Gingerbread (Victory) Pudding

This is a recipe that intrigued me when I ran across it in old cookbooks.  There were many different varieties of the pudding (some called for eggs, some not, some called for cinnamon, some not, etc), but what they all had in common seemed to be two things.  One:  It was always sweetened and flavored (primarily) with molasses and Two:  The recipe would call for rolled wheat (???).

What I loved about the recipe when I'd see it though is that it seemed like a really nutritious recipe for breakfast. So, seeing the word "rolled" with the wheat, I subbed out old fashioned rolled oats and while I'm not sure if it tastes like the original recipe, it does taste good!  The pudding comes out with a light pudding on top and a chewy almost toffee-like consistency toward the bottom (but easier to chew).  And the pudding tastes like gingerbread! 

I cut the molasses in the recipe with maple syrup, because while I usually have molasses around, I tend to keep dark molasses (go hard or go home I say ;), but most recipes called for light molasses and also molasses is expensive, so I figured I'd go half with the maple syrup to see how it would turn out.  And it comes out great!  If your family can "do" maple flavored pancake syrup (we can't due to food issues) I'm sure you could use that in replacement of the maple syrup.  If you want to be lazy with the sweeteners, just pour the molasses in first, eyeball halfway up a 1/3 of a cup and then fill the rest of the way with maple syrup.  It works fine.

The best thing about this recipe, though, is that it gets rolled oats into you and you'd never know you were eating oatmeal.  Seriously, give it a try!

I like to reheat mine in the mornings and put a little cream on top.   It is so yummy!

Gingerbread (Victory) Pudding

• 2 Cups milk
• 2/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 2 1/2 Tbs. molasses
• 2 1/2 Tbs. maple syrup
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• Pinch of salt

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bring milk to JUST a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat (if watching) or low heat (if not watching very closely), stirring frequently (if medium high heat) or occasionally (if not watching too closely).

Meanwhile, grease a 1 1/2 quart baking dish (I like a casserole for this as the mixture does boil up a bit as it cooks in the oven).

Combine rolled oats, molasses, egg, ginger and salt in a heatproof bowl.  Take a ladle of milk and SLOWLY add to mixture while stirring hard (this will temper the egg in the mix so you don't end up with lumpy pudding).  Once the ladle of milk is added, grab the pot with the milk in it and CAREFULLY and slowly add the milk to the mixture, all the while stirring.  Once about 1/2 of the milk mixture is added to the oats, you can add the rest of the milk in all at once and stir well to combine.

Transfer mixture to casserole (it will be very liquidy, so don't worry about it). 

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set.  Cool for 20 to 30 minutes at least.  I like to make mine the night before, put it in the fridge overnight and then microwave portions for about 20 seconds in the microwave (barely warm consistency) and then add a little cream to the top. 

Super yummy.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!