Dairy free peppermint mocha rice pudding will be your favorite cozy dessert recipe to tuck into this winter!

I’ve been on a major peppermint mocha kick this fall. I had my first one right after Halloween and I just. can’t. get. enough. I have a feeling that, for me, this is going to be a winter filled with cozy chocolate recipes. Are you down? Because we could have a lot of fun with that.

(Of course, peppermint and chocolate is a classic winter combo, so this isn’t the first time I’ve used it. Be sure to check out my Homemade Peppermint Bark Granola Bars and my Chocolate Peppermint Green Smoothie, too!)

I made this peppermint mocha rice pudding a few weeks ago and I’m completely obsessed. It’s a great treat to have in the refrigerater, but it would also make a fabulous (and unexpected!) contribution to a holiday party or cookie swap.

I used Vigo Arborio Rice – I love the chewy texture of the short grains, and the extra starch helps make the pudding nice and thick. I kept this peppermint mocha rice pudding dairy free by using lite coconut milk and strong coffee for the pudding base. Then sweetened it with a little bit of brown sugar and bittersweet chocolate. It’s nice and rich, so it only takes a little bit to leave you satisfied.

Vigo Arborio Rice Boil-In-Bag is so convenient – I love it! I’m a huge fan of boil in bag rice because you don’t have to worry about it sticking to the the bottom of your pot and making a huge mess, which seems to happen every time I make traditional rice. In addition to solving that problem, it’s perfectly portioned (2 servings per bag) and it cooks in just about 15 minutes. Besides being great for rice puddings like this one, it’s also the perfect base for a one-dish meal like my Greek Chicken Rice Bowls. I also have a feeling it would make a killer poke bowl, and I look forward to trying that out soon.

You might remember Vigo from my Italian Meatball and Farro Soup – they’re a family-owned Italian import company based out of Tampa, Florida. Although I’m familiar with using arborio rice for risotto, I don’t typically think of rice as being Italian. I was surprised to learn that Italy is Europe’s largest producer of rice! Apparently the Lombardy region has a cool temperature and wetlands that are the ideal rice-growing conditions, which I found to be super interesting.

Vigo products are available at your local supermarket or you can also Shop Vigo’s online store!

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Peppermint Mocha Rice Pudding (Dairy Free)

Course Healthy Dessert Recipes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Additional Time 3 hours hours

Total Time 3 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Author Lauren Keating

Ingredients

• 10 cups water
• 2 packets Vigo Arborio Boil in Bag
• 1 can light coconut milk
• ½ cup strong coffee
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 3 ounces extra-bittersweet chocolate 70%, finely chopped
• 1 candy cane crushed (optional)

Instructions

• In a large saucepan, bring 10 cups of water to a boil. Submerge the bags of rice in the water and boil, uncovered, for 14 minutes. Drain.
• While the rice cooks, combine the coconut milk, coffee, brown sugar, and salt in a second saucepan. Bring to a rapid simmer over medium heat.
• Place the egg yolks in a bowl. Slowly add about 1 cup of the hot coconut milk mixture to the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Pour the warmed egg yolks into the pot and bring to a boil. Boil 3 minutes – the pudding should start to look thick.
• Stir in the vanilla, peppermint, and chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is melted. Stir in the cooked rice.
• Divide the pudding among six small bowls or jars. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap tightly against the top of the pudding. Chill well before serving. The pudding will thicken as it cools.
• If desired, serve topped with crushed candy cane.

Notes

Egg yolks help thicken this rice pudding and make it extra luscious, but don't be tempted to add them straight to the pot – you'll risk having them cook too fast, and no one wants scrambled eggs in their pudding! Whisking a little bit of the warm coconut milk into them off the heat helps bring them to temperature slowly, so they'll incorporate seamlessly into the pudding.

 

Drinking chocolate flavored with warm spices and topped with orange vanilla whipped coconut cream is perfect for sipping slowly on a frigid winter day.

I was planning to share a new salad recipe with you today, but the forecast says we’re about to get buried under a ton of snow and I couldn’t do that to you. Or to me – it’s been too cold to even think about eating a salad.

Instead, how about a warm drinking chocolate that’s rich enough to pull double-duty as dessert? Now that’s more like it. Even better, it’s dairy free!

If you love hot, spicy drink recipes be sure to also check out my Gingerbread Hot Chocolate and my Orange-Cardamom Dessert Coffee with Rum. You’ll also love this white hot chocolate starbucks copycat recipe! and, of course, you can’t go wrong with aged eggnog!

Do you remember back in the early-2000’s when Starbucks had a huge marketing campaign around their chantico drinking chocolate? It was incredibly rich, thick hot chocolate served in an espresso cup. It reminded me of drinking molten brownie batter and it was insanely delicious – and probably had enough calories to last a week but that’s another story. Then one sad day not long after it launched, they pulled it off the menu. Apparently it wasn’t very popular.

Anyway, I took one sip of this spiced drinking chocolate from The Whole Coconut cookbook and was instantly transported back in time. This drink reminds me a lot of chantico, except not as sweet and with cinnamon and cayenne pepper to make it extra cozy. It was love at first sip.

This drinking chocolate is topped with whipped coconut cream that’s flavored with orange and vanilla – two of my favorite flavors to pair with chocolate. (When I was in college I worked at the coffee beanery and we had a drink that was half coffee, half hot chocolate with orange and vanilla extracts – it was to die for and is another coffeeshop drink that’s sadly no longer on the menu.)

It’s warm and cozy and perfect for a snow day. Save the salad for next week.

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Orange Vanilla Drinking Chocolate (Dairy Free)

This recipe requires a little pre-planning – the coconut cream, mixing bowl, and beaters need to be very cold – but it’s well worth the wait. Leftover whipped cream will keep for about 1 week in the fridge.

Prep Time 8 hours hours

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 8 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Lauren Keating

Ingredients

For the whipped cream

• 8 ounces coconut cream
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 tablespoon coconut sugar or brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 pinch sea salt

For the drinking chocolate

• 3 ½ ounces dark chocolate chopped
• 1 cup canned coconut milk
• ½ cup coconut water
• 1 tablespoon coconut sugar or brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

• Refrigerate the coconut cream, a metal mixing bowl, and the beaters from a hand mixer (or whisk attachment from a stand mixer) for several hours until thoroughly chilled.
• Transfer the coconut cream to the chilled mixing bowl. Using a mixer, beat the cream on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Add the orange zest, sugar, vanilla, and salt; beat again. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Gently melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Set aside.
• Combine the coconut milk, coconut water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a low simmer, whisking continuously. Whisk in the melted chocolate, cinnamon, and cayenne. Serve immediately, topped with 1 heaping tablespoon of the whipped cream.

Notes

I buy small cans of coconut cream from Trader Joe’s – they’re perfect for recipes like this one. If you can’t find coconut cream, you can make it by refrigerating a can of full fat coconut milk overnight. Open the can very carefully – the cream will be in a solid mass at the top. Scoop is out and save the coconut water underneath for smoothies or to use in this drinking chocolate recipe.