Brown rice pudding recipe is a healthier way to enjoy rice pudding for breakfast, without the guilt! Naturally sweetened with mashed bananas (and an optional honey drizzle), it's great for adults and toddlers!
I'm pulling this recipe for brown rice pudding out of the archives, dusting it off, and proclaiming it baby food. But also: Mama food, too. Belly-pleasing, soul-soothing, and perfect when Mama and baby both have a cold but one of us still has to take care of the other one.
Yikes, friends, it's been a long week.
You know it's bad when you don't mind when baby wakes up in the middle of the night because at least you get to sit in her room with the humidifier. I'm telling you--a humidifier is amazing. I'm not sure the science behind it, but anytime Camille has a runny nose, I crank that thing all the way up during her nap and she's almost instantly better.
Whole grain baby food.
But let's talk whole grains.
When Camille was an itty bitty baby (ok, 7-8 months old), she would eat all kinds of grains because I pureed them. Oats were easy, amaranth was common, barley, millet, quinoa--it all went in her belly. It made me so happy. Whole grains are some of the healthiest foods for you--rich in B vitamins and great for your blood sugar. Fast forward to today, and I now have an awesome eater (seriously, she ate sauerkraut the other day and begged for more)...but she is VERY into feeding herself. I can hardly offer her a bite of anything. We're definitely in the 'do it myself' phase.
This is troublesome for whole grains. She can't quite wield a spoon, and so picking up tiny grains of quinoa or brown rice is near impossible. How are we supposed to get the good stuff in their bellies, Mamas?
Now that she's over the age of 1 and can handle a small amount of texture, porridge came to mind. Slow cooked whole grain porridge, especially this delicious brown rice pudding.
Brown rice pudding is a healthy take on rice pudding.
I had a pot of leftover brown rice from the night before, and I remembered this recipe from my archives. It is perfectly suitable for baby because it has no added sugar--just a mashed banana. You can top it with honey or maple syrup, if you like. I am unbelievably thrilled that Camille can eat honey now--isn't that silly?
If your baby isn't quite ready for the texture of this brown rice pudding, make it with powdered oatmeal or powdered rice cereal. If your babe is younger than 1, don't use honey. Never give honey to infants, ok?
When Camille was under 1, she ate this brown rice pudding sweetened with nothing but mashed banana. The maple syrup or honey on top is really just for me.
This brown rice pudding is easy to throw together with leftover rice. I always cook double the amount of brown rice I need when I'm making stir-fry for dinner during the week. A little milk (or whatever nut you squeeze hard enough to get a milk-like substance out of), a drizzle of honey, and your favorite fruit and nuts to top. A handful of this, a handful of that. It's warm, filling, and a totally guilt-free dessert for breakfast.
We're working on our iron levels, since we're not big meat-eaters in our house. Dried figs and pumpkin seeds are great vegetarian sources of iron for mom and baby!
Mix up the fruit and nuts for your topping, but don't leave out the mashed banana for sweetness and texture---it makes the rice pudding creamy without cream.
Rice baby food recipes
If you're looking for more baby food recipes, I have an entire section of the site devoted to them: Baby Food Recipes. I also have a great ebook that will help you ease into feeding babes solid foods when they're ready: Hip Hip Purée: My Recipes for Feeding Bébé.
I'm a big proponent of whole grains for babies. I used the fortified cereal powders a lot when Camille was little. I prefer to buy the organic boxed version of powdered baby cereal because they're fortified with vitamins and minerals. I've seen some recipes on the internet for grinding your own grains for baby cereal, and I really they're missing nutritional components.
The baby cereals we loved were made by Earth's Best.
Fortified food products are an important part of our lives. Grocery store items like parboiled rice, fortified milk, juice, and cereals make it easy to make sure we hit our recommended daily requirements for nutrition.
Breakfast Rice Pudding
A brown rice pudding that's perfect for breakfast
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups cooked brown rice (cold)
- 1 cup milk (any kind)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 banana (half mashed, half sliced)
- garnishes: dried fruits, nuts, extra honey
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine the brown rice, milk, butter, and cinnamon. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the mashed banana half and the honey. Cook about 1 minute to thicken.
- Divide between two bowls, and top with your choice of garnishes and the remaining banana slices. I used dried Mission figs and pepitas for the photos.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 569Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 156mgCarbohydrates: 98gFiber: 7gSugar: 45gProtein: 12g
Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health says
green tea is a ritual for me as well..i love the idea of this healthy rice pudding. traditionally, it is loaded with cream, sugar, and butter. absolutely love the addition of mashed bananas.
Becca @ Crumbs and Chaos says
I can't live without morning food either - this looks like the perfect way to start the day!
Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel says
I'm kinda the same way. My body has its routine down and if I disturb it, it makes it known. However, it's gonna have to start getting used to this because I don't think I ever want anything else for breakfast again.
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
I definitely need to get on this!! So yummy!
budgiesntiels says
I wish I was as creative in the kitchen as you are.
Kim | a little lunch says
Christina, I admire your vigilance. I also admire your brown rice pudding. Great way to start the day!
Danae @ recipe runner says
I like when words like pudding are used in breakfast recipes. I am loving this breakfast rice pudding, so much more fun than the usual oatmeal!
stacey says
I have to eat breakfast within about 5 minutes of waking up or I morph into a grizzly bear. I'm also the kind of person who eats breakfast, and then is ravenous for lunch about 1.5 hours later. I've figured out that if I make breakfast something that's full of whole grains, I can stave of the lunch monster for about 3 hours. I've been eating oatmeal, and I'm super excited to make this and change things up!
Jamie@Milk 'n' Cookies says
I can't wait to try this next time we have some leftover brown rice. I enjoy a warm hearty bowl of oatmeal in the morning, but I'm always looking for new, satisfying things to eat for breakfast. I love stirring mashed banana into my oatmeal, and I'm sure I would love it in rice pudding, as well. Thanks for the inspiration!
Francesca says
Oh. Wow! This looks unreal, Nice work! :)