For a sweet festival treat that is naturally sweetened, try my Whole Wheat Date Ladoo recipe. A wholesome vegan twist on a traditional Indian sweet made with whole wheat flour, almond flour, nuts, and dates! Soy-free + Gluten-free option.
Try these Date sweetened Wheat ladoo (atte ka laddu) for the festive season without all the ghee and cups of sugar! They are quick and easy to make and are great for gifting, too.
What is Laddu or Ladoo?
The term laddu or ladoo stands for sweetened round balls usually made from flour, sugar/ jaggery, and ghee or oil! As for flavorings, nuts and spices like cardamon, saffron tend to be included and as you can imagine, Indian cuisine offers a variety of laddu recipes for all occasions. Some using besan, others semolina (Rava), whole wheat flour, or various millet flours, rice flours, etc! Just here on the blog, you actually already find many different types, made with a variety of flavors, like these coconut ones. YUM!
Today we make atta ladoo. Traditional wheat ladoo recipes call for ghee and wheat flour. I have previously even made oil-free Ladoos using a maple syrup and those work out amazing as well.
For this date ladoo recipe, we use a blend of whole wheat flour, almond flour, and flax meal which makes these taste nutty and wholesome. I like flavoring these with cardamom – a spice which you should always use sparingly and work your way up if need be. Some chopped cashews make these richer and melted vegan butter is added for moisture and texture but these would actually even work with oil instead of butter or no oil at all.
MORE DIWALI SWEETS
- Coconut Ladoo
- Vegan Rabri Recipe – Indian Milk Pudding
- Vegan Malai Burfi
- Mango Sheera / Halwa
- Mango Burfi
- Kesar Peda
- Rasmalai Cake
Also make sure to check out my round-up post on Vegan Indian Sweets for more inspiration.
Recipe Card
Vegan Whole Wheat Date Ladoos
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (30 g) whole wheat flour I use atta
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter or oil
- 1 tablespoon flax meal
- 2 tablespoons almond flour
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom or seeds from 2 green cardamom pods crushed lightly
- 2 tablespoons chopped raw or roasted unsalted cashews
- 8-10 dates soft medjool dates are the best
- good pinch of salt
Instructions
- Roast your wheat flour in a skillet over medium heat for 10-15 minutes.
- Keep stirring so that the flour doesn't burn. Stir occasionally for the first 5 minutes. It will get evenly hot and will tend to burn faster after 5 mins so keep stirring frequently then
- Once the flour starts to smell fragrant and has changed color to a significantly darker shade evenly, you can add the flax meal, almond flour, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and mix and add in the vegan butter.
- Continue to roast for another 3-4 minutes over medium heat and then take off heat.
- Add the dates and the cardamom to a food processor and process until the dates break down.
- Then add in the cashews and wheat flour mixture and process until the mixture is well combined into fat crumbs.
- Check to see if you can make it into even ladoo balls.
- If it's not sticking as much, add 1 or 2 more dates or a few sprinkles of water and then process again. Shape into balls of preferred size and store.
- You can store this on the counter for up to 5 days or refrigerate for a longer life for up to a month.
Notes
- Use other flours to make Glutenfree, such as oat flour or sorghum flour
- Add pistachios or hazelnuts instead of cashews, if you want
- Nutfree: omit the almond flour and cashews. Use 2 tbsp more wheat flour
Nutrition
Ingredients:
- whole wheat flour – toasting the flour brings out its nutty flavor. I prefer to use atta or chapati flour. You ca. Also use wheat pastry flour.
- vegan butter or oil is added for richness and to bring the dry ingredients together
- flax meal – use storebought or grind some flax seeds in a spice grinder. I add some for omegas , you can leave it out
- almond flour – for texture, omit for nutfree
- these are flavored with cardamom – add pre-ground cardamom or add the seeds from 2 green cardamom pods, crushed lightly
- chopped raw or roasted unsalted cashews add some crunch – omit for Nutfree
- these are sweetened naturally, using dates – Soft Medjool dates work best here as they blend into a smooth caramel within seconds
Tips:
- Use other flours to make these glutenfree, such as oat flour or sorghum flour
- nuts can be added raw or roasted. Salted is fine but you obviously want to avoid any added spice mixes
- add pistachios or hazelnuts instead of cashews, if you want
How to make Wheat Ladoo
Roast your wheat flour in a skillet over medium heat for 10-12 minutes.
Keep stirring occasionally so that the flour doesn’t burn. Stir occasionally the first 5 minutes. It will get evenly hot and will tend to burn faster after 5 mins so keep stirring frequently then.
Once the flour starts to smell fragrant and has changed color to a significantly darker shade evenly, Add the flax meal, almond flour, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and mix and add in the vegan butter.
Continue to roast for another 3-4 minutes over medium heat and then take off the heat.
Add the dates and the cardamom to a food processor and process until the dates break down.
Then add in the cashews and wheat flour mixture and process until the mixture is well combined into fat crumbs.
Check to see if you can make it into even ladoo balls. If it’s not sticking as much, add 1 or 2 more dates or a few sprinkles of water and then process again. Shape into balls of preferred size and store.
Storage:
You can store these on the counter for up to 5 days or refrigerate for a longer life for up to a month.
Richa
Yes skip it. Tahini won’t work, just dry toast the mix and then process with dates. Dates are moist enough to bind. I add some vegan butter to add flavor substitute for ghee (clarified butter used in traditional Indian sweets
Stacey
Can we skip the butter or oil? Would tahini work instead?
Richa
Yes skip it. Tahini won’t work, just dry toast the mix and then process with dates. Dates are moist enough to bind. I add some vegan butter to add flavor substitute for ghee (clarified butter used in traditional Indian sweets
Sally
This looks such a versatile recipe, can’t wait to try. 🙏🏽
Reet
Hi Richa ,
Can I skip flax meal ?
Richa
Yes