My first guest post! Check out the story and recipe on La Fuji Mama for these delicious nutritious gluten-free super-easy no-bake amaranth squares. :)

Right now it's super hot here in Mexico (like +40C with humidity, and getting hotter) so baking has taken the back burner so to speak, but that's cool because I love making all kinds of food - hello jicama salads and no-bake amaranth squares! (Ok, I did just bake a sticky red banana pudding - yum...) Now that the rainy season has started, the plants are happy again and we have quite the selection of exciting produce available, from mangos to sapotes to pitayas. I've also been super-busy with my other blog, as well as design projects, not to mention the amazing adventure that is life - it surprises me how much of my time is taken up living!

All this to say my blog posts here will be very sporadic for the next little while, but I still have time to reply to your comments and emails (which I love) and if you need a fix of healthy baked goods, there are some fabulous healthy (as well as gluten-free and vegan) recipe links from folks all over the world on Baking is Hot. :)

And what about the picture? Well, that's me posing with the fresh coconuts my sweetheart bravely retrieved from 2 different coconut palms on the lovely property we're living on this summer.  I was so enamored by these 2 beauties that I said "Quick, take a picture, I feel like Coconut Woman!" (Thanks for indulging me C, heehee.) Right after this, he hacked them both open with a machete (another brave feat, swoon...) and we enjoyed one of our favourite drinks - fresh coconut water with some fine aged rum. ¡Qué riquísimo!

I've been playing around with black bean brownies for a while now, because they're so delicious and nutritious. Think about it, a dark chocolaty brownie made with protein and fiber-rich black beans that's also lower in fat and sugar than a traditional brownie but still has all the chocolate and flavor. Breakfast! They seem to make a lot of sense here in Mexico, the land of black beans and chocolate, so it's not surprising that my amigos here love them.

I've made 4 different variations of black bean brownies in the last few months, and all of them were super-yummy, but my most recent batch was AWESOME. I nailed the ingredient ratios, making a dark fudgy complex brownie that plays off of 5 different kinds of beans: black beans, cacao, carob, coffee, vanilla. I also used just enough natural sugars, just enough flavorful fat, just enough dark chocolate, and just enough booze to make these decadent and beautiful tasting without going over-board and making a sugar-coma inducing empty calorie-packed brownie. So as rich as these are, they're rich *and* healthy: full of fiber, protein, natural sugars, antioxidants, and love!

There is one unusual ingredient in these that may be hard to find, and that is carob syrup. I managed to score some in a little Asian import shop in the Zona Libre (the "Free Zone" between Mexico and Belize). Carob syrup is naturally sweet and delicious, great stuff, and you can probably find it in Middle Eastern grocery stores. But if you don't have it, you can still make these brownies and they'll be delicious with or without carob.

Really Awesome Black Bean Brownies
(aka 5-Bean Brownies)

Puree and blend together:

2 c cooked black beans
2 large eggs
*1/4 c carob syrup
1/4 c agave nectar or honey
1/4 c Kahlua liqueur (or brewed coffee/espresso)
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c coconut oil or unsalted butter (melted)

Sift together, then blend into the wet ingredients:

1/2 c raw cocoa (preferably not Dutch cocoa)
2 Tbsp tapioca starch (or corn starch)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt (use 1/4 tsp if your beans are salty or using salted butter, otherwise use 1/2 tsp)

Mix in:

1/3 - 1/2 c chopped dark chocolate

*If you can't find carob syrup, substitute 1/4 c carob syrup for:  2 Tbsp honey or agave + 2 Tbsp water +  3 Tbsp carob powder
*If you don't like carob, you can substitute 1/4 c carob syrup for:  1/4 c honey or agave +  2 Tbsp cocoa powder

Sugar-free: use brewed coffee/espresso instead of Kahlua. Substitute the chocolate for unsweetened carob chips (or sugar-free chocolate).

Egg-free or vegan: I'm pretty sure an egg substitute for 2 eggs would do the trick - if anyone tries please let us all know in the comments.

Grease and dust pan smallish pan - I use a 10" x 7.5" stainless steel pan greased with coconut oil and dusted with icing sugar mixed with a bit of cinnamon (cocoa or carob works too). Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 till set - about 20 min. Allow to cool to room temperature then cut into squares. If keeping longer than a day, store in a sealed container in the fridge - I really like these cold out of the fridge.

Thought I'd share a pic from a light brunch we made and enjoyed with friends on our lovely deck overlooking a beautiful lake this Easter. Since it was Easter, I was feeling a bit sentimental and wanted to dye some eggs, so I dyed them naturally using beets. (We have a red food-coloring allergy in our household, so natural dyes are a must.) Next in the image (clockwise) is fresh guacamole (tip: put the pit in the guac to help it stay green), fresh green salsa, banana bread made with ground oats, chocolate, and pecans, raw jicama (my new favorite veggie) and carrots, tuna and olive oil, and yogurt dill dip. We also had baked tostadas (for eating with the guac, salsa and tuna), fresh squeezed local orange juice, tropical fruit salad, and delicious Chiapas coffee. ¡Que rico! How delicious! (The literal translation is more like "how rich" but here they tend to use this expression for anything that's really good.)

The dill dip is something I enjoyed as a child in the summer with fresh carrots. (I think it may be a Ukrainian thing, because my Mom and Grandma would make a similar dip.) I got my Mom to bring me dried dill from Canada just so that I could make this dip to enjoy with the sweet local carrots. This is how I make it using local ingredients:

Yogurt Garlic Dill Dip

I always free-style this dip, so feel free to play with the amounts of ingredients. I remember there being some sour cream in my Mom's recipe, but I prefer yogurt. Mix together, to your taste, approximately:

• 1 c natural full fat (or Balkan style) yogurt (you can strain some of the yogurt liquids if you like in order to make a thicker dip - in the same manner you would make tzatziki)
• 1 medium clove of fresh garlic (crushed and finely minced - start with one, then add more to taste)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt (start with this, then add more to taste)
• 2 tsp dried dill (or 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh dill)
• a bit of lime (or lemon) juice to taste

Store covered in the fridge. Allow to sit overnight before serving - especially if using dried dill. Keeps for about a week. Enjoy with raw veggies.

I love fresh corn tortillas, crunchy baked tostadas, savoury tamales, fresh popcorn and homemade cornbread as much as the next muchacha. But sometimes I need a break from corn. Since I have limited access to ingredients here in Mexico, where corn is king, what's a girl to do? Well I recently came up with my new favorite quick bread, that's very similar to cornbread in taste and texture, but made with grounds oats. It's quick and easy to make - and keeps well in the fridge for slicing and toasting or pan-frying.

Recipe: Quick Oat Bread

Enjoy ♥

A little something I came up with while living in the jungle: Chocolate and maseca black bean brownie mini-cakes made on the frying pan.

I've been spending so much time posting OPAPs (other people's awesome pics) on my other blog, that I've let my own photography slide a bit. I'm still baking away, having fun with the limitations I have baking here in a little town in tropical Mexico, in a little rental house with a very basic kitchen (i.e. limited access to ingredients and gear) as well as only baking on cool mornings (which are getting rare as it's starting to really heat up here). While finding, selecting, and posting awesome pics from all over the world  on Baking is Hot, I realized that I have to make an effort to take more photos of my own goods - and not just ok photos. Yes, that's tricky to do considering my semi-nomadic styles these days, but if I want to be a hot-shot designer/baker/producer then my pics have to be awesome, or at least look very delicious. :)

Here are a few photos of some of my Mexican chocolate experiments. (Not bad?) More recipes coming soon... Happy healthy baking and photo-taking!

Oh, and if you have any great-sneaky-crafty food photography tips or links, please share in the comments. :)

Fresh corn tortillas as crepes. I made a sweet chocolate spread (similar to my Noir Chocolate Spread) with local honey, cacao, coconut oil, and vanilla.

Experiments in rustic chocolate making.

For a couple of months, I was obsessed with making my own chocolate from scratch. I bought fermented beans from different produce markets, learned how to roast  them myself, ground them up and mixed in more ingredients, pressed it all into forms.... but could never get a really pronounced chocolate flavour out of my beans. What I found out after learning more about cacao quality and fermentation, is that most of the good cacao beans are exported to Europe. Sigh. My rustic chocolates were still pretty delicious. :)

Here in tropical Mexico, we can find all these great ingredients to make a mean batch of healthy chunky fruity granola. My sweetheart, who is a connoisseur, is now the in-house granola-maker. (Once you try fresh granola, there's no turning back.) This flexible recipe is his favorite.

Recipe: Lover's Tropical Granola

Thanks for the sweet pic Crispin :)

Cute phrase, ya? That's what my sweetheart thought when I blurted it out a year and a half ago, so we immediately snapped up the URL. After an exhilarating year of travel and major life changes, we finally found the time to make Baking is Hot, a place to showcase inspiring baking photos (that link to great recipes), and the best baking stuff online.

Baking is Hot is still in beta, so we'd love your feedback on the site. (Yes, there will be tons of great pics from other bloggers too!) We want it to make it the sweetest spot for bakers online. Please let us know what you think - thanks!


xo Patty

P.S. You too can get a stylie "Featured on Baking is Hot" badge (look to the right) if we feature one of your awesome pics. Contact me if you have something wonderful to share. :)

P.P.S. My secret agenda for Baking is Hot is to promote healthy baking to the masses. Wish me luck.

My favorite breakfast these days: quick, easy, tasty, filling and super-healthy. All of the ingredients are inexpensive and easy to find here in Mexico. Packed with whole grains and seeds, these squares are wheat-free, gluten-free (if made with gluten-free oats), dairy-free, egg-free, low in sugar, and high in fiber. Did I mention they're delicious?

Recipe: Chia Banana Bars

In our house, we eat these so often, we call them Chia Squares. But I thought Chia Banana Bars was more descriptive. What do you think?

PS: I've been super-busy working on an exciting new baking site - more about this soon!

Once upon a time, on a cold dark winter night, I was living in a tiny condo in downtown Toronto. The condo was a furnished short-term rental, and the kitchen was bare-bones - not a pan, whisk, or mixing bowl to be seen. It was about this time of the year, and I wanted to make a festive treat to enjoy with my sweetheart. Something easy. Something beautiful. Something familiar, but different...

I perused some of my favourite food blogs, and was inspired by this stellar recipe for peanut butter cups. I imagined a variation with 2 of my favorite things: super-fine dark chocolate and smooth almond butter. Add a sprinkle of sea salt and whoa ~

Recipe: Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups

I've been hanging on to this lovely recipe for over a year now, and finally have a drop of time to share it. ¡Feliz Navidad mis amigos!