Quinoa Jaggery Ladoo

Name: Quinoa Jaggery Ladoo
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 17 min
Total time: 27 min
Ingredients: 1 cup quinoa (185 grams, raw quinoa (I used white quinoa which was pre-rinsed)); 1 teaspoon + 2 tablespoon ghee (5 ml + 30 ml); 1 tablespoon broken cashews; 1 tablespoon golden raisins; 1/2 cup powdered jaggery (67 grams); 2 tablespoons almond flour (20 grams); 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder; 3 tablespoons milk (45 ml, as needed)

By Manali Singh

5 from 6 votes

Oct 20, 2020

Quick and easy Quinoa Jaggery Ladoo are free of refined sugar, gluten-free, packed with protein and a healthier treat to make for the festive season!

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Quinoa Jaggery Ladoo- an easy and protein packed treat to make this festive season.

These ladoos are refined sugar-free, gluten-free and require no cooking other than roasting the quinoa in the oven.

Every year when I brainstorm Diwali recipes, my goal is to come up with recipes which not only taste good but are also easy to make.

Sure, I would throw in a more complicated recipe at times. But, I try hard to strive a balance. I know you guys love easy recipes (who doesn’t?) and bonus if it’s also healthy.

So, if you are looking for an easy sweet for this festive season which is easy, requires no cooking and is also healthier then these Quinoa Jaggery Ladoo checks all those boxes!

These are made with a handful of ingredients and can be made in less than 30 minutes. The bulk of the time taken to make these ladoos is actually the time taken to roast the quinoa so it’s hands free time.

These Quinoa Jaggery Ladoo

✔are an easy treat to make for the festive season.

✔are free of refined sugar.

✔packed with protein.

✔require no cooking, other than roasting the quinoa in the oven.

These also double up a healthy energy balls/bites. So, you don’t need a festive occasion to make these.

Just make a batch and these will be a great way to satisfy the sweet cravings.

For these ladoo, I roasted the quinoa in the oven and then grind it to a fine powder. In a way, I made quinoa flour.

So if you have quinoa flour, I think you can use that directly in the recipe.

Sarvesh who is not a quinoa fan said he could not tell there was quinoa in it! It gets a nutty taste and aroma after being roasted in the oven and then the cardamom and nuts, ghee add to the flavor.

So if are skeptical about it tasting like “quinoa”, it does not really taste like it.

Ingredients

Quinoa: The main ingredient for these ladoos is obviously the quinoa. I have used white quinoa here.

To rinse the quinoa or not? A lot of recipes call for rinsing the quinoa first since rinsing removes quinoa’s natural coating called saponin which can make it taste bitter.

However for this recipe, I didn’t rinse it. The quinoa that I used from costco (Kirkland brand) is pre-rinsed. So it’s good to use.

If you have quinoa which isn’t rinsed it might be a good idea to rinse the quinoa first and then sun-dry or let it air dry completely and then roast in the oven. So do keep this in mind.

I have roasted the quinoa in the oven since it’s a hands-free option and I prefer that. If you want you can also roast it on a pan.

If using a pan on stove-top, roast on medium heat until the quinoa starts smelling nutty, stir continuously for even roasting.

Almond flour: I have also used some almond flour here. The first time, I tested these ladoos, I did not use almond flour and the ladoos were fine.

But I just felt like it needed some more flavor from something else other than quinoa and so I added almond flour. And I quite liked the version with almond flour better.

If you don’t have almond flour, pulse some almonds in a food processor and use that. And if you want, you can even skip the almond flour.

However if you skip it, probably then reduce jaggery powder by 1 tablespoon and also reduce milk by 1 tablespoon, so adjust accordingly.

Jaggery: powdered jaggery is what I have used here. The quantity can be adjusted to preference.

Brown sugar will probably also work if you don’t have jaggery.

Ghee: I can’t possibly make ladoo without ghee. I have used only 2 tablespoons of ghee (and 1 teaspoon for frying the nuts and raisins) here but you can definitely add more of it for flavor.

If you happen to use more ghee, reduce the amount of milk in the recipe.

Milk: it’s used for binding the ladoo. I have used whole milk here but you can use any milk. Non-dairy milk will also work just fine.

Nuts & Raisins: for the crunch I have added some cashews and also golden raisins since I love them in my ladoo.

You can also use almonds, pistachios if you like.

Cardamom powder: a favorite spice which I always end up adding in my ladoos. Another good spice to be added here (just a pinch) would be nutmeg.

You guys will love how easy these ladoos are! During the festive season, there’s always so much to do, so such easy recipes come in handy.

I hope you guys will give these Quinoa Jaggery Ladoo a try and do let me know how they turned out.

Making these vegan: you can make this recipe vegan. Use vegan butter in place of ghee and that’s all.

Method

1- Pre-heat oven to 350 F degrees. Place quinoa on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast at 350 F degrees for 17 minutes, you can shake the tray once in between for even roasting. It will have nutty aroma once roasted.

2- Then remove quinoa from oven and transfer the roasted quinoa to a grinder. I like using my spice grinder (which is actually a coffee grinder but I use it all the time for grinding spices/nuts etc.)

Then grind quinoa to a fine powder and then transfer to a large bowl.

3- Now heat 1 teaspoon ghee in a small pan on medium heat and add cashews and raisins to it.

Fry until cashews are browned and raisins plump up. Transfer the cashews and raisins to the bowl of ground quinoa.

4- To the same bowl, now also add to the bowl jaggery powder, almond flour and cardamom powder. Mix everything together using your hands.

5- Now, heat remaining 2 tablespoons ghee in a small pan. You just want to warm it up a bit and then add it to the bowl. Mix everything together using your fingers.

6- Now, add the milk- 1 tablespoon at a time. I needed 3 tablespoons milk to bind the ladoos. Check how much you need and add more as needed

7- Mix everything very well using your fingers.

8- Then take a small portion from the mixture (around 35 grams) and press between your palm to bind it, then roll to form a round shape ladoo.

Make all ladoos similarly. These quinoa jaggery ladoo will keep well at room temperature for 5-6 days. I really thought these ladoo tastes even better the next day!

If you’ve tried this Quinoa Jaggery Ladoo Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!