Golden Sesame Balls. Turmeric Toasted Sesame balls with Cinnamon and Cardamom. 5 Ingredient Sesame snack balls, or make them into bars or protein sesame bars. Vegan Gluten-free Nut-free Recipe. Pin it for later
These super simple balls are a great snack and a great way to add more daily turmeric. They are super easy to carry along and store. The sesame balls use just 5 ingredients. Toasty Sesame seeds, maple syrup, tahini, turmeric + spices/flavors, coconut flour.
Make these with just sesame seeds or sesame and other seeds. Sesame seeds are an acquired flavor, so mix other seeds or nuts. Pulse the larger seeds/nuts to a coarse meal before using. Toast them to preference, then mix in the tahini maple mixture. You can also use popped grains (quinoa, amaranth, millet etc) instead of sesame seeds. You can sub the tahini with smooth nut butter. These balls also remind me of Til ke ladoo which are usually made of sesame seeds and jaggery syrup. Use these as a laddoo sub at the next Indian festival. Loads of options!
Add flavors of choice to these snack balls. I use freshly crushed cardamom and ground cinnamon. Freshly crushed cardamom seeds and amazing and add a vibrant flavor to these balls. Use unflavored protein powder instead of coconut flour for a protein filled ball. Make some and let me know how you like them!
More Turmeric Recipes from the blog
- Fresh Turmeric Root and ginger Tea.
- Turmeric Peanut butter Chickpea Curry
- Turmeric Iced Masala Tea
- Turmeric Lentil spinach Dal with Panch phoron spices
- Turmeric Steel Cut Oats
- Turmeric Lemon rice
- Most of the Indian Recipes
Golden Sesame Balls
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2.5 tbsp or more maple syrup
- 1/2 cup (75 g) white sesame seeds or a combination of different seeds like sesame, coarsely ground pumpkin seeds etc
- 1/2 to 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) or more freshly crushed cardamom seeds or cardamom powder
- 1 tbsp coconut flour or vegan protein powder of choice
Instructions
- In a bowl mix tahini and maple syrup until well combined. (Heat the tahini in the microwave so that it mixes easily or let the mixture sit on the counter to come to room temperature.
- Toast the sesame seeds in a skillet over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden. Stir occasionally. Take off heat. Mix the in the turmeric into the sesame seeds while still warm-hot.
- Add the sesame seeds to the tahini maple bowl. Add the spices and mix well. Add coconut flour or protein powder and mix in. Chill the mixture for 5 to 10 minutes, then shape into balls or press in a parchment lined pan to cut into bars. Store on the counter for the day or refrigerate for upto a week.
Notes
Nutrition
Lee A Hinsch
These look simply delicious!! But…are they really 389 calories per ball??? I can’t eat them if they are that fattening…I know me – one ball is never enough!
Richa
oh, the serving size is incorrect. its calculating for 5 balls per serving. i’ll update it for 1 ball. its more like 75-80 cals per ball
Diane
Cardamom is such an expensive spice here in Canada, but I bet it really adds an wonderful flavour to these sesame balls. Would these be as good if cardamom were left out, what could I use to replace it, perhaps nutmeg?
Richa
yes use nutmeg. Also cardamom is much cheaper in indian stores.
Diane
Thank you, I live out in the Country, the nearest Indian store to me is about an hour away, but next time I’m in the city I will definitely look for it.
Rhonda
Wow, delicious! Made these this morning and they were all gone by this evening 😋 both my husband and I loved them so much. They were intended for a work morning tea in two days time, so will obviously need to make more! I used half black sesame seeds, half white, and when balls were rolled I found them a bit sticky so coated them in desiccated coconut, which addded to the deliciousness of them 🤤 thank you very much
Richa
awesome!
Erin
I made these these today as a treat for my son on his birthday, Richa, but it turned out that they were a treat for the rest of the fam too. Delicious and easy peasy to make. Thank you for the recipe! I recently received your new book and just love it. I can’t wait to try so many of the recipes––it’ll be hard to choose where to start!
Justin Goldberg
I didn’t have tahini so I ground up toasted sesame seeds and added oil to it. The final mix was not as most as tahini so I added extra oil for stickiness.
Suz
Hi Richa – I’d love to do these ones as they sound simple and delicious. Just a question: can I omit the flour or use soy flour or chick pea flour as I don’t have any of your recommended types (nut, protein, coconut…). Thanks!
Richa
use white flour or oat flour. Chickpea flour tastes awful raw. 🙂
Sharon Herbitter
Love these. I’m glad I didn’t double the recipe because I would eat twice as much! I followed the recipe exactly except I didn’t have coconut flour, so I used almond flour. My husband loves ’em, too! Thanks!
Swati Gulati
Hi Richa,
I am a BIG FAN of your culinary skills and absolutely love your book and recipes.
This recipe is the exact heathy protein packed snack/breakfast option that I was looking for !
Which protein powder do u recommend using? The vegan powder that I have is a mixture of greens and won’t go well with it. Thanks
Richa
any plain or vanilla protein powder will do.
Laura
made these (oops forgot to toast sesame seeds) and used the stevia sweetened powder for coconut flour. I only needed 2 TBSP of maple syrup, and well, they turned out somehow. Nice crunch and can’t really taste the turmeric which is a bonus for me….as it is earthy.
shanthi
Do i need tahini at all ? i do not have it at home. Can i double maple syrup in its place?
I do not want it too sweet either, can you please suggest alternative for tahini.
Also, how is the final outcome, chewy or hard til laddu like we used to have back home ?
Richa
These are not too hard. They are soft-hard and just lightly sweet. Use a smooth nut butter instead of tahini .
shanthi
Thank you Richa.
Linda
Hi. Can another flour be used in place of the coconut flour?
Thanks!
Richa
Yes, use any flour. You might need a bit more depending on the flour’s absorption.
Linda
Great! Thank you????
Rose
Hi there, I just made these and I would definitely make them again with a couple of caveats: I used 1 T almond butter and 1 T peanut butter, both no sugar, and opted for no cardamom. Also used the specified amount of maple syrup and some protein powder. I forgot that my protein powder has stevia in it, so they are a little too sweet for my taste. I would suggest adding sweetener to taste – start small, you can always add, but you can’t take it out. Thanks for a very healthy snack idea!!
Richa
Awesome! yes stevia can sweeten it up quite quickly. Make another batch with more nut butter and less maple. make flat discs and fold these sweeter balls inside for a double layer ball
Rose
Well. Aren’t you the clever one, Richa – what a great idea! Brava, brava. Will do, thank you!
Muchi
The moment I saw this, I knew I had to make it. They…are… AMAZING! But very dangerous. I just made a batch, and it’s taking every ounce of my will power not to finish off the whole lot in one go. Richa, your recipes are just the best! Nearly everything I make comes from you. Thanks you. Always!
Richa
yay! awesome! so glad you loved these!
Katie
Richa this is GENIUS!! I have failed many a time at trying to make my own Halva-inspired balls, and I think you cracked the code! All ingredients are on hand. Will be making this weekend.
Have a great weekend (noshing on these delicious treats)!
Katie