Chocolate Toffee Rice Pudding

It is week 1 of the Whipped Challenge and the 3 random ingredients I had to work with were red onions, toffee and rice. I tried really hard to figure out a way to incorporate all 3 ingredients into a recipe but I just could not think of one thing! I finally decided to just leave out the red onions and go for the toffee and rice. I was a little worried about this recipe because I've never made rice pudding and the only pudding I've ever really made was from a box. So, this was a whole new experience. I searched and searched for the perfect rice pudding recipe and I finally decided to just make my own with the guidance of a few that I had found. For being the first time I've ever made my own recipe I think I did pretty good! This is a great recipe to use if you have leftover rice from the night before.

Chocolate Toffee Rice Pudding

3/4 cup uncooked rice

1 1/4 cup water

1 1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tbsp. butter

2 1/2 tbsp. cocoa

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. corn starch mixed with 1 tbsp. water

1 cup toffee bits, plain or chocolate dipped, either one will work

Boil the 1 1/4 cup water and add the rice, cook until rice in tender. Or you can use leftover rice if you have some. If using leftover rice, you will need 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice.

In medium saucepan, add together rice, milk, sugar, vanilla, butter, cocoa, egg, corn starch mixture, and 1/2 cup of toffee bits. Set at a low/medium heat and bring to a boil stirring frequently to prevent a film from forming on the bottom of the saucepan. Simmer until mixture begins to thicken, this should take about 20-40 minutes. (It will thicken more as it stands once it is taken off of the heat.) Once it starts thickening, remove from heat and move to refridgerator to chill. You can press a piece of wax paper onto the top of the pudding before you put it into the refridgerator to prevent a film from forming over the top. Once chilled, serve with the rest of the toffee bits sprinkled on top.

I got inspired by the book "Cooking From Above," in case you couldn't tell.

Note: Can also be served while warm, it is just a little more thin than if you chill it.

I did change the recipe a little from the way I made it. I started out adding all my ingredients into a double boiler which did not allow the mixture to thicken correctly. Once I transferred it to a saucepan and just boiled it normally it thickened up very quickly. This is why some of my pictures are of when I was using the double boiler. Don't worry though the saucepan works so much better and is ten times easier anyway.

I really enjoyed this recipe. It reminds me of chocolate gravy that my Mom makes a lot for breakfast with biscuits. It turned out very chocolatey and yummy. The only drawback I found was the texture, the rice adds a little bit of an odd texture to the smooth and creamy pudding. I would definitely make this again though, I think I can get over my texture weirdness. My husband loved it! He ate an entire bowl before it even had a chance to chill!

I can't wait until next week's ingredients!!

-M-