Making homemade crisp cannoli shells with the best hack ever! Healthier, easier and lower in fat, these chocolate mocha vegan cannoli are a must make!
My husband loves cannoli, I think they may be his favorite dessert. But let's be real, who has time to roll out dough, fry it, and prepare these freshly made treats? Not I said the mom. Until she figures out an easy cannoli shell recipe that blows her husband's mind!
Here at home, we eat a mostly plant based healthy diet. I can't tell you the last time I fried something. I am all about indulging when we go out, but I try and stick to healthy food here at home, with a few treats thrown in.
These vegan cannolis are the best of both worlds! They are made from whole food ingredients, don't require a ton of time, and the best part is I figured out how to get crispy delicious shells without the mess and fat of frying!
Flatbread is so versatile it's amazing!
I love repurposing, especially in the food department, which is exactly what happened with these chocolate cannoli. The shells are traditionally rolled out of dough, so my challenge was to find a way to avoid that labor. Flatbread was the perfect solution!
My issue with many bread products out there, is that they are filled with just so many things. Like stuff I am sure doesn't need to be in there. And then I came across California Lavash. You guys, they have 7 ingredients, one of which is water.
I was instantly obsessed. And instantly bought ALL the lavash. And used it in ALL the things. Including these easy chocolate mocha vegan cannoli over and over and over because they are so dang delicious.
My favorite things about California Lavash:
- it's soft, thin, but still super sturdy
- you can use it for so many things, from typical roll ups to desserts like this one
- it is a family owned bakery that makes the lavash with age old methods so it comes out perfect every time
- it is vegan, non-GMO and contains zero artificial preservatives (so kept best in the freezer until ready to use, now that is real bread!)
- it is all this AND tastes good!
I know you want to check this out, finding a diamond like this isn't easy, so head to their site and see where you can buy it near you. Then make these vegan cannoli because they are amazing.
Making vegan cannoli and my easy cannoli shell recipe
This easy cannoli recipe has only 10 ingredients. Total. By the time the shells have baked, you're done with the filling. Plus it can be made the day before you serve so that you can fill and eat faster than ever!
- Cut the flatbread and soak in milk.
- Coat it with the topping.
- Wrap around cannoli tubes, or if you're like me and had no idea what a cannoli tube was, make your own!
- Bake the shells, and while they are baking you can make the filling.
- Fill and serve!
Voila! Easy chocolate mocha vegan cannoli like you've never seen thanks to the awesome California Lavash! Flatbread is a lifesaver, and I am pretty sure these cannoli will be a regular thing around here.
If you want other chocolate decadence, check these out too because you can never have enough chocolate:
By the way, if you are stuck in a dinner rut and need some help there, I have a comprehensive FREE guide on weekly meal planning that comes with a FREE 3 day meal plan and shopping list! Join here!
Or check out these other delicious dessert ideas!
- Vegan Caramel Apple Nachos
- No Bake Chocolate Peppermint Protein Balls
- Healthy Vegan Cranberry Crumble Oatmeal Bars
- Vegan Apple Cinnamon Roses
Easy Vegan Chocolate Mocha Cannoli
Ingredients
Cannoli shells:
- 2 rectangular flatbread pieces , I use California Lavash (about the size of a piece of printer paper)
- 2 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk , I used cashew
- ½ cup cane sugar , or other unrefined sugar like coconut
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons ground espresso
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Cannoli filling:
- 1 ½ cups superfine almond flour
- ½ cup coconut cream (the thick top part in a can of full fat coconut milk, see note)
- ½ cup cane sugar , or other unrefined sugar like coconut
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk , I used cashew
- 3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground espresso
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 4 tablespoons non-dairy chocolate chips , mini chips are best
Instructions
- If you do not have cannoli tubes, you can make your own by forming a piece of tin foil around a dowel or broomstick like rod. Wrap it around a few times so it is sturdy, then slide off. See photos in the post. Spray each tube with a bit of oil so they don’t stick.
- Cut each of your flatbread rectangles into 6 equal pieces by cutting down the middle long ways first, then making 3 cuts short ways to get 6 rectangular, squarish pieces.
- Put the milk in one bowl, and mix the rest of the cannoli shell ingredients in another bowl (sugar, cocoa, espresso and salt).
- Dip each small flatbread piece in the milk, allow it to soak a bit, then coat it in the topping. I use a spoon to spoon the topping over the wet flatbread piece and shake off the excess.
- Then wrap each piece of coated flatbread around the cannoli tube (or the one you made like me) and put it seam side down onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. You could also secure with a toothpick but it was easier for me to just place it seam side down to hold it in place. It should be soft enough to hold together well.
- Bake at 350 F/175 C for 25 minutes or until crispy.
- While these are baking, make the filling. Put all filling ingredients, except the chocolate chips, into a food processor and blend until soft and smooth.
- Add the chocolate chips and blend until chopped a bit and well combined.
- Put the mixture in the fridge to thicken and settle.
- When the cannoli shells are done, take them out of the oven and allow them to cool completely before removing them from the tubes, about 20 minutes.
- Using a plastic bag with the corner cut off or a pastry bag, fill each cannoli shell with the chocolatey filling mixture. You can decorate with more chocolate chips, powdered sugar, cocoa powder or whatever else you want!
- Eat right away, if you leave them too long they can get soft.
Notes
- When you put a can of full fat coconut milk in the refrigerator, the top part thickens and hardens and is what you call coconut cream. You can also just buy straight coconut cream if you can find it.
- If you don’t own cannoli tubes, make your own as described below or you can simply roll the flatbread and secure with a toothpick but know they will flatten a big while baking. The taste will still be the same and you will still be able to fill them somewhat but they won’t be round like traditional cannoli.
- Making the shells and filling the morning of or day before you eat them works great because it allows the filling to be thickened and the shells to cool completely. The shells store great in a parchment lined sealed container for a few days.
Recipe by Veggies Don’t Bite, visit our site for more great plant-based recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and metric information should be considered an estimate.
Kookie Costa
These were really good! I followed the recipe exactly. I planned on eating 3 and even though I ate all three, I could have done with just one. Haha. Very rich and decadent!
veggiesdontbite
Hahaha!!! Love it! Thank you so much for the great review!
Ruchama B
I was so excited about this. I have 12 cannoli tubes I had never used. They are not a simple tube shape, but tubes that are wide at the bottom and taper to a very small opening at the end. I made the tubes with the flat bread you suggested using almond milk. They looked great when they came out of the oven. I let them cool overnight. That's when I ran into trouble. Quite a few of the shells were difficult to remove and even cracked, making them unusable. I truly love this idea and I'll try again but I'm wondering what I did wrong. Should I have sprayed the tubes with oil? Did I wrap them too tightly? Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated
veggiesdontbite
Hi Ruchama! So sorry! Yes! In the directions it says to spray the tubes with oil so they don't stick. Right there in the first direction. Just like any baked good, especially those without oil, they stick without any sort of spray. Did they at least taste good??
Ruchama B
And I thought I was good at following direction!! I didn't spray. My husband tried a couple, without filling, even with the chocolate and sugar, they were a bit bland. I'm washing off my tubes and after they are good and dry, I'll spray and try again.
veggiesdontbite
Yes, you definitely need to spray. The shells are meant to be just that, shells. The filling has plenty of sweetness so you don't want the shells to overpower that, since they are meant to eat together.
Sue
Sophia, your creativity is over the top girl!! I'm going to make these for Valentine's day, if not sooner 😁 Thanks for the fun recipe.
veggiesdontbite
Hi Sue!! Thank you SO SO much! Ooooh, Valentine's day is the perfect idea. Making note to remind everyone when it comes around!
The Vegan 8
I literally am licking my lips while looking at these photos, NO lie, bahaha! I mean, you probably already know this, but chocolate and espresso is my #1 fave combo of all time, nothing beats it and hot damn, these look so good I almost can't handle it, LOL! The pics are gorgeous, the filling has me salivating all over my keyboard and the idea to use lavish flatbread as cannoli is just awesome! I freaking love lavish bread and usually by the kind from trader Joes. It works, but it is a bit dry and on the bland side, but this combo would make any bread taste amazing. YUM!
veggiesdontbite
Thanks girl! Yes! Joe loves cannolis and I needed to find a good way to make them easy. This lavash brand is so good! I love it. Not dry at all, it's really fresh so I keep it frozen until ready to use. I know you love chocolate and espresso and I totally thought of you when making these! Love ya!
JD
I can't believe you made these so great with the healthy and easy idea! I am seriously impressed.