These sprinkle coated chocolate cannoli shells are a fun way to jazz up your favorite traditional Italian dessert.  This is a quick project that produces beautiful results.  Here's what you will need:

• Chocolate cannoli shells (we like the small 3" ones for this project)
• Traditional shells (also small)
• Assorted sprinkles and toppings 
• Chopsticks or a fork 
• Wax Paper
• Cutting board
• Traditional cannoli filling - recipe here 

For this project we used our chocolate coated shells as a "no mess" solution for dipping shells!  We've done the hard part for you here, all you have to do is warm them up and you'll have a melty shell ready to be rolled in your topping of choice. 

We used traditional rainbow jimmies, rainbow nonpariels, toasted coconut, and a blend of different sprinkles to create these party cannoli.  You could use any dry topping to make these, think about what might top an ice cream sunday and then go from there, you just want to make sure that whatever you choose is small enough to stick to the chocolate.  Here are some suggestions!

• toasted nuts
• crushed up pretzels
• crushed candy cane
• enlish toffee pieces
• shredded coconut
• mini m&m's

To start, make sure you have all of your topping placed in low shallow bowls and are ready to use.  Plan in advance where you'll be storing these shells too, they need to chill in the fridge and then stay cool until serving.  Once they are melty they'll make more of a mess, we recommend taping a sheet wax paper over a few different cutting boards to make moving and heating them up a little easier.  

Once youre set up, the chocolate shells need to be warmed.  Our chocolate is a special blend that melts around 80/85 degrees (F).  You can set your oven to "keep warm" (typically around 170-200 degrees) and once it has heated, warm your shells for 5 minutes (on parchment papered baking sheets) or microwave them in 10 second bursts until the chocolate has begun to melt.  

This is where the fun happens.  Using a chopstick or knife, pick up the cannoli shell from the wax paper and place it in the topping of your choice.  Spoon the sprinkles over the whole shell.  Once it coats an area well you can use your fingers to flip it over and move it around.  Try to avoid touching the melted chocolate with your fingers as it will get everywhere, and pull away from the shell.  

After its well coated, use the chopstick or a clean hand to place the shell on the wax paper board.  Finish decorating your shells, then let them set up in the fridge for at least a half hour.  Fill shells with the filling of your choice, you can find our recipe for cannoli cream here.  Or crush up your shells for an awesome ice cream or yogurt topper.  

Our cannoli shells have a one year shelf life, but because theyre getting reheated and dipped in other material we recommend using them within a few weeks of making.  Store them in a cool dry place where the temperature will not exceed 75 degrees.