Easy Rice Pudding

Many people are intimidated when they have to make rice pudding, although it is very easy and simple dessert to make. Perfect rice pudding should not be mushy, soft puree of rice or too firm and dry. It should be creamy. If you want to shed off some pounds, then it is not necessary to place rice pudding of the list of 'not to have foods'. You can make easy rice pudding using 2% milk, you necessarily do not have to make rice pudding using whole milk or half and half cream. When you want to make rice pudding, it is recommended you use short grain rice, as long grain rice often becomes more chewy. However, make sure you do not use brown rice, as it will taste mealy and chewy, but not creamy. There are two basic ways to make rice pudding. They are baking or boiling. In this article, we will see simple rice pudding recipes using both the methods.

Recipe # 1
Although there are many recipes which use cooked rice, for this recipe we will use uncooked rice. Personally I like this recipe. When rice is cooked in milk, as is the case with this recipe, the pudding tastes different altogether.

Ingredients

• 2½ cups of Milk (Whole or 2%)
• 1/3 cup Uncooked Short Grain White Rice
• 1 Egg
• ¼ cup of Dark Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
• ¼ teaspoon of Cinnamon
• 1/3 cup Raisins

Method

• In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, place milk and rice and bring it to a boil over medium high heat.
• Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer till the rice is tender and soft.
• Keep stirring frequently, to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
• While the rice is cooking, in a small bowl whisk egg and brown sugar together, until well mixed.
• Add half a cup of hot rice mixture to the egg mixture, one tablespoon at a time and whisk vigorously to incorporate.
• Then add the egg mixture to the rice and milk mixture and let it simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes, until thickened.
• You will have to ensure, that the mixture does not come to a boil.
• Stir in the vanilla and remove from heat.
• At last stir in raisins and cinnamon.
• Serve it either warm or cold.

Recipe # 2
Since we have just seen a pudding recipe using boiling method and with uncooked rice, the next recipe is uses baking method and cooked rice.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Cooked Small Grain Rice
• ½ cup of Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 cups of Milk
• ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• ¼ cup Raisins
• ½ teaspoon Powdered Cinnamon

Method

• In a bowl, beat the eggs till they are light and fluffy.
• Add 1 tablespoon sugar and 2 tablespoons milk at a time, alternately. Whip well, so that the mixture is fluffy.
• Add rice, vanilla extract and cinnamon to the egg mixture and stir well.
• Pour the mixture into a baking dish or pan.
• Bake for about 25 minutes in a preheated oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 to 30 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and stir in the raisins and mix well.
• Serve hot or cold.

If you have diabetes or you want to cut down on the number of calories in these easy rice pudding recipes, you can make use of sweetener in place of sugar. If you like nuts, you can also add nuts to these recipes, but they should be added just before serving, else the nuts do not remain crunchy.