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.
Jennifer Margopulos-Kelenske
December 6, 2018 at 7:30 pmLori,
What kind of “milk” do you think tastes best w/this recipe?
Lori
December 6, 2018 at 7:41 pmHi Jennifer,
I used unsweetened soy milk because I like its creaminess, but coconut would also be great. Most of the creaminess in this recipe comes from the starch in the farro, so it’s pretty much wide open.
susan spalding
November 28, 2018 at 5:07 pmBeautiful and delicious. Thanks for the inspiration!
Lori
November 28, 2018 at 5:55 pmThanks, Susan! 🙂