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Are you craving something sweet? Indian dessert recipes have everything you’re looking for! In India they call desserts “mithai” and each traditional dish has a unique flavor profile.

Some typical ingredients you will see a lot in Indian dessert recipes are flour, nuts, seeds, milk, sugar, and legumes. Popular spices you’ll often see are saffron, nutmeg, rose water, rose petals, and cardamom! Cardamom is described as kind of intense with a slightly sweet flavor that some people describe as minty.

Yes, Indian Dessert Recipes are truly made with rustic and humble ingredients which translates into better authentic results. Many of these confectioneries are traditional at festive occasions and are even offered to deities.

Another interesting fact about Indian desserts is that they are mostly cooked on the stovetop so you can give your oven a break. Is this starting to sound appetizing? Good, because this list includes recipes for classic Indian sweets as well as modern takes that you will just adore. So, get ready to learn about halwas, kheer, ladoos, gulab jamun, shrikhand, and more because this list is packed and so enticing!

1. Kulfi Tiramisu (eggless)

Kulfi Tiramisu gives you the best of both worlds – Tiramisu flavored with Indian kulfi. This Indian dessert is layered with ladyfingers that have been dunked in evaporated milk flavored with rose! The best part is the heavenly saffron-flavored pistachio mascarpone whipped cream! It’s the perfect treat for a special occasion when you want to try something new!

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2. Gulab Jamun Cake

This cake is lovely and nostalgic, reminiscent of your favorite Indian dessert “Gulab Jamun”! The flavor and aroma is absolutely heavenly. Using just one bowl you can whip up this fuss free cake in no time. Featuring simple pantry staples that are likely already in your house. When making this cake as a gift it’s fun to add a lot of edible silver or gold leaf because it’s so pretty! Key ingredients include eggs, sugar, cardamom, rose water, and saffron threads.

3. Rasmalai Fudge

Rasmalai fudge is a scrumptious rich, silky, creamy, and fudgy Indian dessert that you will love. It’s made quick and easy with the aromatic flavors of rasmalai! Rasmalai is a popular and tasty Bengali sweet treat. It is simple and uses minimal ingredients. This fudge is literally ready in under 15 minutes with lovely ingredients. For example you will need butter, finely chopped white chocolate slab, condensed milk, saffron milk, pistachios, dried rose petals, and cardamom.

4. South Indian Honey Cake

This South Indian Honey Cake is a fabulous traditional Indian Dessert. If you love light and fluffy sponge cake, cardamom, and sticky honey glaze then you will adore this cake. The bright notes of orange and sweet bits of coconut are divine! It is easy to bake in a bundt or loaf pan too. The most important part is the light, fluffy, and soft sponge cake that melts in your mouth. It’s fun to bake this cake in a pan shaped likes a honeycomb but you could easily use an 8 inch square pan.

5. Custard Gulab Jamun

Custard Gulab Jamun is the traditional Indian dessert recipe you have to try as soon as possible! It is a creamy eggless custard that is served alongside soft and juicy gulab jamuns! It’s perfect for the holiday season and diwali events! What are Gulab Jamuns? These classic and famous Indian treats are deep-fried khoya (milk solids) dumplings that have been soaked in a cardamom flavored sugar syrup- yummm!

6. Shrikhand Parfait

Shrikhand Parfait is the best way to celebrate Diwali festivities or just try something new if you’re not Indian yourself! This recipe for Indian shrikhand parfait is from the cookbook “Milk & Cardamom” by Hetal Vasavada. It makes 8 (8-ounce) parfaits. They are traditionally served garnished with a bit of chopped pistachios or charoli seeds. Charoli seeds are almond-flavored seeds that are often used in Indian cuisine as a cooking spice or in dessert recipes. In this dessert cookie crumbs, juicy fresh mango, cardamom whipped cream, and toasted pistachios come together for a beautiful texture and flavor combination!

7. Rice Kheer Indian Dessert Recipe

Rice Kheer is also known as Indian Rice Pudding! This Indian recipe is fabulous and is gluten free and made with 6 ingredients! Rice Kheer is a slow cooked pudding made with rice, milk, sugar, nuts, and fabulous spices. It’s excellent for Diwali festivals or any special event. You can eat it hot or cold because it tastes great both ways! Some people like to add saffron threads but that can be overpowering so either add only a very small amount or leave it out.

8. Plain White Milk Barfi

Plain White Milk Barfi is one of the best traditional Indian mithais that literally melts in your mouth! This version features milk powder, has no khoya, and a texture similar to a fudge that is flavored with saffron and cardamom. It’s fantastic for celebrating important occasions, like Rakshabandhan and Diwali! Or you can make it just to snack on while you’re hanging out at home with friends or family! It is soft, crumbly, and features a crunchy pistachio topping.

9. Besan Ka Halwa Chickpea Dessert

Besan ka halwa is decadent, sweet, rich, and indulgent featuring gram flour, ghee, sugar and cardamom powder. The name is Hindi for gram flour which is flour made with finely ground hulled black chickpeas. Halwa is the word for “a sweet dish that is made with nuts, cereals, lentils, or dry fruits”. This Indian dessert recipe requires a lot of constant stirring however it is well worth it. It is traditionally made during many Indian festivals and religious occasions.

10. Jalebi Recipe (Indian Funnel Cake)

What is Jalebi? It is essentially Indian Funnel Cake and it’s the super sweet treat that the whole family will love. It is crispy and chewy, with a sticky gooey syrup that brings it all together. Featuring a gorgeous orange hue and a slight tang you won’t be able to put it down. This Indian dessert recipe is very popular with kids and grownups alike all throughout Asia and Africa! Don’t forget that India is in the Asian continent, meaning Indians are South Asian.

11. Akhrot Ka Halwa

Akhrot Ka Halwa – How to Make Walnut Halwa Recipe! This recipe post also includes a tutorial video explaining in further detail how to perfect this dessert. Akhrot Ka Halwa or Walnut Halwa is nutty, decadent, rich, and scrumptious any time of the year. You won’t believe you only need 5 ingredients. Featuring top quality, fresh and organic Kashmiri almonds, walnuts and saffron! You will also need milk, sugar, and ghee.

12. Indian Dessert Recipe For Burfi Cupcakes

Looking for eggless Indian Dessert Recipes? These Burfi Cupcakes will put a smile on your face. They have a rich nutty cupcake base that is amped up by the Milk Powder fudge Whipped Cream Frosting. Burfi is essentially an Indian Fudge featuring milk powder and the ghee and sugar are cooked till it firms up completely and is then cut into squares. This baked treat is a lovely and unique recipe that will leave everyone impressed.

13. Coconut Truffles Laddoos

During Diwali sweets and desserts are in abundance like these Coconut Truffles Laddoos. When summer is over I’m done counting calories until New Years Day and that’s just tradition! In come these delicious coconut truffles, also known as laddoo in Hindu. Laddoos are ready to go in less than thirty minutes from start to end. They feature desiccated coconut and condensed milk. They are not fried, baked, or even fully cooked. All you need is a gentle heat to properly mold the flavors like almond extract, rose water, vanilla or cocoa powder.

14. Gulab Jamun Cheesecake

If you liked the previous Gulab Jamun desserts, this cheesecake will knock your socks off. It’s silky, smooth, creamy, crunchy, sweet, and decadent. I just love the inside aesthetic, it makes it so much more appealing. Ingredients needed for the biscuit base include: 320g biscuits and 100g unsalted butter. For the cheesecake you will need 200g granulated sugar, 60g corn flour, 800g cream cheese, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, and 300ml warm double cream. Lastly you will need 160g white chocolate, 20 medium sized gulab jamun, and whipped cream.

15. Indian Gulab Jamun with Milk Powder

I love making and enjoying desserts from different countries. So when I came across this rose syrup infused confection from India I was quick to get my ingredients together. Made with simple ingredients including milk powder,milk, and Semolina then kneaded into perfect balls and fried to perfection. The confections are then soaked in a sweet and aromatic rose water syrup and enjoyed.

16. White Chocolate Jalebi Bark

Looking for a simple and amazing way to elevate the flavor and texture of your white chocolate bark recipe? Try this Indian inspired twist. Jalebi is a batter made with ingredients that include flour, yogurt and sugars – fried into beautiful spiral patterns and soaked in a sugary sweet syrup. For this recipe the homemade or store bought Jalebi spirals are added to a melted white chocolate and topped with your choice of nuts and edible floral’s. Refrigerate to harden and prepare to have your mind and taste buds blown by this creative and tasty combination of East meets West.

17. Rasmalai Mousse Phyllo Cups

Ready to expand your palate into the Indian world of sweet confections? These rich and delicious Rasmalai Mousse Phyllo Cups are definitely the right choice. Rasmalai Mousse has a sweet, milky, silky syrup aroma with a melt in your mouth tenderness and the spice of cardamom. The thick, rich and creamy taste of the filling makes for an excellent flavor and texture combination.

18. Rose Rasmalai

Rose Rasmalai is a silky smooth and decadent homemade dessert recipe that features Rose. The Rose is lovely and delightful also and it’s sure to brighten the mood in any room. These moist and tender cottage cheese balls are soaked in a creamy sweetened rose milk and topped with chopped pistachios and almonds. This is a popular traditional Bengali (Indian) dessert. ‘Ras’ (रस) translates to juice and ‘malai’ translates to fresh cream.

19. Sesame Almond Burfi

You have to try Indian dessert recipes like Sesame Almond Burfi! That’s because it’s a scrumptious and popular treat that’s sure to be a hit! Sesame Almond Burfi has delightful ingredients like roasted sesame seeds, store bought almond flour and jaggery. What is jaggery? It is a classic non-centrifugal cane sugar popular in Indian, Southeast Asia, and Africa. This concentrated product of cane juice and sometimes date or palm sap is not separated from the molasses and crystals. It’s delicious, sticky, gooey, and kind of crunchy!

20. Almond Orange Nankhatai

These Almond Orange Nankhatai are cookies that are buttery, flaky, and crispy. Meanwhile the inside is melt-in-your-mouth chewy. These Indian eggless shortbread cookies contain ingredients such as cardamom, orange, and vanilla! Almond Orange Nankhatai are perfect for a crowd because they are flaky, crumbly, buttery, and addictive! You will need rice flour and ground almonds to make the dough.

Do you love light and crumbly cookies with your evening coffee or tea? These bite-sized, melt-in-your-mouth Nankhatai are eggless and oozing coconut flavor. With minimal pantry staples you can whip them up in no time. Nankhatai originates from the Persian word ‘Naan,’ which means bread in English, and khatai means light and flaky biscuit! Basically the word translates to Indian shortbread cookies that are produced without eggs or leavening agents (baking powder and baking soda).

22. Eggless Nankhatai Butter Cookies

These tasty Eggless Nankhatai Butter Cookies are absolutely fabulous! Soft and tasty, with the smooth and flaky texture, these little treats from heaven have a million reasons to be loved. They are easy and quick to make, adored by kids and adults alike, and are a great make-ahead recipe. These Indian cookies are simple to carry while traveling, are naturally vegetarian, and they satisfy sweet cravings instantly!

23. Thandai Gulkand Ice Cream

The best part about Thandai Gulkand Ice Cream is that it’s lovely for the holiday season. Some people like to make a huge batch and share it during the festive season! This cold creamy treat embodies the essence of Holi! It is cold, silky, smooth, rich, and luscious with the perfect amount of thandai powder that creates an irresistible crunch in every bite. What is in this Indian Ice Cream? It features flavors like: a blend of Indian spices and nuts such as green cardamom, fennel seeds, poppy seeds, peppercorns, melon seeds, saffron,and more!

24. Thandai Rose Petal Ice Cream

Indian dessert recipes like this Thandai Rose Petal Ice Cream will brighten up anyone’s day! This no-churn ice cream is homemade using only 3 main ingredients! That’s right, all you need for the base is cream, condensed milk, and thandai masala (powder)! There is no cooking required, it is eggless and creamy, and full of thandai flavor.

25. Rasgulla Recipe

What is Rasgulla? Rasgulla is a spongy, delicious, and popular traditional Indian dessert. Bengali people pronounce it like “Rosogolla”, and it features cooked cheese balls in simple scented sugar syrup. It’s fun to make dessert from cheese (Chenna or Paneer in Hindi) and creates a delightful flavor and texture. The best part is that it’s easy to make! All you need is whole milk, heavy cream, lemon or white vinegar, sugar, and cardamom! It’s important to note you can not make this dessert without full fat milk and cream. Low fat milk and vegan milks won’t do the trick unfortunately.

25 Delectable Yet Simple Indian Dessert Recipes