During my trip to Cancún last month, I fell in love with the Yucatán peninsula and some of the wonderful flavors and ingredients there.  Talented fellow blogger Patty of Baking is Hot and Pattycake.ca is currently living in a small town in the southeastern part of the Yucatán peninsula (lucky girl!), about 4 hours away from Cancún.  She kindly agreed to be a guest here on LFM and share a bit about her experience getting to explore and learn about those wonderful Yucatán ingredients.  She is sharing an absolutely delicious looking treat that is gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, AND free of refined sugar!  After you’ve read about her delicious treat, go check out her wonderful blogs, Baking is Hot and Pattycake.ca.

=====================================================

Thanks for having me as a guest Rachael!

In Mexico, there is a tradition of making confections called alegrías (happiness) from puffed amaranth. These treats are usually made with honey, molasses, or chocolate mixed with nuts, seeds, and raisins, and are easy to find in Mexico City, Merida, and most major Mexican cities. Amaranth is a very nutritious seed that the Aztecs and Mayans revered. The seeds are high in protein, minerals, fiber, and lysine—they are one of the few plants that are said to contain complete protein. The Aztecs used the seeds in rituals, where they mixed amaranth with honey and human blood (that they got from their sacrifices) to make cakes shaped as idols. The Spaniards found this practice barbaric so they forbade amaranth. Talk about a colorful history! Fortunately, amaranth is being enjoyed once again in confections, breakfast cereals, and ground up in nutritious drinks. The greens of the amaranth plant are also edible and highly nutritious.

I’ve been having a great time playing with all the wonderful foods that are available down here, including amaranth. Since it’s very hot these days (around 34C and humid) I came up with these no-bake treats to satisfy my craving for something sweet, gluten-free and healthy. Besides the puffed amaranth (which you may be able to find in Latin American grocery stores) these contain peanuts, pepitas, and local Mayan honey—all abundant in these parts. The honey comes from special stingless bees that have their hives in hollowed logs. It’s usually a dark golden honey that’s very flavorful and has notes of orange blossom. I always enjoy raw local honey wherever I am, as besides being delicious, it aids in dealing with allergens (local pollens)—at least that’s what I’ve heard!

The following recipe is super easy to make, as well as nutritious and delicious. It’s gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, as well as free of refined sugar (though I wouldn’t recommend this for diabetics). If you’re not into peanuts, I think this would be delicious with roasted almonds instead.

I enjoy these with my sweetheart and a fresh cup of dark roast Chiapas coffee in the afternoon—I hope you enjoy them too!

Tagged as: cinnamon, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, honey, puffed amaranth, roasted peanuts, vanilla extract