Vanilla Bean & Almond Rice Pudding

Allison Day

by | Updated: December 4th, 2016 | Read time: 1 minute

With triple-chocolate, caramel-drizzled cheesecakes and nut-studded, extra-fudgy cookie bars—who wants to waste a dessert splurge on something as basic as rice pudding? If you can temporarily block out the bakery bells and whistles, your taste buds will remind you: simple sweets sometimes really do hit the spot. Dial it back a few decades to a time when there were no cupcake cafes or gluten-free mini chocolate chips on store shelves. This elegant rice pudding is made with vanilla bean paste, pure maple syrup and silky almond milk. Make it flashy with a little fresh fruit, but really, every bite is tempting enough on its own.

Vanilla Bean & Almond Rice Pudding

Vanilla Bean & Almond Rice Pudding

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

¾ cup Arborio rice
¾ cup slivered almonds, blanched
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
½ tsp. salt
4 cups unsweetened almond milk (divided)
Optional: fresh fruit for garnish (blood oranges or berries)

Directions

  1. In large pot, combine rice, 3 cups almond milk and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook (uncovered) for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. After 10 minutes, reduce heat to low and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
  2. Take out cinnamon stick and add 1 cup almond milk, maple syrup, vanilla, almonds and sea salt. With heat on medium low, cook pudding for an additional 10 minutes or until thickened.
  3. Serve rice pudding warm or chilled, topped with fresh fruit.