While you are here, check out the list of popular Indian desserts, sweets, and mithai, our easy no bake peanut butter fudge.
Why you’ll love this recipe
Benefits
These dates dry fruit laddu or energy balls comes with a lot of health benefits.
Dried fruits and nuts are always rich in antioxidants which help in promoting eye and heart health. It helps lower fat and blood sugar levels. Good for weight loss and a diabetic diet. Dates are rich in natural sugar and high in fiber, used as a sweetener in these energy bites. These energy balls are gluten-free and suitable for vegan, vegetarian, and paleo diets.
Ingredients
Dates: Medjool dates have a soft caramel texture, making your final bites extra delicious. If it is not available, use any seedless dates or khajoor. Ghee: Healthy fat and flavor. Dried fruits and nuts: Cashews, almonds, pistachios, and raisins give the best texture and flavor. Seeds: Watermelon seeds are what I have used today. You can add pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, hemp seeds, etc. See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Step-by-step instructions
You can check the video on how to make healthy, no-bake, sugar-free energy balls or protein bites.
Tips, Substitutions, and Variations
These laddu or energy balls are gluten-free and can be easily made vegan by substituting ghee with vegan butter or coconut oil, or you can skip adding fat. I have added ghee to give additional flavor. If the dates are too dry, you may find binding difficult. So soak it for 15 minutes and drain and then use it in the recipe. Don’t want to make balls or laddu? Then pour the mixture over the parchment paper on a baking dish and press it. Let it chill for an hour. Then cut into protein bars or burfi bites. If you love the aroma of coconut, then add desiccated or shredded coconut flakes to the recipe. Figs and walnuts can also be used in the recipe. Just make sure the amount of dates and figs to nuts and seeds is approx 1:1 so that you get the crunch and binding. Vary the amount of nuts to taste. You can substitute or add sesame, poppy, or any seed you love instead of watermelon seeds. Cashews can be substituted with roasted peanuts. Love nutty flavor? Add 1 or 2 tablespoon of peanut butter, almond butter or cashew butter. Raisins can be substituted with cranberries. To make it protein-rich, you can add 1 tablespoon of protein powder to the recipe. Making it for kids? You can also add chocolate chips, and crushed pretzels.
More no-bake desserts
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Recipe card
