These Kesar Badam Ladoo are made with almond flour and need only 6 ingredients! They can also be easily made vegan or refined sugar-free.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 4 minutes
  • Total time: 19 minutes
  • Yield: 11 ladoo
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoon milk (30 ml, divided, use non-dairy milk for vegan version)
  • pinch saffron strands
  • 1 teaspoon + 1 tablespoon ghee (melted, divided, use coconut oil for vegan version)
  • 2 cups almond flour (200 grams, use fine almond flour)
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar (60 grams, adjust to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder

Method

  1. Make saffron milk before you start. Heat 1 tablespoon milk in a small pan, just warm it up, no need to boil. Once the milk is warm remove pan from heat, crush some saffron strands between your palms and add to the milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes before using in the recipe.
  2. Add 1 teaspoon ghee into a pan on medium heat. Add almond flour, stir continuously and cook for around 3 to 4 minutes until it's fragrant. We do not want to brown the flour but just want to remove the raw aroma. Remove pan from heat.
  3. To a blender, transfer the pan roasted almond flour. Also add the powdered sugar (also known as icing sugar/confectioners sugar) and the saffron milk that we had prepared earlier.
  4. Add 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder and 1 tablespoon ghee. Now blend until everything is well combined. I use twister jar from blendtec which does this easily, you can also a food processor or just your hands. Once everything is well combined, transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
  5. Try and see if you are able to bind the mixture into ladoos, if you are unable to do so, add the remaining 1 tablespoon milk (this also makes them smoother so I usually add extra milk at this point). You may need more milk depending on the brand of almond flour being used. Now mix everything very well with your hands.
  6. Take a small portion of the mixture and press between your palm. Then roll to give it a round shape like a ladoo. Make all ladoos similarly. Store these kesar badam ladoo in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.