Fudgey Cannoli Brownies

Creamy, Fudgy Cannoli Brownies.

Cannoli fudge brownies. It’s a mouthful, but a mouthful worth saying. These are the perfect summer dessert to make with kids, since they’re so easy to make using boxed brownie mix and store, bought cannoli filling. The only other ingredients you need are butter and eggs (and if you want to get really fancy, vanilla bean). You can use either mini chocolate chips or chopped semisweet chocolate pieces in these brownies—it’s up to you!

Brownie Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Line a 9, inch square baking pan with parchment paper, making sure that it extends up the sides of the pan so you can easily lift out the brownies later on.
In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt together butter and chocolate until smooth (about 3, 4 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool slightly while you prepare remaining ingredients.
In a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together sugar and vanilla extract until well combined (about 2 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until light in color and fluffy throughout (about 3 minutes total). Add cooled butter mixture to egg mixture; mix on low speed until fully incorporated into batter — scrape down sides as needed — then mix in flour on low speed just until combined (do not over mix!). Pour batter into prepared pan; bake for 20, 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean with moist crumbs adhering to it rather than doughy batter; do not overbake!

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced

To measure in grams, use a digital kitchen scale. To measure in cups or teaspoons, place the ingredient into a liquid measuring cup and lightly spoon over with a spoon until it reaches the desired measurement. For tablespoons and ounces, lightly spoon over until it reaches your desired amount.

2 oz Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate, chopped

Bakers Unsweetened Chocolate is the unsweetened form of chocolate, meaning it doesn’t have sugar added to it. This is important because if you use regular chocolate chips and add sugar, your brownies won’t be as fudgy.

2 cups granulated sugar

Get out a large bowl and add 2 cups of granulated sugar to it. If you don’t have granulated sugar, you can use any other kind of white sugar or even brown sugar—but it won’t work unless it’s granulated!

2 tsp vanilla extract

To get the most use out of vanilla extract, give it a little shake before using it. The alcohol in vanilla extract can separate over time, so giving your bottle a good shake will help bring the ingredients back together.

3 large eggs + 1 egg yolk, room temperature

Eggs are one of those ingredients that can cause a lot of confusion. A recent study found that only 43 percent of people knew how to separate eggs correctly, and many others don’t know how to tell if an egg is fresh or bad.

1 cup all, purpose flour

All, purpose flour is a blend of wheat and rye flours, and it’s the most common type of flour used for baking and cooking. All, purpose flour typically contains 10–13% protein, which makes it ideal for breads but not particularly high in protein compared to higher, protein flours such as cake or pastry. All, purpose flour is also not self, rising—that means you’ll need to add 1½ teaspoons of baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt per cup when using this type of flour in place of self, rising all purpose.

1/4 tsp salt

These brownies are salty. The saltiness is important. It’s not just to make you thirsty, though that’s a side effect—it also enhances the flavor of the caramel and fudge sauces, as well as chocolate and vanilla.

Cannoli Filling Ingredients:

Cannoli Filling Ingredients:
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

16 oz ricotta cheese, whole milk or part skim preferred

I used whole milk ricotta for this recipe, but you can use part skim if you want to cut down on fat. If you’re using part skim, I’d recommend using more than 16 oz of the cheese to compensate for the lower fat content.

2 cup powdered sugar, sifted if clumpy

Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl. If there are any lumps in the sugar, sifting will get rid of them.

1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (optional)

For another layer of flavor, you can use vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract. The paste is made from vanilla beans, sugar, and alcohol. While more expensive than pure vanilla extract, it’s also more flavorful.