One afternoon I was eating one of those frozen Kashi meals and noticed Amaranth listed as one of the ingredients. I was interested and decided to do a little research. I found a bit of information and a few recipes, but not many. I went to the grocery store to see if this was even something I could buy or if I would have to turn to Amazon. Nope, to my surprise, Amaranth was located in my regular grocery store’s health section. So….
What is Amaranth?
According to the Whole Grains Council:
- Amaranth is a native crop of Peru and was domesticated between 6,000-8,000 years ago.
- It is naturally gluten-free
- Amaranth contains more than three times the average amount of calcium and is also high in iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.
- It’s the only grain documented to contain Vitamin C.
- It’s a protein powerhouse! (About 13-14%)
Now, for the coolest part. Amaranth is a tiny grain, but you can pop it like popcorn! The result is something like a tiny puffed cereal and so many use popped amaranth as a gluten-free, protein-packed cereal.
How To Pop Amaranth:
You pop Amaranth as you would popcorn. Heat a skillet to medium-high heat with no oil. The pan needs to be really hot. The trick is to work in batches or they will burn. The Amaranth pops almost instantly, so it doesn’t take long to get a few cups made. Only pop one tablespoon at a time and shake the pan so they don’t burn. This video helped me.
After popping, you can store the Amaranth in a jar and it will keep a few months in the fridge. Use it in these protein balls, as a cereal, a salad topping or just eat it plain!
Popped Amaranth Protein Balls
2 cups popped Amaranth
1/2 cup peanut butter or other nut butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips
4 scoops of vanilla protein powder. I use this kind
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbls. honey, agave or other sweetener
milk or water
1. Combine all of the ingredients and mix. Add any kind of milk (or water) one tablespoon at a time until you can form balls. This will make about 15 protein balls and they have *around* 5-6 grams of protein depending on what protein powder and nut butter you use.
Let me know if you try Amaranth! If for some reason you can’t find it at your local grocery store, you can buy it here
Wondering how many tbs in a “scoop.” I made these from your recipe once before without the protein powder and they came out fine. This time the scoop that came with my protein powder was quite large – all told, it maybe about 24 balls. They are really good, and gluten free!
They are delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I made a few changes thou, didn’t put any sweetener as my protein powder had some sweet in it and I used water to stick them together and didn’t put any cocoa powder as I put too many cacao nibs.
SO GOOD!!! i cant stop eating them though :)
I would like to know how many calories in each cookie
Just made these, only I didn’t include the honey and I added some unsweetened cocoa powder and ground pumpkin seeds. They are AMAZING! So glad I stumbled upon this blog. Thanks!
Amaranth is one grain I haven’t tried yet but definitely need to. I’ll get this with my next online order! Those protein balls look delicious. I have quite an addiction to making healthy snack balls:)
My older sister lives gluten free so i will definitely be letting her know about this if she doesn’t already. I’ve never heard of it personally but it sounds like it might be good when added with the right ingredients.
This looks really yummy. I have never heard of amaranth, but now I will have to be on the lookout in my grocery store.
That looks fantastic. Hopefully not too hard to find. Bet those would for a great snack for kids when doing sports.
These look like fun! I wonder where one can buy amaranth? I’m going to ask around and try these. Thanks so much! Peace!
That looks delish. I never knew about this grain! I will go and check it out at the local store soon!!
How awesome!! Thanks for sharing the info! We need some healthy snacks at my house for sure!! :)
Those look pretty yummy. I bet I could make them toddler size so my daughter could enjoy them without choking.. she loves to shovel food in her mouth.. lol. I can’t wait til that phase is over!
http://www.myitzy.com
I’ve never heard of amaranth! I’ll have to see if I can find it in my local grocery store and give it a try. Thanks for the great information!