Food forms the fulcrum of festivity in Indian culture. It’s no different on Raksha Bandhan, a festival where girls and women tie a thread on their brothers’ wrist, and celebrate the occasion with sweet treats. People indulge in all sorts of sweets, but how about making this Rakhi special by preparing some protein laddoo at home? They won’t just be relished by your fitness-conscious brother, but also be good for your own health!
As people get more aware about what to eat and avoid, being mindful of the ingredients and making sweets yourself can cut down a lot of apprehensions. Let’s share some protein laddoo recipes with you to make your special day extra special.
Health Shots curates 3 interesting protein laddoo recipes:
1. Dry fruit laddoo
Nutrionist Shilpa Thekke, who goes by the Instagram handle @nutrelish, shared this yummy and easy recipe of dry fruit laddoo. It can be a healthy option for your sweet cravings. Its ingredients offer a melange of proteins, vitamins, good fats and fibre.
Ingredients
50 gm dry fruits and nuts of your choice
5-10 dates
Melted jaggery
Procedure
* Take 50 grams of dry fruits and nuts of your choice. Try to include cashew, walnut, almonds, pista, raisins and dried cranberries.
* Dry roast it for 2 minutes, and blend it to a course mixture.
* Remove the pulp of 5-10 dates and blend it to paste.
* Mix this date pulp with the dry fruit and nut mixture to form laddoos.
* Use 1 tbsp of melted jaggery if the laddoos aren’t binding well.
Suggested servings: 50gm laddoos a day
It can stay fresh in your fridge for a week, and you can enjoy them guilt-free! If you didn’t know it already, jaggery is a better sweetening agent than sugar.
2. Coconut and Protein Laddoo
We scooped out this interesting healthy dessert recipe from nutritionist Radhika Sathe aka @fitfreak_radhika. She calls it a ’26 gram protein laddoo’ for satisfy your sweet cravings.
Ingredients
20 ml milk
1 tbsp ghee
1 scoop whey protein
40 gram grinded coconut
Procedure
* Mix all the ingredients.
* Make a dough out of it.
* Now, make small laddoos out of it as per the size you require.
Check out a video here!
You can enjoy this whenever you have sweet cravings but make sure whenever you eat this it fits in your calorie intake. You can also store it in fridge for 3 days.
3. Oats and til laddoo
Here’s a special DIY recipe by food blogger Niki Mithaiwala, who is on Instagram as @nikiceipe. Her oats til laddoo are a protein-rich, nourishing treat. Apart from the benefits of oats, this sweet ball has flax seeds, which been linked to many health benefits such as improved digestion and a reduced risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Also, sesame seeds present in it are an excellent source of calcium and manganese. It’s a complete win-win situation when your favourite food is offered in a healthy way, isn’t it? So let us know how to make these protein laddoos!
Ingredients
1 cup oats
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds
2 tbsp black raisins
1/4 cup jaggery powder
1 cup soft dates
1/2 tsp cardamom
3-4 tbsp warm milk
Procedure
* Dry roast sesame seeds and flax seeds for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the flame.
* In the same pan, dry roast oats for 4-5 minutes and then remove it from the flame.
* Mix oats and sesame flax seeds mixture.
* Allow it to cool down.
* Coarsely grind the mixture.
* Add jaggery powder, soft dates and cardamom. Again grind everything.
* Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl.
* Add black raisin and warm milk and mix them well.
* Start making laddoos.
You can store these in an air tight container in refrigerator for 15 days.
The last word
Who says sweets can’t be healthy? It is believed that laddoos were historically used as medicines with ingredients such as methi, makhana and sonth. The great health advantages of these protein laddoos seem to be continuing the legacy!