On the eve of Ganesha Chaturthi, another sweet to offer him is Baked Modak. I thank Ankita More for sharing this recipe with me. These modaks have a longer shelf life and are a healthy version of fried modak.
Om Ganeshaya Namah!

INGREDIENTS:
1. Whole wheat flour(atta) – 2 cups
2. Clarified butter(ghee) – 2 tbsp
3. Stuffing – 2 cups
4. Salt – a pinch
5. Water – 1 cup (for kneading dough)

METHOD:
For stuffing:
1. Please follow “Ukadiche Modak”
or you may follow Baked Gujiya too for trying a different one.

1. For these modaks, the stuffing may not be necessarily very dry. You may use the laddo churma or mawa prepared from ricotta cheese or Rawa laddoo etc. Yes the options are many.You prefer according to your choice.

2. For this stuffing I have used jaggery, coconut powder, poppy seeds, cashews, raisins, cardamom powder and ghee.

For Covering:
1. Take a tureen and add wheat flour, Ghee, salt and water in it.

1. Knead a soft dough and keep it covered for 15 mins.

2. In the meanwhile , preheat the oven to 350 degree F.

3. Now pinch a ball from the dough and roll it into 1 cm thick and 1 inch diameter disc after dusting in flour(plothan). Apply water with your finger all around the circumference of the rolled disc. Place some ghee in the center.
   

4. Start making pleats one by one to give it a katori shape ( Ramekin cup shape). Try to make as many pleats as possible.Place 2 spoonfuls of stuffing in the center
   

5. Now bring together all the pleats from the top and close them to form a cone at the top.
   

6. Remove the extra dough from the top.

7. In a similar way make all the modaks and line them in a greased tray.Brush some ghee all over them so that they don’t dry up in the end.
   

8. Bake them in the middle rack for 20 mins or until you see the brown color on the pleats and the bottom.
   

9. Take them out and offer to Lord Ganesha. 😀

[Note: 1. Don’t roll the pedha(loi) too thin or the outer covering will turn hard and crisp on baking.
2. Don’t keep it too thick,else you might not get the taste of the stuffing.
3. Make sure your stuffing is heavily sweetened ,so that when you dig a bite , you get the right sweetness with the baked dough.
4. Don’t bake them at temperature higher than 400 F or else they might turn brown from outside and left uncooked from inside. ]

Their inside look

Let them cool at room temperature and then keep in an air-tight container and enjoy for a month.

This is the link I followed : Baked Modak by Ankita More/ 😀

Happy baking !! Happy Ganesha Chaturthi!!
Please feel free to ask or comment!! 🙂