Dry Fruit Laddu Recipe (Naturally Sweetened)

dry fruit ladoo placed on a white plate on a yellow napkin

5 from 7 votes

Dry Fruit Laddu Recipe (Naturally Sweetened)

Easy Dry Fruit Laddu Recipe without any added sugar or fats like ghee or oil. Packed with nutrients, good fats and fibre, these energy balls are made with dates, figs and various nuts. This Dry Fruit Ladoo recipe gets done quickly and comes together under 20 minutes.

Prep Time15

Cook Time5

Total Time20

Course: Desserts, Sweets

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Servings: ladoo

Calories: 99kcal

Author: Dassana Amit

Ingredients

1 cup chopped dates
3 tablespoons almonds
2 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons cashews
8 dried figs
1 tablespoon desiccated coconut - optional
2 green cardamoms - crushed in a mortar-pestle

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Roasting almonds

Firstly begin to roast the almonds in a pan until they get browned.
Keep stirring the almonds at intervals. You can also lightly roast the almonds. Set aside.

Chopping dates and figs

Roughly chop the dates and figs.
You will be needing 1 cup of chopped dates – so measure the chopped dates and set aside.
First lightly crush the cardamom pods in a mortar-pestle. Then remove the peels and crush the seeds coarsely. Set aside.

Making dry fruit laddu mixture

In a spice grinder, blender or mixer-grinder add the chopped dates, figs, cashews, raisins, almonds, desiccated coconut and the coarsely powdered cardamom powder.
Add the roasted almonds.
Grind to a coarse mixture and spread on a tray or plate or take the mixture in a bowl.

Forming laddu

Make small balls from your hands and the dry fruit laddu are ready.

Serving and Storage

Serve the dry fruit laddu immediately or store in an air tight container and refrigerate. Dry fruit ladoo stays good for a few days at room temperature and a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.
You could also make a large batch and refrigerate them for a few weeks or freeze them for a couple of months.

Notes

Nuts: Any nuts work well in the recipe. While I use nuts which are easily available to me, you can make these healthy ladoo with the nuts that are available to you locally - walnuts, pine nuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, hazel nuts. I get almonds, cashews, pistachios and walnuts locally, so I add these. You can use various proportions of the nuts.
Dry Fruits: I recommend not to skip dates and figs in this recipe. Both have cohesive sticky properties which help you to bind and form the laddu. They also add so much sweetness that you do not need to add any sugar or any other sweetener.
Dates: Use good quality dates. Preferably use pitted dates. If the dates have seeds, then remove the seeds and chop them.
Dried figs: If the figs are too dry, tough or dense, then soak them in hot water for a couple of hours. Later drain all the water, pat dry them with a clean kitchen towel and then chop them.
Desiccated coconut: Skip adding desiccated coconut if you do not have it. You can also add 2 tablespoons fresh grated coconut instead and they will give a good taste as well. But note that with fresh coconut, the shelf life will reduce considerably. So try to consume it quickly and refrigerate any leftovers for 1 to 2 days.
Scaling: The recipe can be doubled or tripled easily to make a big batch.

Nutrition