Crock Pot Gourmet: Vegan Rice Pudding

I apologize for the silence on my blog recently. I've been battling the annual holiday flu (my family jokes that I'm allergic to fun, because I always get sick on vacation and every time we plan fun family time), and I've been crazy busy trying to get ready for Christmas. I saw a great blog post on Andrea Hanna's blog with a suggestion to post simple pictures of the things we love about this Christmas season instead of writing long blog posts during this busy time. I thought this was a great idea, and I planned to do that too, but between the illness and the busyness (baking cookies, making 100 homemade ornaments for my church women's organization, making presents for family and friends), I didn't have time to sit at my computer to post even the pictures. I'm going to be offline for a few more days, as I promised to spend the Christmas weekend with my family and I won't be turning my computer on. I planned to write a few blog posts in advance and schedule them to post, but it appears that pre-scheduling blog posts doesn't work for me (don't know what I'm doing wrong, but my trial runs never actually posted...), so I'll leave you with this super simple Crock Pot recipe, and I'll see you all next week.

This rice pudding is super simple and yummy. It's a perfect recipe for tossing into the Crock Pot before you go to bed on Christmas Eve for a quick and easy breakfast Christmas morning. And it's gluten-free and vegan, for all of my friends who need special dietary considerations!!

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

First, gather your ingredients:

2 c. white rice (uncooked)
1 c. raisins
1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3/4 c. coconut milk powder
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
6 c. water

Pour the rice into the bottom of a greased 2 1/2 or 3 - quart Crock Pot.

Add raisins, salt, sugar and coconut milk powder.

Add cinnamon (or if you are allergic to cinnamon, leave this spice out. You can either substitute nutmeg and allspice - 1 tsp. each - or leave it out entirely.)

Stir all dry ingredients together.

Add 6 c. water (the cinnamon has a tendency to float to the top - this is okay). This makes a very creamy rice pudding. If you prefer, you can reduce the water to 4 or 5 cups.

Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.

 (If you want the spices to fully incorporate into the pudding, rather than forming a pretty decorative crust on top, you can stir the rice after about 2 hours.)

Serve warm or cold, according to taste!

Next week, I'll have a delicious cheese enchilada recipe for you!! :)