While enjoying new foods is fun and part of the experience, a common struggle for expats anywhere in the world is missing familiar flavors and textures of home. This is particularly true for me in Mexico. I miss the baked goods I’m used to in the US.

This seems unusual as I don’t often eat bread or cookies or desserts in my home country; there is a phsycological effect of unavailability.

Unfortunately I don’t care for most of the baked goods here in Mexico (although I’ve found a few I like). They tend to be dry and puffy as opposed to soft and chewy and, as I’ve said in other posts, different ingredients produce different results.

A few weeks into our move here I was really “jonesing” for some chocolate treats. I decided to try my recipe for German Chocolate Brain Bombs, a staple for us in the US.

Alas there are many ingredients in this recipe that I do not have access to in Mexico. I do have chia seeds, which boosts the healthy factor with fiber and some Omega 3 oils, but I cannot locate flax seeds and can’t get the amazing AIM Cocoa LeafGreens and vegan ProPeas protein powder here in Mexico.

Close up no bake cookies

Obstacles are many when you move out of your home country and sourcing ingredients can become either a treasure hunt or a wild goose chase. surprised I remember my sister-in-law Cyndi, a missionary in Hong Kong and then China for over 27 years running all over Hong Kong to access ingredients for a chocolate cake. Fortunately we have more resources here in Mexico and I believe the global food manufacturers make ingredients more available world wide.

That said…some really weird things here in Mexico are – half and half, it is definitely not the same as in the US. Baking soda is sold as a spice, I can buy it in 2-5 pound packages in the US. Yeast for baking takes a question on a local Facebook page to see where it’s available. Add to the ingredient situation the fact that we don’t have an oven and if we did I probably wouldn’t use it because of the heat.

I love to cook so I continue to work at it, but I can certainly see why non-cooks prefer to adapt to local foods and eat out or hire a local cook or chef.

No bake cookies cooling off in fridge

One fun local discovery was an extra large cutting board and parchment paper! Our small but adequate fridge is the perfect size to slide my cutting board with cookies on it to chill in the fridge.

sheet of no bake cookies

No Bake Raw Cacao Galletas Mexicano

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup Almond Butter (I ordered Kirkland from Amazon)
  • 6 Tablespoons Raw Cacao (raw chocoalte is easy to find in Mexico and affordable)
  • 1/2 cup unrefined extra virgin coconut oil
  • 2 teaspoons Mexican vanilla
  • 1.5 cups organic oats
  • 1/4 cup organic chocolate chips (sometimes you can find here and sometimes not)

INSTRUCTIONS

  • In a medium sauce pan melt coconut oil, no need to heat it, just to melting
  • Add the vanilla and Almond butter, stir until well mixed
  • Sift raw cacao – it tends to lump up otherwise. I use a small strainer to sift
  • Stir in raw cacao
  • Stir in oats and chocolate chips
  • Drop by spoonful on a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or greased with butter.
  • Refrigerate 1 hour before serving, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

TIPS

Using parchment paper makes storing the cookies super easy! I just cut the paper with the cookies on it, in strips, and put in my storage container. The cookies don’t stick together and I don’t have a mess.

What are your “go-to” treats as an expat? What are your food or cooking challenges in a foreign country?