Coconut & Vanilla Rice Pudding

For the past week or so, I have had a craving for rice pudding. Since a little girl, I've always loved rice pudding. I don't know what it is, but it is so different from most desserts I usually have my eye on. Additionally, it can be easy to customize with your own favorite flavors. After this batch, I am curious to try swapping out the coconut milk for almond milk and seeing how that goes. Don't worry, I will make sure to keep you posted.

To get started you will need the following for about 6 servings.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cold cooked white rice
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
2 cups milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean
1/4 tsp salt

Scrape out the insides of the vanilla bean into a large sauce pot and toss in the remaining ingredients. Cook on medium-low heat at a simmer. Cook for 40-45 minutes until liquid is soaked up and mixture is creamy.

Remove into a serving dish and let rest at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before cooling in the refrigerator. Serve cold. I like to sprinkle a little cinnamon on top too! Enjoy!

Triple Chocolate Pudding

If you are looking to conquer your chocolate craving, this should do the trick. This thick pudding is packed with rich, chocolaty flavor that is sure to please any chocolate lover. This pudding would also make a great filling to a layered cake or for the inside of a cupcake, as a nice surprise!

Recipe yields 8 servings

Ingredients
1 package cook-and-serve chocolate pudding
1 large egg yolk
4 cups chocolate milk (homemade with chocolate syrup is even better!)
1 ounce semisweet chocolate
1 tsp vanilla extract
Whipped cream

Combine chocolate pudding mix, chocolate milk and egg yolk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Boil for 2 minutes until pudding starts to thicken.

Chop chocolate and add to pudding once removed from the heat. Add in the vanilla extract. Whisk until all chocolate has melted.

Let pudding cool in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Enjoy!

Dirty Graveyard Pudding Cups

Happy Halloween! This is one of my all-time favorite Halloween party treats from when I was a kid. It is super simple to make, and probably doesn't even count as an actual recipe, but I will take it. If anything on this blog deserves it's own post, this is definitely one of them. You can change and decorate these however you like. Get creative and make them extra spooky!

Recipe yields 10 cups

Ingredients
2 boxes Jell-O Instant chocolate pudding
4 cups milk
24 Oreo cookies
1 bag gummy worms
10 Nilla Wafers
Chocolate icing or gel (for decorating)

Prepare the chocolate pudding as directed on the package using milk. Using a food processor, crush the Oreo cookies into crumbs. You can also arrange the cookies in a bag and go over them with a rolling pin. Line up your cups. In the bottom of each cup add a spoonful of pudding. Top with a layer of cookie crumbs and a worm. Repeat with another layer of pudding, some 'dirt' for the top and another worm peaking through. Decorate your Nilla wafers as tombstones and arrange in the top of each cup. Enjoy!