Dry fruit Ladoos are healthy, energy packed snacks that double as dessert too. These sweet treats made with an assortment of nuts and dried fruit are effortless to make and is ideal for beginners.
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Ladoos or energy balls,
no matter how you choose to call them, these are delightful. I often pack these as a school snack or serve it as an afterschool snack along with a sandwich.
Oh, did I mention? They come in handy when I am craving for something sweet or right around the time the 4 pm pangs strike.
Ingredients
- Dates and figs – any variety of dates will work here as long as they are soft. Even though Medjool is great, they cost a bomb. So, dont sweat it and feel free to use any soft variety.
- Nuts – I have used a combination of pistachios, almonds, cashews and walnuts. Pecans, macadamia and hazelnuts are absolutely delightful too.
- Cardamom – for flavor.
- Coconut oil – for greasing your hands if you find them too sticky to roll. You don’t need more than 2 tsp here.
Make ahead, storage and shelf life
- Ideal for weekly meal prep- You can make these Ladoos well ahead of time. They keep fresh for a week in the fridge and for 3 days at room temperature.
- To store, use air tight glass jars. Ensure that you handle them with clean and dry hands. Moisture free and sterilized containers are ideal.
A great favor idea
Considering that these are so easy to make, they are fantastic as a favors or return gifts. You can place each Ladoo in a small muffin liner and pack it with other goodies.
Or, you can just place it in a tray neatly and serve as a quick sweet treat in a party or a gathering.
Variations
- All sorts of nuts – work in this recipe. From pistachios to cashews, there is literally no nut that wont work here.
- Add seeds for more nutrition- Toasted seeds add so much flavor, texture and bite to these little energy bites. I recommend flax seeds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. Sesame is a favorite here too.
- Dried fruits – that can also be added include dried apricots, dried prunes and dried mangoes. Craisins or dried cranberries have an inherent sour taste and do not work so well here.
- Desiccated coconut – my version does not have any coconut added to it. But you can definitely add upto 1/4 cup here if you like the flavor of coconut.
- Flavors like vanilla, cardamom and cinnamon make them even better. Add a splash of some good quality bourbon vanilla while blending the dried fruit. When adding cardamom and cinnamon, go for ground cinnamon or cardamom. They are easier to incorporate.
Pro Tips
- Proportion of dried fruit and nuts is key to getting these Ladoos right. Adding more dried fruit will make them stickier while rolling. More nuts will make them crumbly, not allowing you to roll them well.
- Chopping up the nuts and fruit help in easier toasting and blending.
- Toasting the nuts and seeds not only improves the flavor but also the shelf life.
- While you blend the fruit and nut, make sure to stop the blender every now and then. This prevents the blender from heating up.
- If you find them sticky while shaping or rolling, grease your palms with coconut oil.
- You can also shape them into bars instead of rolls. To do this, line an 8 inch brownie pan with a parchment paper. Press the ground mixture into the lined tin and spread them out evenly. Cut into bars.
Method
Pit the dates and chop them into small pieces. Similarly, prep the remaining dried fruit. Heat a heavy bottom cast iron pan. Add the prepped dried fruit to the pan and heat them on low heat till they become soft.
This takes roughly 3 to 4 minutes. When ready, transfer them to a plate and let it cool.
In the meantime, add the nuts to the pan. Reduce the heat to the lowest. Continue to toast the nuts until fragrant. Again, this takes 4 to 5 minutes.
Do not step away from the pan while you do both of these steps since both dried fruits and nuts tend to burn quickly.
When the nuts are toasted, transfer to a plate and allow them to cool down. This is important. If you add the hot nuts and dried fruit to the blender, it is likely that your blender’s motor or its parts may burn.
Now, add the toasted nuts along with the green cardamom and pulse them for a few times. Do not grind them too finely. When we do this, the nuts will start releasing fat and break down into nut butter.
What we are aiming for is just powdered nuts. When the nuts are done, add the fruit mixture to the blender. Pulse a few times to bring them altogether.
Transfer the ground mixture to a mixing bowl.
Pinch lemon sized portions from the dough, shape into a ball and place in a muffin liner.
Dry fruit Ladoos are ready. Read our variations for more twists and check out storage and shelf life information at the beginning of this post.
Dry Fruit Ladoo
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 1/3 cup cashews
- 1/8 cup pistachios
- 10 dried figs chopped into quarters
- 20 dates pitted and chopped roughly
- 4 green cardamoms
Instructions
- Pit the dates and chop them into small pieces. Similarly, prep the remaining dried fruit.
- Heat a heavy bottom cast iron pan. Add the prepped dried fruit to the pan and heat them on low heat till they become soft.
- This takes roughly 3 to 4 minutes. When ready, transfer them to a plate and let it cool.
- In the meantime, add the nuts to the pan. Reduce the heat to the lowest.
- Continue to toast the nuts until fragrant. Again, this takes 4 to 5 minutes.
- Do not step away from the pan while you do both of these steps since both dried fruits and nuts tend to burn quickly.
- When the nuts are toasted, transfer to a plate and allow them to cool down.
- If you add the hot nuts and dried fruit to the blender, it is likely that your blender’s motor or its parts may burn.
- Now, add the toasted nuts along with the green cardamom and pulse them for a few times.
- Do not grind them too finely. When we do this, the nuts will start releasing fat and break down into nut butter.
- When the nuts are done, add the fruit mixture to the blender. Pulse a few times to bring them altogether.
- Transfer the ground mixture to a mixing bowl.
- Pinch lemon sized portions from the dough, shape into a ball and place in a muffin liner.
Notes
Use the pulse mode in the blender while grinding the nuts and dates +fig mixture. This helps in maintaining the texture.
Grind in short bursts to prevent your blender from heating up if you are making a large batch .
While sautéing the figs and dates, do it on low heat to avoid burning. Skip this step if you are using just Medjool dates or if your dates and figs are soft.
Your dates, figs and nuts must be at room temperature.
For Instant Pot & Air Fryer Recipes
Instant Pot timings may vary based on your geographic location. Air fryer settings and timings may vary based on the capacity and the model of the Air fryer.
Disclaimer
Nutrition values are provided here as a courtesy and are only a rough guide. Please consult a health care provider if you have any concerns.
Good recipe. To make it even more healthier you could also add few chia seeds into this recipe.
lovely and yummy ladoos