I love foods that carry a kick. In my book, though, a little spice goes a long way; a touch of chili paste or a dash of cayenne is sufficient. I’m one of those people that asks for mild or a heat level of 1 or 2 out of 5. Just enough and I’m in culinary heaven.

But even mildly spicy foods can build up heat over time, and you need some kind of gentle salve to bring the delicious pain back down. One of my favorite desserts to do just this is rice pudding. It’s creamy and sugary, and has a touch of cardamom to give it a different kind of spice. (If you’ve ever been to an Indian restaurant, rice pudding is a pretty standard find on the menu to wrap a spice-filled meal.)

Here is a vegan version of an Indian rice pudding recipe I found online. If you use the same milk replacements I used, you can omit the sugar. It’s sweet enough without it. It’s also a very forgiving recipe, so if you don’t want to use cardamom, try cinnamon instead. Don’t like or have raisins or pistachios? Leave them out or replace them with something else.

Vegan Rice Pudding
Based on the Indian Rice Pudding found on Food Network
Makes approximately 4 small servings

• 1 cup cooked long grain or basmati rice
• 1 cup vegan milk
• 1/2 cup vegan milk, vegan creamer or vegan heavy cream alternative
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/3 cup golden raisins (optional)
• 1/3 cup unsalted pistachios, chopped (optional)

Cook your rice according to the package directions.

I used long grain white rice

Once the rice is ready, in a large nonstick saute pan over medium heat, combine the cooked rice and first cup of vegan milk. Heat until the mixture begins to boil.

Mixing in the first cup of vegan milk

Decrease the heat to low and cook at a simmer until the mixture begins to thicken, stirring frequently, approximately 5 minutes.

Starting to thicken

Increase the heat to medium, add the vegan heavy cream alternative and the coconut milk, sugar (if needed) and cardamom and continue to cook until the mixture just begins to thicken again, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Use a whisk to help prevent the cardamom from clumping.

Adding in the remaining milks: MimicCreme and coconut cream

I wound up using this sweetened MimicCreme as a substitute for the heavy cream. It’s very sweet, so it’s best to omit the sugar in this recipe if you use this stuff. I also used a sweetened coconut cream, however my first preference would have been for unsweetened coconut milk.

I used this MimicCreme in place of heavy cream

Once the mixture just begins to thicken, remove from the heat and stir in the raisins and pistachios (if using).

Adding golden raisins to the creamy rice mixture

Transfer the mixture to individual serving dishes or a glass bowl and place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding.

Getting ready to chill the rice pudding

Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Chilled and ready to eat!

This is really a pretty good recipe, but next time I would use a vegan creamer as a substitute for the heavy cream, and unsweetened coconut milk. I also didn’t use pistachios because I didn’t have them on hand, but I am sure they would have been delicious.

There is just one teensy thing, and I don’t know if it is because of the rice I used or what, but when I had let this chill overnight, the rice seemed to have dried out – which is odd to me, because the rice is sitting in a thick liquid.  When I had a bite right after it was finished cooking, the texture was perfect. So I think that what I’d do next time is plan to make this pudding the same day it would be eaten, then chill it for only a couple of hours at most.

Otherwise this is a delicious pudding and a perfect end to a spicy meal or a hot summer’s day!

Done and yum.

Do you have a favorite rice pudding?

Pfeffernuesse Cookies

As I am getting older, I am understanding more the whole issue about Christmas – and holidays in general – being about materialism and less about sharing cultural and familial traditions. If you’re anything like me, you find yourself doing some last minute shopping online, hunting around for coupons and wondering what on earth this or that someone would want to receive – and winding up rather irritated by the whole thing. I admit that I did it this year, but I am already thinking that next year will be different. With a little planning and personal ingenuity, I’ll make Christmas more satisfying for everyone.

I confess that I nearly did that this year, but when confronted with five dozen of your favorite cookies, it’s actually rather hard to share. Yes. I have eaten nearly five dozen cookies by myself (and now I seriously need to exercise).

Vegan Pfeffernuesse Cookies
I veganized this Pfeffernusse Cookies recipe from AllRecipes.com
Makes about 5 dozen cookies

• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1/2 cup vegan butter or margarine
• Egg replacer for 2 eggs (If using flax, you can mix 2 tablespoons ground flax seed with 6 tablespoons of hot water)
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons anise extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground black or white pepper (I used white)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Stir together the molasses, honey, shortening, and margarine in a saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir until ingredients are well incorporated. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Stir in the anise extract, as well as the prepared egg replacer (confession – I forgot to do the egg replacer at this point, but adding it later is okay).

Mixing together molasses, agave nectar and vegan butter

This recipe is all about the spices, so get together all your powdered spices and measure them out separately if you have a tendency to forget what you just added last (raises hand).

Spices for pfeffernuesse cookies

Combine the flour, white sugar, brown sugar, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, pepper, and salt in a large bowl.

Mixing together dry ingredients

Add the molasses mixture and stir until thoroughly combines. You may have to mix together with your hands to make sure it is very well mixed. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Incorporating the wet ingredients

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll the dough into acorn-sized balls. Arrange on baking sheets, spacing at least 1 inch apart. Bake in preheated oven 10 to 15 minutes.

Pfeffernuesse cookies

Move to a rack to cool. Dust cooled cookies with confectioners’ sugar.

Dusting cookies with confectioner's sugar

I don’t know what possessed me to make so many cookies, especially when this was experimental for me (this is the first time I’ve made vegan pfeffernuesse cookies – and they were based upon a recipe with honey and eggs), but I really truly lucked out big time. These are AMAZING! If you have never had pfeffernuesse cookies, they are spicy, which can add a little heat, and sweet to take the edge off, but surprisingly, not too sweet (if you counted, you’ll know there are five sugars in this recipe). When you bite into them, they are a little harder on the outside and completely chewy on the inside.

Five dozen pfeffernuesse cookies

I let my husband try part of one and he thought they were awful, so these are obviously not for everyone. (That’s actually one reason I didn’t ship these off – I had visions of cookies going into trashcans. I just had to be the cookie advocate and put them on my thighs instead.)

But if you love pfeffernuesse like I do, and know people in your life who would be up for a tin of these little goodies, they are the perfect solution for your gift-giving dilemma during the holidays. Just remember to wrap them well, and ship them within a day or two of baking them so they are less likely to arrive stale.

Vegan Pfeffernuesse Cookies

Happy Holidays!