A creamy, sweet dip that makes a great summer dessert since no baking is involved! Paired with fruit and waffle cones this veganized version of the popular dessert is sure to please vegans and non-vegans.
As a good Italian (and even more specifically half Sicilian) I grew up loving and eating cannoli. Also, for a little Italian language moment cannoli is already plural so you don’t need to say “cannolis”. Anyway, I digress… Cannoli are typically filled with a mixture of ricotta and sugar to give that sweet filling we all know and love. Then we fill the cannoli shell that typically something like a fried pastry dough and enjoy. Some people put different things like mini chocolate chips, fruit, pistachios – I have seen a lot of things. For me a cannoli is best either plain or with chocolate chips. So, this vegan cannoli dip takes the work out of making the cannoli but keeps the flavor.
So, now that we have talked about cannoli let’s talk about cannoli dip. Of course cannoli dip is a bit different than the filling inside a cannoli but the idea is that you basically enjoy the filling as a dip. If you wanted you could make homemade cannoli shells, I have never seen vegan ones anywhere, but it is much easier to use waffles cones to dip! Plus, I think it makes it fun and summery. I would never call this cannoli dip and authentic anything but I do find it to be a fun play on the cannoli we all know and love.
Vegan Cream Cheese
This recipe does use vegan cream cheese as well as tofu (to mimic ricotta). The vegan cream cheese helps to provide some stability to the dip. I cannot emphasize this enough, all vegan cream cheeses are very different. My absolute favorite is Kite Hill, but it does contain nuts so avoid if you have a nut allergy. I find it to be the creamiest, smoothest and best tasting, I also really like Tofutti’s and Trader Joe’s. While I used Daiya’s for this, it wasn’t my favorite but it did work just fine.
Unfortunately, while I love Violife products, their vegan cream cheese is not the best so I would stay to steer clear from that one. So, of course anyone will do but I would say this would be a good time to maybe splurge or get the better tasting one since the dip is only a few ingredients.
Vegan Chocolate Chips
I think, well at least I hope, we all know by now there are plenty of vegan chocolate chip brands out there. I really like the one from Enjoy Life, the minis are best for this recipe. But the Trader Joe’s semi sweet chocolate chip are vegan friendly, there is one from Nestle now. There are a lot out there and usually, from what I have found, semi sweet chips tend to be more vegan friendly. If you can’t find mini chocolate chips for this recipe do not worry, regular sized ones taste just the same.
Tofu Time
I ended up sharing this recipe with a few of my non-vegan friends and family. Everyone’s first question after trying and liking it “what’s in it?” and I smiled back and said, “well…tofu…” Here’s the thing I was one of those people who HATED tofu before I went vegan. However, now that I have learned how to really use it and what the different types are good for I love it. If you are new to tofu I would suggest you check out my Tofu 101 youtube video. For this recipe, it is best to use either an extra firm or firm tofu block. Every brand is different and some extra firm tofu may be a bit firmer than another brands but since we put it all in a blender it doesn’t matter.
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Sharing direct links to recipes and pictures is highly encouraged, please do not copy and paste my recipes or share my pictures without permission. I work very hard on my blog and don’t want to see my recipes popping up anywhere. Thank you so much.
Cannoli Dip
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ block extra firm/firm tofu (about 7 ounces/200g)
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons nondairy milk unsweetened and unflavored
- ⅓ cup vegan cream cheese (about 96g)
- ¾ cup organic powdered sugar (about 90g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup mini vegan chocolate chips (about 120g)
- 4 waffle cones crushed
Instructions
- In a blender add the tofu, nutritional yeast, and nondairy milk. Blend until combined, it will be pretty smooth but it is okay if it has some texture.
- In a bowl add the tofu ricotta (from step 1), vegan cream cheese, half of the powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
- Use a hand mixer to blend on low speed for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and blend on low speed for another 30 seconds. One all the powdered sugar is dissolved blend on high speed for 1 to 2 minutes until well combined and smooth. This also helps to whip air into it making it lighter and fluffier.
- Fold in the vegan chocolate chips and place in bowl for serving. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until ready to enjoy. This is best when served immediately out of the fridge.
- Use your hands to crush up the cones into pieces that are a good size for dipping. Prior to serving add extra vegan chocolate chips if you desire and serve with any fruit you like.
Video
Notes
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This dip is so delicious and super easy to make! It will definitely be on recipe rotation for parties and potlucks.
Hi Danielle!! yay I am so glad you enjoyed it thank you for trying the recipe and taking the time to leave a comment and review!!
Do you press the tofu?
No need to 🙂
This dip is delicious! I’m addicted. I eat it with Trader Joe’s Butter Waffle Cookies or sliced apples if I’m trying to be healthy!
I love that! yay I am so glad you enjoy. Thank you so much for trying it and taking the time to leave a comment/review 🙂
Sooo good! I put some in cake cones abd popped them in the freezer until they firmed up and they were so good!
Hi Louise! yay that is a fun idea so glad you enjoyed it!