Gingerbread Porridge

Nothing like a cold snap to make you crave a warm and comforting breakfast with a steamy cup of tea. We’ve been enjoying this Gingerbread Porridge to help us stay warm on these chilly December mornings. It feels like a Christmas treat but it’s nourishing and satiating too.

I’ve made ours with rye flakes, but you can use oats or your preferred porridge grain too. I like mine not to sweet (it is breakfast after all) but you can make it as sweet as you like. Use molasses first to get it to the desired flavour, and then if it’s still not sweet enough for you, but the molasses flavour is good, you can use an alternative sweetener, such as maple syrup, to sweeten it to your liking. The other reason I don’t make mine too sweet is that I like to add raisins for little pockets of caramel sweetness in every bite. Yum, yum.

This is one Christmas treat you can feel good about eating all December long!

Gingerbread Porridge

Makes: 2-3 servings

• 250 ml water
• 250 ml milk (or milk alternative)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• pinch ground cloves
• pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon molasses or black treacle (plus more to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 100g (1 cup) rye flakes (or porridge oats)
• 45 g (1/4 cup) raisins (plus more for topping)

Put the water, milk, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and molasses into a small pan. Bring to a simmer. Add the vanilla, oats, and raisins. Simmer until thickened (about 3 minutes for quick oats, 8 minutes for rolled oats). I like it to be thick so that I can add additional milk to help cool it down and bring it to the consistency I like. Taste and add another tablespoon or more of molasses, or an alternative sweetener (such as maple syrup) to suit your taste. Top with additional raisins and a little drizzle of molasses when serving.