Mini Cannoli Pastry Cups

I have had a desire to make my Italian family's cannoli recipe for some time but never have gotten to it.  Making the dough, frying it, the creme, etc. sounds like a lot of time.  Which I typically do not shy away from time-intensive recipes since I enjoy cooking so much but sorry to disappoint, these are not authentic Italian 100% homemade cannolis.

I found this this recipe via Pinterest at http://lexbake.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/mini-canoli-cups/, and it looked like a good combo of homemade but not a lot of extra fuss.  As I was in the process of making them, I wanted to change some things up so here is my version...

The Ingredients:

For the Pastry Cups-
1 pkg. refrigerated pie crusts (contains 2 crusts which make about 30 cups)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I use a great cinnamon/sugar grinder from Trader Joe's)
Flour for dusting surface

(I baked my cups a day ahead and kept them in a covered 9x13 pan until I was ready to fill them.)

For the Filling-
**8 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese
4 oz. organic cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

The Steps: Preheat oven to 425

1) Prepare filling by combining all ingredients except chocolate chips in a bowl with an electric mixer. Place in a one-gallon freezer bag and refrigerate.  *Filling can be kept in the fridge up to 3 days before serving. Allow filling to chill in fridge for at least 1 hour prior to serving to help keep the thick consistency.  

2) Gently roll out pie crusts onto lightly dusted surface.  In a small bowl, add cinnamon and sugar and combine well.  Sprinkle each side of the pie crusts with sugar and cinnamon mixture, using about 1/2 tablespoon for each side. If you are using the cinnamon/sugar grinder, do about 10-15 turns on each side. Using the palm of your hand or a with a rolling pin push cinnamon and sugar into the pie crust.

3) Using a biscuit cutter (2 1/2 in), cut out circles in the dough. Lightly press the circles into ungreased mini cupcake pan to form a pastry cup. I would ball up and re-roll out the scrap pieces of dough to make the most of the dough. Just make sure you roll it out as thin as the original pie crust or it will be too thick of a pastry cup.

4) Using a fork, prick the bottom of the cups a few times so that they don’t rise too much while they are baking.

5) Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Allow cups to cool completely before filling with cream.

6) Cut off a small part of the corner of the plastic bag and fill cups.  I used a piping bag with a decorative tip which added little extra detail.  Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and serve. 

**To help cream get extra thick, line a strainer with coffee filters and place ricotta on top and cover with foil, saran wrap or a towel and allow to sit overnight. This will help remove the excess moisture from the cheese. You can also use a cheesecloth too but coffee filters are cheaper.

**Another word about the filling. You may need to add more cream cheese and more powdered sugar if you find the filling not firm enough.  Different ricotta cheese contains varying amounts of water and/or extra ingredients, which is why you may be adapting a bit as you make it.