5 no-bake festive sweets you can make in under 20 minutes

When festive schedules get hectic, these quick, no-cook and low-effort festive sweets deliver rich flavours without spending hours near a stove.

Ingredients: Desiccated coconut, condensed milk, cardamom powder, chopped pistachios.

Method: Mix 2 cups desiccated coconut with 1 cup sweetened condensed milk and 1/2 tsp cardamom powder in a bowl until a dough forms. Roll into balls and coat in extra desiccated coconut. Top with sliced pistachios.

Ingredients: Seedless dates, mixed nuts (cashews, almonds, walnuts), ghee, poppy seeds.

Method: Pulse dates in a food processor to form a paste. Warm 1 tsp ghee in a pan, add chopped nuts and date paste, and mix for 3–4 minutes until warm and sticky. Shape into a log, roll in toasted poppy seeds, chill in the freezer for 10 minutes, and slice.

Ingredients: Marie or digestive biscuits, cocoa powder, condensed milk, melted chocolate.

Method: Crush biscuits into a fine powder. Mix in 2 tbsp cocoa powder and enough condensed milk to bind. Shape into balls, dip into melted dark or milk chocolate, and let them set on parchment paper.

Ingredients: Milk powder, condensed milk, ghee, saffron milk, cardamom.

Method: Microwave 1 tbsp ghee, 1 cup milk powder, 1/2 cup condensed milk, and 2 tbsp saffron milk for 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Let it cool slightly, knead into a smooth dough, shape into small discs, and press a pistachio in the centre.

Ingredients: Fresh crumbled paneer (chenna), condensed milk, cardamom, rose water.

Method: Combine equal parts crumbled fresh paneer and condensed milk in a pan over low heat for 5 minutes until thick. Flavour with cardamom and a drop of rose water. Press into a greased dish, top with silver foil (vark) and chopped almonds, and cut into squares once cool.

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