Gluten Free Cream Puffs With Cannoli Filling
Gluten Free Cream Puffs With Cannoli Filling are sweet, tender, stuffed with an irresistible cannoli cream filling and topped with just a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Enjoy this traditional French pastry with an Italian twist, or fill it with whatever sweet treat you’re craving. You won’t believe how deceptively easy they are to make, and your guests won’t be able to tell they’re gluten free!
Oh, gluten free cream puffs, how much do I love thee?
A lot. The answer is a lot.
When I originally decided to make a gluten free cream puff, I was honestly anticipating a semi-difficult recipe. Novice chefs could take it on, or the more experienced home-cook. It turns out, to my welcomed surprise, that these were actually incredibly easy to make! Hooray, I love when that happens!
So much so, that I plan on recreating this recipe for an upcoming Halloween party I’ll be attending. Which makes me wonder how these might hold up stuffed with pumpkin pie filling…
The cannoli filling in these gluten free cream puffs really hit the spot. I made a double batch, so I had some left over from last week’s Easy Cannoli Stuffed French Toast Recipe, and thought they’d work great in a gluten free pastry option. And they did!
The cannoli cream here is really quite simple. Mascarpone (usually found in the grocery store either by the cream cheese or in the specialty cheese section), ricotta cheese, powdered sugar and some flavor extract. You literally just mix it all together and refrigerate it. I used a hand mixer, which made the work considerably easier.
I love my hand mixer. It’s easier to clean than a stand mixer, and you have more control over the mixing process. But that’s just me.
Mmmmm… delicious memories of pastries gone by…
I’m sure there are some great local bakeries that hit it home in the pastry department. If you know of one, be sure to leave me a comment so I can check it out!
Unfortunately, the price is just not cost effective when you’re trying to feed a party full of people. I shudder a little bit when I think of the price of the gluten free wedding cake Andrew and I will be buying next year.
As for a regular party, I have a lot of gluten free friends and family members, otherwise I might consider buying the regular stuff for them and one box of GF pastry for others.
That’s where these Gluten Free Cream Puffs With Cannoli Filling comes in!
The best part is (you know, besides for generally being delicious), these gluten free cream puffs don’t fall apart like other gluten free breads and pastries do. I used Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Flour, so it may be their flour mixture that helps. They’re not paying me to say that, I genuinely like the product.
I’m also loving these Gluten Free Flakey Pastries from Fearless Dining to go with these!
Alright, let’s get to the recipe already!
Gluten Free Cream Puffs With Cannoli Filling
Ingredients
For the Pastry
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup gluten free all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
For the Cannoli Cream
- 8 oz mascarpone
- 8 oz ricotta cheese
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Equipment
- sauce pan
- Sheet pan
- Bowl
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF.
- In a mixing bowl add mascarpone, ricotta, vanilla extract, almond extract, powdered sugar and cinnamon. Mix all ingredients together until well combined. Refrigerate until puffs are ready.
- In a sauce pan over medium-low heat add butter, milk and salt. Slowly bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, add flour and stir quickly. When a dough-ball forms, remove from heat.
- Stir in eggs one at a time, completely mixing one in before adding the next, until all eggs are incorporated into the dough. Stir until dough is completely smooth.
- On a lightly greased (or non-stick) baking sheet drop dough in 1-2 inch balls, leaving at least an inch between each ball.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown an cooked through. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
- Once cooled, cut pastries in half and evenly distribute cannoli filling among pastries, about 2 tbsp filling each.
Notes
You can also pipe the filling into the puffs using a pastry bag. Make a small hole in the pastry and pipe the filling directly into the puff. **Nutrition Per Puff**
Nutrition
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Those look fantastic! Thanks for sharing with us at the #HomeMattersParty link party.
Thank you! I look forward to your linky party, it’s a great way to find new blogs to follow!
I love you for making this gluten free pastries! They look fantastic!
Thanks, I love you for leaving such an awesome comment! 🙂
We have been gluten free for years and I am so excited to give these fluffy puffs a try. Thank you!!!
Let me know how it goes! I always appreciate the feedback.
Oh man! I am trying these this week! They look delicious….question…do you need to use a flour with xantham gun or is without ok?
Hi Amanda, thanks! For this recipe I only used Bob’s Red Mill GF All Purpose flour without xanthan gum. It worked really well, the non-GF testers couldn’t tell the difference. Let me know how it goes for you! I love hearing feedback 🙂
Well this looks wonderful. We are doing a lot of gluten-free these days and I think this one needs to get added to the list of must trys!
Thanks! I love gluten free baking, it can be just as delish as the non-gluten free stuff! 🙂
Thank you 🙂
These look so delicious! Now if I could only figure out how to make them both gluten-free AND vegan… oy vey! LOL
Hi Megan, I’m sure we can figure out a way to make these vegan! Here’s a list of ways to substitute eggs (http://chefinyou.com/egg-substitutes-cooking/). Personally, I’ve had good luck with corn starch or flax seed when baking. I also recommend using silken tofu for the filling. Have you ever tried a silken tofu pudding before? It’s delish! Here’s one that has some pretty good ratings, but for the cream puffs I’d leave out the chili powder (http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012538-mexican-chocolate-tofu-pudding).
I haven’t tried this specific recipe vegan yet, so no promises! But if I were going to make these vegan, that’s how I’d do it. Let me know if you try it!
Love the site!
Thank you! I like yours, too!
Hi! I’m excited to make these for Thanksgiving, but I’m at a stopping point because I don’t know how much butter to use. The recipe says 4 tbsp (1 stick).
Help! These look delicious and I need them in my life. If I don’t hear back, I’ll err on the side of more butter because…Butter. But I don’t want to screw them up.
Thanks!
Danielle
Hi Danielle, sorry for the confusion! It is supposed to be 8 tbsp, which is usually 1 stick. Thank you so much for pointing it out, I’m going to correct the recipe right now!
Thank you so much! These are currently in the oven and puffing perfectly. 🙂
Could you cut and then freeze the pastry for filling at a later time?
Yes, you should be able to freeze the pastry for later, just wrap in plastic to avoid freezer burn. You can also freeze the dough and bake later, which would give you freshly baked cream puffs when you’re ready to have them 🙂
These were sooo good!!!!! I almost started crying; they were that good.
The recipe is so easy too!
Definitely a keeper! ?
Thanks Reggie, I’m so glad you liked them!
After 25 minutes they were golden but we’re still wet in the middle. The Taste was pretty good. I used salted butter so didn’t add salt. I might add a little salt next time.