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Gluten Free Cannoli Bars

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When I was a little girl, my dad and I would always eat cannolis at the pizzeria near our house. I love cheese. I love dessert. Cheese + dessert? Done.

I remember one time the pizza place ran out of shells, and I didn’t even care, because honestly, I just love the filling. I used to scrape all of the filling out and leave the shell behind, like weird people do with oreo cookies. That I don’t get. The cookie part of the oreo is the best!! I wish they made them with no cream. Just cookie. And cannolis with no shell. Wait, I made that last thing 😉

All of the delicious flavors of this decadent Italian treat, on top of a brown sugar and oats crust that beats any flavorless deep fried shell I’ve ever tasted. Plus, I love things in bar form. Cheesecake, cookies, you name it.

Also, can we just talk about ricotta cheese for a second? Why is it so freaking good? I could seriously eat it out of the tub with a spoon, and I have. Don’t judge me. I’ve eaten a lot of cheese by itself in my day. Chomped on a block of sharp cheddar, ricotta by the spoonful, it may or may not have been kind of a…problem…

These bars however, are the perfect dessert solution to that problem. That’s me, a super awesome problem solver. Figuring out ways to eat lots of cheese, and not feeling guilty about it always and forever. As Terra would say, you’re welcome the world.

 

Gluten Free Cannoli Bars

yield approx 3 dozen bars

  • 2 cups gluten free oats
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tbs light whipped butter, melted
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 40 oz part skim ricotta cheese
  • 4 oz light whipped cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips
  • crushed pistachios for topping (about 2 tbs)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick spray, and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, melted butter and cinnamon. Press into the bottom of 9×13 pan, and bake for approx 25 minutes until golden. Set on a wire rack to cool
  3. In a large bowl, combine ricotta, cream cheese, and powdered sugar. Fold in chocolate chips. Spread ricotta mixture onto completely cooled crust, and sprinkle with crust pistachios. Let set for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.

Comments

  1. Nicole says

    This is a really inventive dessert Ari! I love the idea!

    PS – I happen to really like Oreo filling – but it’s just not the same without the cookie, so the double stuffed are my fav 😉

  3. RecipeNewZ says

    These bars look amazing! I have been on a cannoli quest for a while now. I don’t deep fry, so making one was out of the question, but I could not even buy anything decent. And now this gorgeous cake is exactly what I need – I can make it all by myself, no deep frying, and I bet those oats are as crunchy as the cannoli shell! Thank you for sharing!

    • Ari says

      Glad you like them! Deep frying is scary. Also, I feel like once I deep fry one thing, I will want to deep fry every single thing I eat, and that can’t happen, so I just try to abstain 🙂

  7. Paula says

    Just wondering if you have ever tried using mascarpone instead of ricotta. I don’t like using low fat ricotta. Takes to long to drain so the filling isn’t runny.

    • Ari says

      I haven’t–I found that once the ricotta chilled, it set up well, even though I didn’t drain it. Mascarpone would probably be delicious though…or a combination!

  9. Carolyn says

    I’m seriously going bonkers over here right now that I can’t make this now! If I had all the ingredients I would be making it a two desserts Saturday. I need an excuse to make this stat!

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