Creamy Rice Pudding

I'm just going to go ahead and admit that I have never made rice pudding before. Never ever. I'm going to admit that I *think* I *might* have eaten some my mom had in the fridge once when I was younger. I thought it was nasty. Taste change and I have been seeing some recipes that look really, really good out there and I decided to give it another try.

And I LIKED it. Imagine that.

I've been looking for different recipes for my kids to have for their snacks, lunches and desserts. They pretty much like the same stuff all the time. Not that they won't eat anything new, because I have very good eaters. They will eat anything and love it. But, like all kids they like their mac and cheese, grilled cheese, PB&J and so on and so forth.

I found this recipe on All Recipes, but I changed it up a bit. When I make puddings of any sort I prefer to use canned milk. Maybe it doesn't make a difference, but I think that milk tastes better in them. I also added some cinnamon to the pudding itself and not just sprinkled on top.

Rice Pudding

1 1/2 cups water

3/4 cup rice

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk, divided

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Bring water to a boil, add salt and rice. Reduce heat to simmer and cook 20-25 minutes or until rice is tender. Add 1 1/2 cups of the milk, sugar and salt to the rice and cook over medium heat until the mixture is creamy. This took me about 15 minutes. Beat the egg and add to remaining 1/2 cup milk. Remove 1/4 cup of the rice mixture and stir it into the milk and egg. Pour the egg and milk into the rice and quickly stir. Cook 2 minutes more until rice is very thick. Pour into bowls and refrigerate or serve warm. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon if desired.

I used long grain rice because that was all I had and it made a beautiful pudding. However, I have read that if you will use a medium- or short grained rice it will be uber creamy and delicious. I thought this was really good, so I'll probably stick with it in the future. It's totally up to you.

Mmmm, go make some and dig in!

How good does that look?