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Kesar Peda is fudge type cookie made with milk solids. This recipe is dairy-free and uses almonds for this Saffron infused Almond cookie. Vegan Gluten-free Recipe. Easily doubled.
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You would think that holidays, festivals and events would probably hit the Snooze button for a few months. But that ain’t the case. There are quite a few Indian festivals and they are quite nicely spread over the year. Some are celebrated more fervently that the others, but they all have a set of sweets, savories and dishes associated with them. The food also depends on the region or state and I have not touched so many cuisines from so many regions in India, at all on the blog!
Every few weeks I try to vegan-ize Indian sweets and desserts and other dairy intense recipes which do not have a straight forward substitute or a close alternative. This past week, I had an idea about a certain texture and taste and decided to make Pedas.
Pedas / Mathura Phedas are flat discs that are soft, have a good lot of sugar and some flavorings like cardamom, saffron, rose, pistachio etc and the other(or the only) main ingredient is Khoa (milk solids). Idon’tknow why so many Indian sweets use milk solids. Imagine the amount of cow’smilk needed to make the solids by cooking the milk till most of the moisture evaporates ( 5 cups or 1.2 liter or 33 oz or 2.2 lbs of whole milk, gives just 200 gms or 0.4 lbs of Khoa, which is almost 6:1 ratio). And now imagine all the milk being taken away from the babiessomewhere, who are very hungry and eventually are killed, just so we can eat a few of these sweets. Now, we don’t need to anymore. These pedas might not be exactly like how you remember but they are close, very close and very delicious!
Pedas are a very sugary milk fudge kind of dessert. so the vegan version is also sweet and fudgy. Adjust sweet in the recipe to preference.
Believe you me. you want to make these pedas to celebrate Lohri and Sankranti.
Next in line maybe Kalakand!
You can also find a load of vegan Indian Sweets in my Indian SweetsEbook, which you can buy here. I am trying to change it up to display better on kindle and offer it on Amazon, and having a lot of trouble with the formats. If anyone knows the easiest format to make an ebook in, which works out the best for all Kindles and their different aspect ratios, please do let me know.
Also to celebrate 20,000 fans on Facebook, I am giving away 5 copies of the Ebook today! The first 5 comments on this post get the Ebook! Please leave me a way to contact you in the comments 🙂
Steps:
Soak the saffron in warm almond milk.
Grind the almonds. Add to bowl. Add coconut flour, sugar, cardamom, salt and mix well.
Add almond milk, maple syrup and mix into a soft dough. Shape into discs and bake for 10 minutes.
Serve when cool.
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5 from 7 votes
Kesar Peda - Saffron Infused Almond Cookie
Kesar Peda is fudge type cookie made with milk solids. This recipe is dairy-free and uses almonds for this Saffron infused Almond cookie. Vegan Gluten-free Recipe. Easily doubled.
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time20 minutes mins
Total Time30 minutes mins
Course: Cookie, Dessert
Servings: 6
Calories: 98kcal
Author: Vegan Richa
Ingredients
- ½ cup (56 g) almond flour Both blanched as well as natural flour work.
- 1.5 Tbsp coconut flour
- 3 Tbsp finely ground raw sugar or other fine vegan sugar
- a generous pinch of salt
- ¼ tsp cardamon powder
- 8 saffron strands
- 1 tsp almond milk or other non dairy milk
- 1.5 Tbsp maple syrup or any other sweet syrup with similar consistency like agave, jaggery syrup. sugar syrup
Instructions
Heat the almond milk. Mix the saffron strands in it and let sit for 5 minutes.
In a bowl, mix the almond flour, coconut flour, sugar, salt and cardamom powder.
Add the saffron almond milk and maple syrup (or jaggery/sugar/date syrup) and mix well to make a soft dough. If the mixture is not a soft sticky mix, add in 1 teaspoons or more maple syrup. Make flat discs of the dough and serve as is, or bake at 300 degrees F / 150ºc for 9 minutes. (the pedas will expand a bit while baking). Top with some chopped pistachios or almond slivers and press in
Cool completely before serving or storing. Store in the refrigerator in airtight container for upto a week. the baked pedas are are soft Fudgy cookies. They taste best chilled.
Notes
You can make your own coconut flour with coconut flakes like here.
To grind the almonds into as fine as possible, add a Tablespoon of oats and a Tablespoon of starch(corn or arrowroot) in the blender and blend. Blanched almond flour works best
Nutritional values based on one serving
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Kesar Peda - Saffron Infused Almond Cookie
Amount Per Serving
Calories 98Calories from Fat 45
% Daily Value*
Fat 5g8%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Sodium 6mg0%
Potassium 15mg0%
Carbohydrates 12g4%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 9g10%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 1IU0%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 27mg3%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Did you make this recipe?Please do leave a comment and rating below.. Tag me on Instagram @veganricha
Other Sankranti/Lohri recipes
Coconut Rava Laddoo – Sweet balls of coconut flakes and semolina.
This Eggplant and potato stir fry with chickpea flour, spices and nuts. Ringad Batak nu shaak
This puffed grain and jaggery snack.A laddoo ball or bars with puffed grains, sesame seeds, nuts kept together with Jaggery(unrefined sugar) syrup is a favorite sweet and snack in several parts of India. One of the versions has only sesame seeds and jaggery syrup like a chewy sesame brittle. This Tilgud (sesame jaggery) is distributed among friends and family with the saying “Tilgul ghya, god god bola” that means “Take a tilgul and talk sweet as it”. The under-lying thought in the exchange of tilguds is to forget the past ill-feelings and hostilities and resolve to speak sweetly and remain friends.
Kanda Bhaji– Onion Fritters. or make these Baked broocoli fritters.
Date fig Burfi– Date fig nut bars
Upma- Savory Cream of wheat or rice cooked with peas, nuts and veggies
Besan Quinoa Laddoo– Sweet Chickpea flour balls with cashews and raisins.
Happy Sankranti / Lohri / Pongal to all who are celebrating!
This Peda is being shared at Allergy Free Wednesdays and Ricki’s wellness weekend.
Sharing is caring!
More Vegan Indian Sweets
- Kulfi Tiramisu (Cardamom-Scented Indian Tiramisu Fusion)
- No-Bake Carrot Halwa Cheesecake – grain-free Indian Fusion dessert
- Gujiya Peda (Indian Fudge With Coconut Pistachio Raisin Swirls)
- Carrot Halwa Cake
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️If you Love the Recipe, Please consider rating it using stars in comments! It helps readers and helps more people find the recipe online! I love hearing from you all! ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reader Interactions
Comments
Bis
Is the amount of milk enough? Did you mean tbsp or tsp? Thanks!
Reply
Richa
The moisture is from maple syrup. (1.5 tablespoons maple syrup) You don’t need more than a teaspoon of milk
Reply
Sage
Okay these were perfectly soft, chewy! I already made them today for Holi because I was searching vegan desserts and your recipes never disappoint. Glad this popped up when I was looking for a delish, EASY, quick recipe. I ended up making double for my family (because I ate 6) and they enjoyed with their chai!Reply
Vegan Richa Support
thank you for the 🌟 rating!
Reply
Sreedevi
I cannot believe how much these taste like a regular dudh peda with khoya!! Just made these for Diwali and they were a hit. Half the family is vegan and there are some diabetics among us as well. I used a loose homemade date paste instead of the maple syrup and some pure monkfruit powder instead of sugar. Everything else was the same and they came out so well. Quadrupled the recipe. Thank you so much!
Reply
Vegan Richa Support
perfect! wow quadrupled!
Reply
Jen
These are delicious, and the fastest, easiest treat-recipe I’ve ever followed. Literally in and out of the kitchen in <5 minutes! I've never had these in any form before, but think I may need to cut back on saffron a wee bit OR add a kick more of cardamom. The consistency is definitely fudgy–probably more-so because I can't read directions and made laddoos instead of discs. But no problem–I'll just eat all of these tonight and start a fresh batch in the morning to share! 😉Any tips on getting the crushed pistachios to stick?Reply
Richa
Yay!! Press them in really well.
Reply
Jen
Thank you, Richa! Are those pistachios dusted on top?? I need these to look pretty and impress! 😉
Reply
Vegan Richa Support
indeed! i hope that you impress
Reply
Brenda
Mmmmm i can almost smell these cookies filling the house with celebration and spice.Wonderful!Reply
Shweta
Made this with ready made almond flour and left out the coconut. I used regular milk since I didn’t have anything non dairy and it Tastes amazing! I would bake for about half the time so they don’t melt down into more of a cookie form. Thank you for this!! So good!!Reply
Vegan Richa Support
Awesome, thank you!
Reply
Sonu
Will be great to incorporate this idea of making Almond Kesar Peda for our vegan customers.Reply
Emily
I make these every Diwali. Always a hit!Vegan Gym Beast
Lets try to lift this out from 1 star rating. Voting it 5 stars, at least bloody appreciate if someone takes the time to post a VEGAN peda, and not downvote this thing.Great work, thanks for the recipe
Reply
m
Richa – i can’t wait to try this. But, your recipe calls for non-dairy milk. but, would it turn out bad if I did use regular milk? please help.. will be making batches to gift away for Diwali this year!
Reply
Richa
Use water. I havent used dairy milk in 6 years so I dont know how it will work. These pedas are dairy-free (cruelty-free)
Reply
Unknown
Hi Richa,
Recently I served these pedhas for Hanuman Jayanti. They were delicious without any time consuming work of boiling milk. I was craving for vegan pedhas since I started following vegan diet. I was skeptical if this would have lot of almond taste, however it completely mimicked khoya taste.
Both me and my husband loved it. We definitely prefer baked version. For unbaked, my mom suggested me to dry roast flour before kneading the dough. I may try that. I skipped coconut flour.
Thank you for wonderful, cruelty free recipe 🙂
Regards,
Mukta.Reply
Richa
exactly right. it works perfectly after baking. the heat helps infuse the flavors and sugar.. I like the idea of pre-roasting the flour. let me know how it turns out.
i am so glad you liked it. i need to make these again:)Reply
Unknown
Hello Richa,
I recently tried this wonderful recipe and served as a prasad for Hanuman Jayanti. I was missing eating pedhas since I started following vegan diet.
Both, my husband and I loved it. Initially I was skeptical if it will have too much almod taste, but I was wrong. It totally mimicked khoya taste. I skipped coconut flour. I tried both baked and unbaked. I could feel the taste of raw flour in unbaked version and thus prefer baked version. My mom suggested to dry roast flours for unbaked version, may try it next time.
Thank you very much,
MuktaReply
Anonymous
Is there any substitute for coconut flour? Buying whole bag for 1 tbsp for peda is bit expensive 🙁
Reply
Richa
oat or almond flour
Reply
Monisha Reddy
Can you freeze these after baking ?
Reply
Vegan Richa Support
haven’t tried – but should work fine
Reply
Anonymous
Should sugar syrup be of 1 thread consistency?
Reply
Richa
yes anywhere from 0.5 to 1 thread consistency will work.
Reply
Corrin Radd
I cut the sugar in half and served these for breakfast this morning. Delicious!
Reply
Richa
Awesome! The Indian sweet Peda is very sweet, so it needs the sugar, but as a cookie, the sweet can definitely be cut down. I am so glad you made them! andthnk you so much for trying so many of my recipes! xx <3
Reply
Dina
i’ve been looking for cookies made with almond flour. this sounds great!
Reply
Caitlin
hooray for another gf indian treat! these sound superb and look delicious.
Reply
Hannah
Oh darn, I missed out on the giveaway! At least I have these delicious cookies as a consolation prize… The flavors sound incredible, exotic and delicate, and like nothing else I’ve ever tasted. You are such a kitchen genius!
Reply
Gabby @ the veggie nook
These are gorgeous Richa! Love the addition of saffron- beautiful colour 🙂
Reply
Obiwan's Mom
OMG~ I’ve found cooking Nirvana!!! I LOVE Indian cooking~ Richa is a gourmet, smart, eco and health conscious AND has delicious recipes what more incentive can a person want to take the leap to appreciating a new cuisine and all it has to offer—THANk YOU. THIS is amazing. NAMASTE!
Reply
Obiwan's Mom
Very weird my ID didn’t come out accurately…Obiwan is the name of my little dog, and of course, I’m “his Mom” ~so-o-o that’s why I choose the name: Obiwan’s Mom :o) My email address is sharon.conser@gmail.com
Reply
Obiwan's Mom
Loving Greetings~ I loved your blog so much, I looked up major South Asia Holiday to find out more. I can’t wait to make your Pedas and learn more about India and it’s culture and cuisine. May your life be blessed with love. May your life be blessed with lakshmi. May your life be blessed with happiness. HAPPY MAKAR SANKRANTI!
Reply
mbenit
Everything looks so delicious.
Reply
Maitreyi
Hi Richa, amazing recipes. Would love to have your ebook. My mail id is sundarlakshmi@hotmail.com
Reply
Unknown
I would love an ebook! My email is pnnarula@gmail.com xo Priya
Reply
Anonymous
thanks Richa for all the effort you make to share your recipes!
If not too late, I would like to win the ebook 🙂 my name is Coloma, I will send details if I win!Reply
Anonymous
I would love to have your e-book. Your recipes are fantastic! sjfrost983@gmail.com
Reply
Christine McKenna
Very much enjoy your blogs, and enjoyed creating some of the sweets in the Diwali Sweets e-book. Thanks so much for sharing your creative efforts so beautifully! I am christine.mckenna at gmail dot com.
Reply
Lisa Abney
abneylisa@gmail.com; I would love to have your recipe book! I use this site quit often for healthy vegan recipes. Keep up the good work!
Reply
Anonymous
forgot my email address…ljstwo@sbcglobal.net
Reply
Anonymous
can’t wait to try these
Reply
Unknown
These look amazing! As a vegan marrying into an Indian family, your recipes are invaluable. I’m so glad I found them. My name is Emily and my email is emily.hufstetler@gmail.com
Thank you!Reply
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