Nut-Free Desserts from Around the World
A world of desserts that are naturally nut-free: 118 authentic dishes, each from a real region with its cultural story and dietary swaps built in. Toggle nut-free on any other recipe and it rewrites itself to match.
118 recipes · showing 1 to 48
Latchiri e KossamConakry, Guinea · medium · 1 h 15 minHand-rolled maize couscous steamed fine and served with cool, tangy curdled milk, the Fula celebration dish of Guinea.
Latchiri e Kossam Chin ChinLagos, Nigeria · easy · 45 minCrunchy little cubes of sweet fried dough with a hint of nutmeg, Nigeria's favorite anytime nibble.
Chin Chin ThiakryDakar, Senegal · easy · 2 h 40 minSweetened steamed millet couscous folded through vanilla yogurt and cream with raisins, a cool West African pudding.
Thiakry Malva PuddingWestern Cape, South Africa · easy · 55 minA sticky apricot-jam sponge drenched in hot cream sauce, South Africa's best-known baked pudding.
Malva Pudding MakroudhTunis, Tunisia · medium · 1 h 5 minDiamond-shaped semolina pastries filled with spiced date paste and soaked in honey, a Tunisian and Maghrebi classic.
Makroudh KaimatiNairobi, Kenya · medium · 1 h 50 minCrisp cardamom-scented dumplings tossed in sugar syrup, a Swahili-coast sweet loved across Kenya.
Kaimati KabalagalaKampala, Uganda · easy · 30 minSweet little pancakes of ripe banana and cassava flour fried until golden, a favorite Ugandan snack.
Kabalagala NapolitainePort Louis, Mauritius · medium · 45 minTwo crumbly shortbread biscuits sandwiched with jam and coated in bright pink icing, a Mauritian bakery icon.
Napolitaine GhraybahTripoli, Libya · easy · 38 minMelt-in-the-mouth buttery shortbread scented with a hint of cardamom, a Libyan and Maghrebi celebration cookie.
Ghraybah LaduMoroni, Comoros · easy · 35 minToasted ground rice cooked in ghee and bound with sugar, cardamom, and a note of black pepper into fragrant sweet balls, a Comorian teatime treat.
Ladu Mbatata CookiesLilongwe, Malawi · easy · 35 minSoft, lightly spiced biscuits made from mashed sweet potato, a homey Malawian teatime treat.
Mbatata Cookies Benne CakesFreetown, Sierra Leone · easy · 25 minToasted sesame seeds set in crisp caramel, a simple, ancient West African sweet from Sierra Leone.
Benne Cakes Yemarina Yewotet Dabo (Honey and Milk Bread)Amhara, Ethiopia · medium · 3 h 10 minA tender, lightly sweet loaf enriched with honey, milk and warm spices, Ethiopia's way of making the most of the honey it is famous for.
Yemarina Yewotet Dabo (Honey and Milk Bread) Cameroonian Banana CakeLittoral (Douala), Cameroon · easy · 1 hA moist, lightly spiced loaf built on very ripe bananas, the hawked teatime cake of coastal Cameroon.
Cameroonian Banana Cake Chikenduza (Candy Cakes)Harare, Zimbabwe · medium · 1 h 55 minSoft, yeasted sweet cakes baked tall and finished with a bright pink glaze, a Zimbabwean bakery treat.
Chikenduza (Candy Cakes) Kgojwa ya Moretlwa (Wild Berry and Milk Pudding)Gaborone, Botswana · easy · 20 minPounded wild moretlwa berries steeped and whisked into cold sweet milk, a traditional Botswana after-meal sweet.
Kgojwa ya Moretlwa (Wild Berry and Milk Pudding) Meni-Meniyong (Sesame and Honey Brittle)Bamako, Mali · easy · 25 minToasted sesame seeds set in caramelised honey and cut into crunchy fingers, a sweet found in every Malian market.
Meni-Meniyong (Sesame and Honey Brittle) Mabuyu (Sweet-Coated Baobab Seeds)Lusaka, Zambia · easy · 25 minTangy baobab seeds tumbled in a bright sugar coating, the nostalgic street candy of Zambia.
Mabuyu (Sweet-Coated Baobab Seeds) Pudim de Leite (Milk Flan)Santiago (Praia), Cape Verde · medium · 3 h 10 minA silky baked milk custard under a dark caramel, one of Cabo Verde's most popular desserts.
Pudim de Leite (Milk Flan) Himbasha (Celebration Bread)Asmara, Eritrea · medium · 2 hA mildly sweet cardamom bread scored in a sunburst pattern and studded with raisins, Eritrea's festive loaf.
Himbasha (Celebration Bread) Yovo Doko (Sweet Fritters)Cotonou, Benin · easy · 1 h 35 minLight, puffy sweet fried dough balls dusted with sugar, often called the national dessert of Benin.
Yovo Doko (Sweet Fritters) Djiboutian Banana FrittersDjibouti City, Djibouti · easy · 25 minLight little fritters of mashed ripe banana and flour scented with nutmeg, fried and dusted with sugar, a Djibouti favourite.
Djiboutian Banana Fritters Bananes au Four Croustillantes (Crisp Baked Bananas)Libreville, Gabon · easy · 30 minBananas rolled in breadcrumbs, fried crisp and baked, then dressed with brown sugar and cool cream, a Gabon classic.
Bananes au Four Croustillantes (Crisp Baked Bananas) Gapal (Millet and Milk Dessert)Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso · easy · 20 minFine millet blended with tangy yogurt, baobab and ginger into a thick, cool spooning dessert, a Fulani speciality.
Gapal (Millet and Milk Dessert) Beignets de Banane (Banana Fritters)Bangui, Central African Republic · easy · 25 minMashed ripe bananas fried in a light batter with a hint of lime, the sweet end to a Central African meal.
Beignets de Banane (Banana Fritters) Le Ouaddaï (Fried Millet Fingers)N'Djamena, Chad · easy · 35 minCrisp fried fingers of sweetened millet and wheat, a teatime sweet from the Ouaddaï region of Chad.
Le Ouaddaï (Fried Millet Fingers) Makemba (Sweet Fried Plantain)Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo · easy · 20 minVery ripe plantains fried until caramelised and dusted with cinnamon sugar, a simple Congolese sweet.
Makemba (Sweet Fried Plantain) KoeksistersMbabane, Eswatini · medium · 1 hPlaited dough fried crisp and plunged into ice-cold spiced syrup, a sticky sweet loved across Eswatini.
Koeksisters Doce de Papaia (Papaya Sweet)Bissau, Guinea-Bissau · easy · 1 hPapaya slowly cooked with sugar, lime and cinnamon until glossy and translucent, a Bissau-Guinean preserve-sweet.
Doce de Papaia (Papaya Sweet) Dates Stuffed with ButterNouakchott, Mauritania · easy · 15 minPlump dates split and filled with cardamom-scented butter, a Saharan sweet of Mauritanian hospitality.
Dates Stuffed with Butter Sweet Mahangu PorridgeWindhoek, Namibia · easy · 30 minNamibian pearl millet simmered soft in sweet vanilla cream and served with stewed fruit, a homely dessert.
Sweet Mahangu Porridge Alkaki (Fried Wheat Sweet)Niamey, Niger · medium · 3 hCrushed wheat kneaded with milk and butter, shaped, fried and soaked in tamarind sugar syrup, a Zinder speciality.
Alkaki (Fried Wheat Sweet) Sonhos de Banana (Banana Fritters)São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe · easy · 25 minMashed banana fritters fried until crisp and rolled in cinnamon sugar, a Portuguese-island sweet of São Tomé.
Sonhos de Banana (Banana Fritters) Kuindiong (Semolina Pudding)Juba, South Sudan · easy · 30 minA creamy semolina and yogurt pudding topped with miok, a nutty butter-and-sugar crumble, a Dinka sweet.
Kuindiong (Semolina Pudding) Date and Banana MixBujumbura, Burundi · easy · 50 minA warm baked cake layering sliced banana and chopped dates through a soft batter, finished with cinnamon sugar.
Date and Banana Mix Ditjhedi tsa Mokopu (Basotho Pumpkin Fritters)Maseru, Lesotho · easy · 55 minMashed cooked pumpkin beaten with egg, flour, a little sugar and baking powder, fried by the spoonful until golden and rolled in cinnamon sugar while hot.
Ditjhedi tsa Mokopu (Basotho Pumpkin Fritters) DorayakiTokyo (Kanto), Japan · easy · 35 minTwo fluffy honey-scented pancakes sandwiching sweet red bean paste, a classic Japanese teatime treat.
Dorayaki Gulab JamunPunjab, India · medium · 1 h 45 minSoft milk-solid dumplings deep-fried and soaked in rose-and-cardamom syrup, the sweet of every Indian celebration.
Gulab Jamun TangyuanShanghai, China · medium · 45 minChewy glutinous rice balls with a sweet black sesame center in warm ginger syrup, a Chinese symbol of family reunion.
Tangyuan Leche FlanCentral Luzon, Philippines · medium · 1 h 5 minA dense, silky egg-yolk custard under a dark caramel, steamed in a tin mold, the Philippines' richest celebration dessert.
Leche Flan Juju DhauKathmandu Valley, Nepal · easy · 2 h 45 minA rich, sweet set yogurt scented with cardamom, the King of Yogurts from the Newar city of Bhaktapur.
Juju Dhau Chak-ChakTashkent, Uzbekistan · medium · 55 minCrisp fried dough pieces bound in warm honey syrup into a sticky golden mound, a Central Asian celebration sweet.
Chak-Chak RoshogollaDhaka, Bangladesh · medium · 55 minSpongy cheese-curd balls simmered in light sugar syrup, the springy sweet of Bengal.
Roshogolla Pineapple CakeTaipei, Taiwan · medium · 1 h 10 minA buttery shortbread pastry enclosing a chewy, tangy pineapple jam, Taiwan's most popular edible souvenir.
Pineapple Cake KhabzeyThimphu, Bhutan · medium · 1 hCrisp, lightly sweet fried dough shaped into knots and butterflies, a festive Bhutanese biscuit for New Year and offerings.
Khabzey KleichaBaghdad, Iraq · medium · 1 h 10 minSpiced pastry spirals filled with date paste and cardamom, Iraq's national cookie, made for every celebration.
Kleicha Bint al-SahnSana’a, Yemen · advanced · 1 h 15 minMany paper-thin layers of buttery dough baked and drenched in honey and scattered with nigella seeds, Yemen's honey cake.
Bint al-Sahn AreekaRiyadh, Saudi Arabia · easy · 25 minSoft bread mashed with dates, butter, and honey into a rich, comforting sweet of southern Saudi Arabia.
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