Mawa Stuffed Dates make an easy and refined-sugar free treat for Diwali and the festive season. The dates are filled with rose and cardamom flavored mawa, nuts, and desiccated coconut. These get done in less than 30 minutes and also make excellent edible gifts for friends and family.

I always have a box of dates in my house and I use them in so many ways. Apart from eating them as such, I also fill them with peanut butter and enjoy as a treat or use them in salads, cakes or in making my favorite tamarind chutney!

Stuffing dates is one of my favorite ways to enjoy them. And to give them an Indian twist for the festive season, I stuffed them with mawa. For those who don’t know, mawa (also referred to as khoya) is milk solids and used in a number of Indian desserts like peda, gujiya and more.

For the stuffing I also added some desiccated coconut powder and nuts. It made the filling more flavorful and the nuts added a nice texture to the dates.

Refined Sugar-Free Treat

Dates are naturally sweet and so this recipe doesn’t use any added sugar making this a refined-sugar treat for Diwali.

If you wish, you can sweeten the mawa with some sugar but I did not add anything. Since dates are plenty sweet, I didn’t feel the need to add any more sugar in the stuffing. If you wish to sweeten it, I would recommend adding some honey, that will still keep this recipe naturally sweetened.

This makes the perfect recipe for those who want to enjoy refined-sugar free treats during the festive season.

Ingredients

Mawa: also known as khoya, is dried milk solids. My grandmother would make khoya from scratch by reducing the milk for hours but I always just buy it from the stores. In the US, I like Vadilal brand of mawa.

Dates: for this recipe, I have used medjool dates but you can also any date. I used pitted dates so I didn’t have to remove the pits. But if using whole dates, remove the pits first.

Flavoring: the mawa stuffed dates are flavored with lots of nuts, rose water and a touch of cardamom.

Step by Step Instructions

1- Heat a pan on medium heat. Then add 1 cup crumbled mawa (150 grams) to it. Stir the mawa and cook for around 2 minutes.

2- Then add 1/4 cup desiccated coconut powder (20 grams) and stir. Saute for another minute.

3- Add in 1/4 cup chopped nuts (I have used a combination of almonds and pistachios) and mix until combined with the rest of the mixture. I used my food processor to chop the nuts.

Add in 1/2 teaspoon rose water and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder and stir. So, in total we cook for around 3 to 4 minutes after adding the mawa.

4- Remove the mawa stuffing into a bowl. At this point, check if the mixture binds by pressing it between your thumb and fingers. It should not be too dry and should be a little wet so that it sticks well inside the dates and doesn’t fall off. If the filling is too dry, you can add a splash of cream or a drizzle of honey.

5- If using whole dates with pits, remove the pits first. I have used pitted medjool dates. Make a slit in the center of the dates using a knife (be careful to not cut all the way through). Then using your thumb and index finger, separate the two edges to make space for the filling. Prepare all the dates similarly.

6- Fill date with the prepared mawa filling. Press the filling firmly inside the date using your fingers. Fill all the dates similarly.

7- To garnish the top, take chopped pistachios and desiccated coconut powder on a plate. You can also use crushed dried rose petals and edible silver leaves. Invert the filled date over the plate of pistachios.

8- And your mawa stuffed dates are ready! You can garnish some with coconut in the same way.

Storage

Store these mawa stuffed dates in the refrigerator. They will stay good for 3 to 4 days.

Vegan Variation & Mawa Substitute

I have personally not tried but you can try replacing mawa with almond meal or almond flour. That would make these stuffed dates vegan.

Tips & Notes

• Dip them in chocolate: for a fun variation, you can dip these stuffed dates into chocolate. Freeze the stuffed dates until they are firm. Then melt some chocolate and dip the dates into it. I would recommend using dark chocolate, that will go well here.

• Garnishes: you can garnish these with dried rose petals. Crush the rose petals and sprinkle on top. You can also decorate with some edible gold or silver leaves.

• More filling options: you can use almond flour or almond meal in the filling as well. You can also add nuts like hazelnuts and cashews. Candied nuts will also go very well.

• Make sure the stuffing is a little wet. If it’s too dry, add a drizzle of honey or a splash of cream. It should bind when you press it between your palm.

• Edible gifts for friends & family: these are the perfect easy treats to make for gifting. You can put them in cute little boxes and give them to your loved ones.

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