Rice pudding is basically the ultimate in comfort food when it comes to dessert. And I don’t know what it is, but I’ve been craving comfort food in a major way lately (could it be the cold? the rain? the wet snow? doing taxes? endless work? hmmm. I’ll stop now). I’ve never made rice pudding before, but I really wanted to give it a go. Really, Bostonians, where can you get good rice pudding around here? Every time I’m in NYC, I try so hard to make it to Rice to Riches, but it never seems to happen. Now that I know how to make it, and how easy it is, I might actually never need to go.
Because I’m not a big white rice person, I wanted to try a recipe with brown rice. Yes, it’s healthier, but I just think brown rice tastes SO much better than white rice… I’m that way with bread too. Why would you want to eat white bread when you could have delicious grains and so much more “body” to your bread? But maybe that’s just me.
Cinnamon Raisin Brown Rice Pudding (4-5 servings… 2.5 if you’re me):
- 1 Qt. milk
- 1/2 C uncooked brown rice
- 1/4 C honey, maple syrup, agave nectar (I used 1/8 C honey and 1/8 C maple syrup)
- 1/4 T sea salt
- 1/2 C raisins
- 1/4 T cinnamon
In my infinite quest to pretend I’m a lot healthier than I am, I used 2% milk instead of whole. About 1/2 way through the process, I started to think I majorly screwed up by pretending to be healthy. But I kept with it and in the end, I was soo happy I used the 2%. And I probably consumed double the amount because I figured it was a tad bit healthier. Oops.
Combine milk, rice, sweetener, and sea salt in a large saucepan. Like I said, I used half honey and half maple syrup, which I thought was delicious, but do whatever you choose.
Now, the recipe told me to bring this to a simmer and cook, partially covered on a low flame, for about an hour. I did this and my rice totally was not thickening. So I freaked out, panicked, cried a little. And then gave it another 30 minutes. So, I’d say just keep your eye on it, stir it every now and then and it’s ready when it starts to thicken. And don’t freak out if you see all that skin on top of your milk; just stir it and ignore (or scoop it out if you can’t handle it).
The recipe also told me to add more milk if it got too thick, but I didn’t even come close to having that problem (but you may, so there you go).
Now, stir in the raisins and cinnamon. And continue to cook for another 20 minutes until it’s thick and the rice is soft.
And that is all you have to do!!! Seriously, easiest recipe in the world.
I totally had a huge bowl of it because the more rice pudding I eat, the more comfortable I am, yes?
This. was. awesome. If it didn’t have a quart of fattening milk in it and a ton of carbs, I would probably eat a giant bowl of this every night. is there a rice pudding diet out there?
Don’t like raisins? Hate cinnamon? You can pretty much do whatever you want with rice pudding. Or leave it totally plain jane if you want. I would personally like to try a peanut butter rice pudding. Or perhaps one of the s’mores variety?
Now that I have this amazing rice pudding recipe in my hands and I know the power of it, I feel like I can conquer the world. Feeling down? I’ll make you rice pudding! Need some comfort? Rice pudding! Don’t live close enough to Rice to Riches? I’ll make you rice pudding!
What kind of rice pudding are your dreams made of?
[Sues]
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I’ll be spring-forming this! I love rice pudding and even if this is dessert, it’s healthified. Mmm. Dream rice pudding- with a creme brulee top layer?
I love how you can find some form of rice pudding in so many different cultures. The lebanese one I make is similar to the one you made except we use golden raisins and sometimes some anise or mastic resin. As for dreams, It’s gotta be Indian Kheer, they load it up with cardamon and nuts, soo good.
That looks so great and I’d definitely love to make a peanut butter rice pudding…or a pumpkin rice pudding!
this sounds awesome… i need more rice pudding in my life
Yum! Your rice pudding looks really creamy. Whenever I make it with long grain brown rice, it doesn’t turn out like that. I’ve tried short grain, and it works a little better. That would be a great alterative breakfast! Thanks for the idea…
That looks awesome Sues! I might try this with the toppings I usually put on my breakfast quinoa (basically the same thing except quinoa instead of brown rice!)…walnuts & unsweetened coconut!
Looks very comforting and delicious. I love cinnamon and raisins too!
MMMM! I’ve seen a ton of rice pudding recipes recently, but I love this one! I agree, more pudding = more comfortable!
I had never had rice pudding before December of 2008 when I came home from work early with a migraine. I called Jason on my way back and by the time I walked in the front door, the hallway smelled like heaven. Vanilla, Cinnamon, Orange so intense that there had to be some kind of cream involved. It was magic. It tasted like MAGIC. He said if he told me the recipe he’d have to kill me. I said that was fine so long as I was in a rice pudding coma.
Do you think substituting craisens for the raisens would work? If so I can make this tonight without even going to the store!
Hi Cathy!! Cinnamon Craisin rice pudding sounds good to me. I think that would be just fine… Let me know how it comes out!
You’re right about the body in brown rice and wheat bread. It stands out for sure. Very warm and comforting. This could even make a nice breakfast.
I’m with you on brown rice and really prefer it too. I love how you lightened this up It looks fabulous!
What a wonderful rich and hearty sweet comfort food. I like you decided to make it with brown rice.
i have to try and make this! i never thought i’d be a fan of rice pudding, but my grandmother made it once for me and it was quite delicious!
Does anyone know how I would make this with something like soy milk? I can’t do large amounts of cow milk, even cooked.
I loved this recipe i used it for one of my classes and everyone loved it.. GREAT CREATION!
Does anyone have a recipe for brown rice pudding that’s done in a crock pot? I’d love to be able to dump everything in & let it cook. The recipes I’m finding for the crock pot have you cooking the rice first. Defeats the purpose if you ask me.
I love rice pudding…thought about it last night while reading my novel before bed…”thats what I want for breakfast!” and I intend to make it shortly.
Yes, Kim: Take this recipe and just dump it into the crock pot! I do it on hi to get it going for an hour or two. Then I crack open the lid and let it keep going at a simmer, allowing the liquid to reduce a bit.