I really wanted to make Rice pudding for Thanksgiving. Never got around to it (I did get my Sweet Potato Pie done though). Then I thought I’d make rice pudding for Christmas. Never happened. I thought for sure I would get it done in time to ring in the New Year. And yet, somehow, I couldn’t get it made. The other day, Ellie was playing in her own play kitchen. She had been playing independently for quite some time and I realized, now is my chance. I collected my ingredients and although we did not have real Vanilla bean’s, which this recipe called for, I substituted Vanilla extract instead and voila, we had rice pudding on a Tuesday. And what’s more special than that.

Maple Ginger Rice Pudding adapted from Joy The Baker

1 cup arborio rice

4 cups whole milk (I used non fat milk because it’s what I had on hand)

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean split and seeds scraped)

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

maple syrup to taste

ginger snaps, crumbled

Place the rice, milk, sugar, vanilla, spices and salt into a medium saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally for 25 to 30 minutes or until rice is tender. Drizzle maple syrup over the cooked pudding and top with ginger snap cookie crumbles to serve. Serve warm or cool.