more circles until you have 48 circles.)
Bake the crusts for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow cannoli cups to cool completely in the pans, about 15 minutes, before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cups are cooling, prepare the filling by beating all of the filling ingredients with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Place the filling in a 1-gallon zip-top resealable bag. Seal bag. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Just before serving, remove the filling from the refrigerator. Snip one corner off of the bag and pipe approximately 1 tablespoon of filling into the cooled pastry cups. Sprinkle cups with mini chocolate chips or chopped pistachios. Dust with powdered sugar.
Serve immediately.