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:
Recipe Card
Toasted Coconut Balls - Toasted Coconut Ladoo Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups (120 g) dried shredded coconut or fresh shredded coconut
- 1 cup (226 ml) full fat coconut milk or coconut cream for fudgier
- seeds of 1 green cardamom pod or use other flavors as vanilla, cinnamon, lemon zest etc.
- 1/3 cup (66.67 g) or more raw sugar coconut sugar or jaggery powder or date sugar
- a pinch of salt
Instructions
- If using dried shredded coconut, 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 coconut milk/cream and cardamom, cook for 2 mins.
- Add sugar and salt, increase heat to medium and cook for 15 to 20 mins, or until the mixture completely absorbs the liquid and does not leak any moisture when squeezed or pressed.
- Cool to room temperature, them shape into balls. Serve!
- Keep covered on the counter for the day and refrigerated for upto a week.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Tejal
I am wondering, could I somehow grind up dates and use it instead of sugar?
Vegan Richa Support
I haven’t tried – but i think it could work – let me know!
Richa
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
Kate
My mixture would not form into balls
Richa
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.
Meredith
I have already ground cardamom. How much should I use? 1/2 tsp? less?
Thanks in advance
Richa
Yes use 1/2 tsp
Nicky
Excellent recipe! I was looking for a quick and easy dessert and this worked perfectly!!! 🙂
Vegan Richa Support
yay
Prachi
Dear Madam, can we use dairy milk in place of coconut milk/ coconut cream.
Thanks.
Richa
I don’t recommend using dairy. You can use just plain water or a sugar syrup made with water and sugar to single thread consistency
Richa Anand
Hi Richa
Lovely recipe
Can I add condensed milk instead of milk and sugar?
Vegan Richa Support
that’s a great idea – it will work perfectly !
Viraj shah
Hi. Its a great recipe. Just wanted to know, what is the shelf life of these balls?? And how long we can keep them at room temperature ?
Richa
Depends on your climate. refrigerate if keeping more than 2 days. They’ll last in the fridge for a month
Reshma Shah
Hi…Was looking for a naturally sweetened coconut ladoo and came across yours. I wanted to ask if we can toast coconut flour also along with dessicated coconut to make ladoos thereby reducing lill quantity of dessicated coconut. I have lot of coconut flour lying with me so thought of using it .
Thanks
Richa
You can use a quarter of amount coconut flour. Too much coconut flour will make the ladoos too dry and Sandy. Try my Coconut flour brownies And other coconut flour recipes
BHAWANA SIROHI
Dont have coconut milk/cream with me? Can i use soya milk or normal full cream milk?
Komal
Hi, can u help with with keto version, how much stevia will go in it . TIA
Richa
you can probably use stevia and cashew cream + cornstarch. cashew cream will thicken on heating and hold theladoo together
sharon
I love this recipe my husband want meatless and this works out just fine have made four times we love it
Richa
awesome!
Jackie
Hi Richa
Your recipe sounds really easy & delicious. I’m planning on making these. Can I use desiccated coconut instead of dried shredded coconut? I believe they are different in texture and moisture content. If yes, do I toast it? Thanks!
Richa
Yes toast it. Taste the mixture carefully before making balls. You might need to add a bit of coconut oil
Reshma
Yummy. Tried these. They r the best
Richa
Thanks!
Komy Singh
Sorry the coconut ladoo became rock hard after shaping them. I had to microwave them so often them. Can we modify the recipie so they are not so hard
Richa
The sugar might have got cooked longer. When thesugar and liquid gets cooked too long, the sugar start to reach hard candy state,ie. oncooling it will harden.Cook for a min orso less.You can also add in 2 tbsp almond flour in the ladoo. that will ensure that the ladoos have texture that doesnt harden even if the sugar hardens a bit
Uma
Can I use cow milk instead of coconut milk? I am not vegan 😉
Rini Shah
Hello! Richa I follow your recipes, more so now as half my family is vegan! Today I made the coconut laddoo for Ganpati Chauth! Thank you for all the yummy vegan recipes!
Mittal
Hi Richa,
Thanks for this recipe. I recently turned vegan and didn’t know what kind of desserts I could make for myself. I followed your recipe (added water instead of coconut milk) and it turned out very well. 🙂
Cheers
M G
Joey
Can these be made ahead of time and frozen? I’m making a large assortment of sweets for a party in 2 weeks.
Richa
I havent tried freezing them. freeze a batch and see how they thaw out.Hopefully they wont fall apart. You can possibly add some more binding such as coconut flour so that the balls are more compact rather than fluffy soft (with the shredded coconut texture). I think compact balls would freeze better. The fluffy ness in the balls might tend to thaw into crublyness.
Shiffali
How can I use fresh grated coconut? Do I need to grade it and then grind it or grade it , toast it and then grind?
Richa
Grate it, toast it for a bit (not too long, fresh coconut does not toast well) and then continue with the recipe. If grated coconut is fine texture, then you do not need to grind it. But if you do grind it, do it before you toast.
Vidhi Gupta
Kindly tell me how to make these without coconut cream or milk. I am on vegan low calorie diet
Richa
soy milk might work. These are coconut ladoo, so all of it is coconut. The flakes have high calories too
Cyndi
Very delicious and so quick and easy to make. Will be making these again
Anika
Is it possible to use regular sugar instead of coconut sugar? It is quite expensive for a student 😅 but I want to try this recipe out
Richa
yes use any sugar 🙂
Jill
I used pretoasted flakes…still toasted for a min. and there seems to be a lot of oil once the liquid is gone. Has this happened to you?
Richa
hmm i think its probably the double toasting. You can instead heat up the wet ingredients for a few minutes to thicken, then add the toasted flakes and mix in for a few seconds, take off heat and form balls.
Jill
Thank you! I’ll give it a try. They still tasted great…rolled them in some cocoa powder which seemed to help with some of the excess oil.
Rudi
Hi there! This looks fantastic will be trying today. Re the cardamom,can I use dried cardamom pods Andy just remove the small seeds from that perhaps after placing in boiling water to soften?
Richa
Hi Rudi, the black seeds are the edible part. You can discard the outer green skin. In this recipe, you crush the seeds in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder to make a coarse meal and use. You can also powder them in a spice grinder and store. they dont need to be soaked.
Rudi
Many thanks, very helpful!
Ruchy
I made these today! Turned out great! I added crushed pecans and some flax seeds. I also used a blend of Pyure and Xyla to make them keto-friendly. The whole family loved them! Thanks 🙂
Richa
Awesome!
Sheridan
Mine still squeeze out with liquid ???? I have tried cooking longer but it starts to burn. What am I doing wrong?
Richa
hmm, maybe the coconut is a bit old and is not absorbing the liquid well. cook for a bit longer on low heat so the coconut doesnt burn. You can also make bars with it by pressing the mixture in parchment lined loaf pan. Press with another parchment on top until the mixture is well packed. Refrigerate for an hour or so then cut up into bars.
Marissa
These are very good
Kelly
Hi! These look delicious and I can’t wait to try them. One question-do you think I could substitute the sugar for pure maple syrup? Not sure how substituting a dry ingredient for a liquid one would work. Thanks so much in advance 🙂
Richa
you may be able to use maple. the result will be a bit sticky, but you can roll those in shredded coconut or cocoa to keep the exterior less sticky. Once the coconut is toasted, let it cool slightly and add maple syrup. Add just enough when the coconut starts to stick easily. Chill and shape into balls.
Kelly
Ok perfect, thank you so much!
Soumya
Hey Richa,
Loved the video! Quick question: Can we use frozen grated coconut easily available in indian stores? If yes, would you just defrost it? Thanks!
Richa
Yes, totally. Thats what i do when i need fresh coconut. Thaw and use. The toasting time might be a few mins longer.
Shelby Kurmey
The ingredients list includes salt but you don’t say where to add it. I am also wondering for the other flavors how much would you suggest adding?
Thank you
Your recipes are helping me to vary our diet & go vegan a lot more often.
Richa
Add it with the sugar. for the other flavors, i would use 1/2 tsp vanilla or cinnamon, and a tsp of lemon zest.
Aayushi
This looks so amazing! Can’t wait to try 🙂 It says serves 6 but approx how many balls does it make?
Richa
Makes 10 or more balls
Julie
Hi, do you suggest coconut milk from a can or coconut milk such as Silk brand (sweetened or unsweetened))?
Richa
I use canned, but silk would work too. Is using sweetened, use less sugar.
emily
Wow! i made these with vanilla and they came out beautifully.
Richa
Great Thanks.