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 other additions, this healthy farro breakfast pudding is delicious with a bit of coconut flour or flakes, nuts, seeds, or nut butter on top.
Cheers to staying warm with a nourishing, refined-sugar-free breakfast. Enjoy!
Farro Breakfast Pudding With Dates and Cardamom
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened plant milk
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 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.
