This sweet and creamy farro breakfast porridge is a cinch to prepare and comes together in about 30 minutes. Sweetened with dates and spiced with a touch of cardamom. Free from oil and refined sugar.
It's late November, and temps are in the 20s here in Asheville. Brrrrr! I was planning to share a farro breakfast recipe soon, but with a morning as chilly as this one, I decided to move it to the front burner....literally. After doing a little work at the computer early this morning my hands felt like icicles.
So I stood over the pot of creamy farro pudding, stirring and savoring the warm steam enveloping my hands and face. And everything about it was wonderful.
When you need a break from oatmeal, farro is a perfect choice. It's an ancient grain that cooks in about 30 minutes (or faster if you soak it overnight) and has a satisfying, chewy texture similar to barley.
It's often used in savory dishes but is also a perfect vehicle for sweetness. For today's recipe I chose dates, vanilla and cardamom because, well, I love cardamom, and just thinking about it makes me feel warmer.
If you've cooked with cardamom before you know it's a spice to use sparingly, like very sparingly. To me, the perfect amount of cardamom is one that causes you to go "mmmmmm" when you take a bite, not "WOW! How much cardamom is in here!?!" It pairs really well with the warm, caramel-like sweetness of dates.
On that note, you can easily add more sweetener to this porridge, either during cooking or to the individual servings. A drizzle of maple syrup is perfect. For most people the dates probably make it sweet enough for breakfast, but if you wanted to turn this into a dessert (yes, please!) try adding a bit of brown sugar, maple syrup, sucanat, coconut sugar or more dates.
As for toppings, this healthy farro breakfast pudding is delicious with a bit of coconut flour, nuts, seeds, or nut butter.
Here's to staying warm with a nourishing, refined sugar-free breakfast. Enjoy!
More vegan breakfast ideas:
Apple Cranberry Baked Oatmeal
Crunchy Oil-Free Granola
Ginger-Turmeric Granola
Chocolate Banana Baked Oatmeal
Pistachio Muffins
Pasta Frittata
Loaded Vegan Breakfast Muffins
Farro Breakfast Pudding With Dates and Cardamom
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened plant milk
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- 1 cup farro, rinsed and drained
- 8 to 10 large medjool dates, pitted and chopped
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan heat the milk and water over high heat. Once boiling add the vanilla, cardamom, farro and dates. Stir and return to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
- Remove the lid, and stir the farro for 3 to 5 minutes. This will release more of the starch and thicken the pudding. Remove from heat and serve.
Notes
Estimated Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition information is an estimate and will vary depending on the exact amounts and specific products and ingredients used. We calculate this information using the online calculator cronometer.com. For the most accurate nutrition information we recommend calculating it yourself to reflect the specific ingredients used in your dish.
