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Toasted Coconut Balls – Toasted Coconut Cardamom Ladoo. 4 Ingredients! Ready in 20. Soft balls of coconut, coconut milk, cardamom and coconut sugar to celebrate the (Indian) festival season. Use other flavors of choice like vanilla, cardamom or lemon zest to make lemon coconut snowballs.
Just like Dals, there are many many variations of Ladoos (Sweet balls) depending on the region, family, festival and preference. These fudgy balls of coconut have just 4 ingredients. Shredded coconut, coconut milk, cardamom and sugar or sweetener of choice.
Toast the shredded coconut until nicely golden brown. Add coconut milk or coconut cream and cook for a minute. Add cardamom and sugar and continue to mix and cook until the liquid dries out. Cool, shape and serve! You can use dried shredded coconut or fresh shredded coconut for these Ladoos. Fresh shredded coconut can be found in Indian stores in the frozen section. Or if you can find a fresh coconut, shred your own (I kid, I never do that :)). The dried shredded coconut often is not fine. Pulse it a few times to reduce the shred size so that the coconut can absorb the liquid and flavor better and make less chewy ladoos. I use cardamom in these ladoos because I love fresh cardamom and this is a ladoo. Use other flavors such as a dash of vanilla extract, some lemon zest for some amazing zesty coconut balls.
Diwali, the big Hindu festival of lights is around the corner. Make these easy ladoos, some Besan Burfi (chickpea flour fudge bars), Kaju Katli (cashew fudge), Mango ladoo, and dairy-free Gulab jamun (doughnut holes), Besan Halwa (chickpea flour spoon fudge) or Carrot Halwa this Diwali.
Video:
Toasted Coconut Balls - Toasted Coconut Ladoo Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.25 cups dried shredded coconut , or fresh shredded coconut
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk , or other non dairy milk such as oat milk or cashew milk
- seeds of 2 green cardamom pod, or use 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, or other flavors as vanilla, cinnamon, lemon zest etc.
- 1/2 cup or more sugar, Or coconut sugar or jaggery powder or date sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoon vegan butter
- 2 tablespoons almond flour
Instructions
- If using dried shredded coconut that is not a small shred, pulse the coconut shreds in a blender to make small shred or coarse meal size shreds and set aside. Pulse for a few seconds, 3 to 4 times. Crush cardamom seeds in a mortar and pestle and set aside.
- Dry toast the coconut in a skillet over medium low heat. Toast until most of the coconut is golden. 3 to 5 mins. Stir occasionally to avoid burning. Add in the almond flour and mix in and switch off heat.
- Make the condensed milk: combine the milk, cardamom, sugar, salt, Vegan butter in a skillet over medium heat. Bring to a boil and continue to cook for 3-5 minutes until it starts to thicken a bit. (I like to use oat milk as some brands of coconut milk start to separate into oil and milk, when cooked for long).
- Combine with the toasted coconut. Press and mix well and continue to cook for another 1-3 minutes( depends on moisture content and stove). Stop cooking when the mixture is a cohesive dough and isn’t too liquid or soft(there is a bit of resistance while mixing).
- Let it cook until it is just warm and easy to handle. Then shape into balls. You can roll these balls in more coconut or chopped pistachios or coat on melted chocolate.
- Keep covered on the counter for the day and refrigerated for upto 2 weeks
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I am wondering, could I somehow grind up dates and use it instead of sugar?
I haven’t tried – but i think it could work – let me know!
Is you use dates you can just put the toasted coconut it in a blender with the dates and process until doughy. Then make balls
My mixture would not form into balls
Sometimes the flakes are large or old and that can hamper the sticky ness. You can blend them to make a meal consistency before using. For the current mix, add another binder such as a mix of 2 tbsp almond flour and 1-2 tbsp maple syrup.