Badam Laddu (Almond Flour Ladoo)

These Badam Ladoo are healthy, nutritious and tasty balls made with almond flour, cardamoms, sweetener and coconut (optional). These are gluten-free, vegan and can be made without any additional fats if you want. They can be eaten as a breakfast dessert or any time snack to boost your energy instantly. They are good in the school or office snack boxes, and great to gift your loved ones.

About Almond Ladoo

At home we love these Badam Laddu, & they are a staple for a lot of reasons. They are easy to make, tasty and are nutrient dense. With so many check marks, these get done very often in my home and we are never bored because I change the sweetener and the flavorings.

In this post I share 3 ways to make them – with jaggery, with sugar and with dates. Each sweetener gives a different taste to these and also the shelf life is different. While the sugar ladoos stay good for over 3 weeks at room temperature, the jaggery and date versions keep good for 7 to 10 days. They can be refrigerated for a longer shelf life and reheated.

I shared this recipe longtime ago when I started to make these almond ladoo for my toddler and pre-school kid regularly. I thought I would update this post because a lot has changed over the years and I am happy to say they still love these. We make the sugar version only during the festivals because they look great to gift & I prefer to avoid the sugar snacks for regular consumption.

In the past I would make these with whole almonds which get toasted and ground to powder. But in the recent times, blanched almond flour is easily available in the stores so I use that for convenience. You are free to use what you have – whole almonds or almond flour. Dried coconut (copra) was one thing I would always include but you can make these without that for a longer shelf life.

I am sharing stepwise pictures for the jaggery & sugar versions and have the dates version in the recipe card. If you are a beginner and want the help of stepwise pictures, take a look at this Date Balls Recipe.

Similar recipes you may like
Coconut Ladoo
Besan Ladoo
Maladu
Rava Laddu

Photo Guide

Step by step Photo Instructions

With store bought almond flour and jaggery

1. On a medium to low flame, dry roast 1½ cups (150 grams) almond flour for 4 to 5 mins until you begin to smell the roasted flour. Turn off and cool down. Stir in ⅓ cup jaggery powder and ⅓ teaspoon cardamom powder. Mix well and add to a grinder. Pulse until the mixture comes together. Taste test and add more jaggery if you want. Do not over grind as it begins to release oils (very important). If you want you may add half tsp ghee (not more) for flavor. Divide to 10 portions and roll to balls. I made 2x to make 20 ladoos.

With whole almonds

This version uses dried coconut (copra). It can be substituted with unsweetened shredded coconut. You can also omit it and cut down the sugar/jaggery.

2. Dry roast 1 cup almonds or 1¼ cup almond flour on a medium flame until aromatic. In the same pan, roast 1 cup dried coconut (optional) until aromatic. Cool down and grind almonds and coconut to a powder. Remove to a bowl.

3. With sugar: Finely powder half cup sugar in the same grinder and remove to the bowl. Mix together the sugar, almond flour and 1 tsp vanilla extract or powder as needed (or half tsp cardamom powder). Taste test and add more powdered sugar if you want. In a small pan, heat 2 tablespoons ghee and fry chopped pistachios and raisins until plump. Pour it to the bowl and mix with a spoon first and then with your hand. Take portions of this and roll to badam ladoo. If it is too dry, pour a splash of milk or more hot ghee.

4. With jaggery: Grind the almonds and coconut first, add 1 cup jaggery and ½ teaspoon cardamom powder and ¼ teaspoon dried ginger powder (optional). Grind them until the mixture comes together. Take portions and roll to balls.

Store these badam ladoo in air tight container and handle with moist-free hands.

Expert Tips

• It is very important not to over grind the almond mixture, else the oils will begin to release.
• Avoid over roasting the nuts or the flour. The ladoos go rancid too fast.
• Adjust the sweetener to your taste. I use organic sugar that is low in sweetness.

Related Recipes

Recipe Card