PALEO CANNOLI CHIPS AND DIP

Per usual, I get way too many ideas as I am trying to fall asleep at night. And a few weeks ago, while I was in the midst of launching Legit Bread Company, I had a vision. Not of sugar plums but of paleo cannoli. It was a glorious vision and I knew that would be my next attempt at something fun and new in the kitchen.

Fast forward to yesterday when I finally got the opportunity to get my hands on some cannoli molds and couldn’t wait to start creating. Welp, guess what?! It was a massive fail. Big fat flop of a recipe creation. Usually, I get a good vibe whether I can pull something off, and my vibe was way off. Dangit. Now what?!

I knew my dip base was good so I could stick with that. And I knew the texture of my cannoli dough was good once fried. The issue was getting that dough to do what I needed it to on the molds without splitting open. In the spirit of spontaneity, I took this project another direction. My traditional cannoli vision was transformed into PALEO CANNOLI CHIPS AND DIP. I mean ultimately as long as it’s delicious, the dream has been achieved, right? So off we went.

I took my cannoli filling and spooned it into a bowl, sprinkled the mini chocolate chips that always make everything extra adorable, and then went to work on the shells. I used my Weeknight Paleo Tortilla recipe as a base and tweaked it to work for this sweet treat. I present to you my delicious twist on cannoli, made without dairy, gluten or grain, but with all the subtle sweetness and crunch of traditional cannoli. I hope this brings a fun dessert to present your guests (or yourself) during the holiday season and year round!

Ingredients:

For the Chips:

• 1/2 cup light olive oil or avocado oil
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup cassava flour
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon dairy free milk
• 1-2 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1-2 tablespoons arrowroot or tapioca starch
• Addition oil for frying
• I also use this tortilla press to get them nice and thin

For the Filling:

• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours and drained
• 1/4 cup dairy free milk (canned coconut milk works well)
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (or more if desired)

1. To prepare the filling, blend all 4 ingredients in a blender until creamy, set aside. You can double this dip if you really like to up your dip to chip ratio
2. To make the chips, start by heating the frying oil on medium high heat. You may need a few cups of oil to do this
3. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix by hand until they are all incorporated. You want a nice workable dough that you can roll and press. If your dough is too dry, add a bit more moisture. If it is too wet, add a bit more tapioca or arrowroot starch.
4. Line your tortilla press with parchment paper on both sides (you can also roll the dough out, using a bit more tapioca starch so it doesn’t stick), and grab a small ball of dough
5. Press or roll it thin (into a flat “tortilla”) and then take a pizza cutter and slice it into strips
6. Once the oil is hot enough, take one of the strips and place it gently into the oil, frying on both sides and then using a skimmer to remove it once it puffs up and is cooked through. Place it on a towel lined plate
7. Repeat with remaining strips and then make additional “tortillas” and repeat all steps until your chips are fried and your dough is used through
8. Serve warm chips with cannoli dip
9.