Instant Pot Chocolate Peppermint Rice Pudding is a 30 minute holiday recipe made in a pressure cooker. Make this easy dessert or decadent breakfast for Christmas morning.

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I can hardly believe Christmas is less than 2 weeks away! I haven’t watched any holiday movies yet and I still need to wrap all of my gifts. I have been making up for my lack of prep in other areas by making holiday treats. Last weekend I went to a cookie brunch, I made gingerbread and sugar shape cookies to decorate with a friend, and created a new recipe for Chocolate Peppermint Rice Pudding. This rice pudding turned out so good that I made it twice and I couldn’t wait any longer to share it.

My extended family has a strong Norwegian heritage {I’m 50% Norwegian}. We have a Christmas Eve tradition involving rice pudding that many Norwegians share. Norwegian rice pudding is called risengrynsgrøt and is made with milk, sugar, cinnamon, and butter. The holiday tradition is to hide an almond in one cup of the rice pudding. My extended family is large {over 40 people} so we sing several Christmas songs and pass the cups around. Once the singing is over, everyone eats their rice pudding and whoever has an almond in their cup receives a gift. This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions.

I researched risengrynsgrøt online and found out that the rice pudding tradition started in ancient times in Norway and Scandinavia. Whoever found the almond in their rice pudding would be the next person to get married. Others think the tradition comes from a European game from the 1500s called “King of the Bean” – “instead of an almond, a bean was hidden inside a bread or cake and the finder was appointed King Bean – with the right to fabricate name to the others around the table.” {source} There is also a Scandinavian holiday tradition of leaving a bowl of porridge for Santa instead of cookies. “Santa’s” job was to look after people’s farms, and leaving him porridge meant there would be a good harvest.

I think Santa would approve of this chocolate peppermint version of rice pudding. The best part is this recipe is made in the instant pot and is ready in 30 minutes.

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Instant Pot Chocolate Peppermint Rice Pudding

This holiday-inspired dessert or indulgent breakfast recipe for Instant Pot Chocolate Peppermint Rice Pudding is inspired by my family's Norwegian heritage.

Course Dessert

Prep Time 2 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 22 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked long grain rice
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 2 tsp vanilla paste {or vanilla extract}
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• 1 tsp espresso powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Add uncooked rice, 3 cups of milk milk, maple syrup and salt to the Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
   

2. Close the lid of the Instant Pot to seal it. Make sure the vent is set to “sealed.”

3. Select “Porridge”, which is automatically set to cook for 20 minutes.

4. After 20 minutes, the Instant Pot will beep. Immediately push the “Keep Warm” button. Wait for 10-12 minutes for the pressure to naturally release.

5. Release any remaining steam from the vent and lightly cover the valve with a towel.

6. Stir in vanilla paste, peppermint extract, espresso powder, 1/2 cup half and half and 1/2 cup milk.

7. Top with chocolate chips, sprinkles and a few Tablespoons of milk if you want a creamier texture.

{Adapted from Sweet & Savory Meals recipe for Instant Pot Rice Pudding}