Ricotta Cups with Hazelnuts

This dessert will  help you keep to your New Year's resolution of eating more sweets! These cupcake sized ricotta bites are light and fluffy and surprisingly very easy to make. This is not an overly sweet dessert and you can vary the toppings depending on your mood. We edited this recipe from the Pillsbury site to make it less sugary and to fit regular sized muffin cups.

One word of advice: go with the whole milk ricotta and not light of skim. You want that fuller flavor of the whole milk.

Prep time: 20 minutes (plus one hour or more for cooling)
Cook time: 10 minutes
Makes 12 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 15oz container of whole milk ricotta 
• 1/2 powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 box of refrigerated pie crust, brought to room temperature
• 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts (or other toppings of your choice, like mini chocolate chips)
• flour for your work surface

 In a large bowl, combine ricotta, powdered sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla. You can use an electric mixer, or a spatula, but make sure to mix until smooth and creamy. Once mixed, place it in a resealable bag (a piping bag if you have it, or use a sandwich bag) and refrigerate for at least one hour.

While the ricotta mixture is cooling, start on the pie crust. Preheat the oven to 425.

Unroll the crust on your floured work surface. To cut the dough, we used the diameter of a one cup measuring cup, and that fit the regular muffin cups perfectly. A 3-4 inch round cookie cutter would work as well. Press the dough into the ungreased muffin cups and bake for 10 minutes. The cups should be browned when finished.

Take the ricotta mixture out of the fridge and begin piping it into the cups. If you used a resealable plastic bag, just cut one corner to make an instant piping bag. Sprinkle with the topping of your choice and enjoy!