This week we have some Rice Krispies and some dates baked into pudding form. Because why not?
This is Rice Krispies Date Pudding!
AuthorRetroRuth
From Kellogg's, 1928
Tested Recipe!
[cooked-sharing]
Beat the eggs, and add the sugar and milk. Mix the baking powder with the crumbs and add to the first mixture together with nuts and dates. Put into a small buttered baking dish and set in a pan of hot water in a 375-degree oven. Bake 40 minutes. Serve cold with plain or whipped cream. (Is also great with ice cream and yogurt!)
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the eggs, and add the sugar and milk. Mix the baking powder with the crumbs and add to the first mixture together with nuts and dates. Put into a small buttered baking dish and set in a pan of hot water in a 375-degree oven. Bake 40 minutes. Serve cold with plain or whipped cream. (Is also great with ice cream and yogurt!)
Notes
I found this great recipe in some Kellogg’s promotional recipe cards from the 1920’s. I am always intrigued by vintage dessert “puddings”, but hardly ever have an excuse to make one.
This one was lots of fun and came together really fast. I had Alex crush up the Rice Krispies and nuts while I cut up the dates. And then we both mixed for a bit and it was together!
If you are wondering, Rice Krispies actually crush superfine very quickly. Alex didn’t even need any extra help.
At this point I started to get excited. It smelled and looked really, really good.
And baked up perfectly!
I was amazed at the texture! I hope this picture can give you a good idea of that it was like. It was a ultra-crunchy crust on top with a thicky, gooey center. It reminded me a lot of soda cracker or Ritz cracker pie (mock apple pie, angel pie, etc.) except with the texture of pecan pie, and you don’t have to mess with separating the eggs.
“How is it?”
“Good. This is actually surprisingly good. It tastes like a pecan pie Rice Krispie Treat.”
The Verdict: Surprisingly Good
From The Tasting Notes –
A very interesting dessert! I love it when vintage recipes surprise you like this. Overall, this was a sticky, sweet dessert that reminded us both a lot of pecan pie. The great thing was there was no corn syrup in this, the sticky-sweet gooey parts were brought to us by the dates, which I liked a lot because I love dates. (If you are a date-hater, I would probably steer clear of this one.) The flavor of Rice Krispies was there, but wasn’t overpowering or even that noticeable. It was the first thing you tasted when you put a bite in your mouth, but it didn’t linger. It was there and gone. And as the dessert chilled overnight in the fridge it lost a lot of the Rice Krispie flavor. It also reminded me a lot of a macaron in texture, with a crunchy crust that hid a layer of lovely gooey melty-ness inside. This is going to be a keeper in our house, it’s a great quick and easy dessert, especially when we have that last cup of leftover Rice Krispies rattling around in the cereal box!
Update: I put a scoop of this on my morning yogurt instead of granola, and it was amazing!
This does look like something to try! The picture immediately reminded me of Sticky Toffee Pudding, the very popular British dessert. I haven’t yet made that either…
Btw… I love reading your vintage recipe posts! Thanks for all of your efforts!
Wow–this recipe is fascinating and now I can’t wait to make it. Thanks for sharing this one!
I wonder if you could tweak this with even more dates and less sugar to make it even healthier, but even without doing that this sounds amazing!
What is sweet milk? Is that sweetened condensed milk?
This sounds like heaven, but I would hate to buy a whole can for just 4 teaspoons.
Hi Kristin! Sweet milk is just regular, fresh milk. In vintage recipes, a lot of the time they would specify whether or not to use “sweet” or “sour” milk. 🙂
Hi matty! That is exactly what I was thinking! I am going to do some experiments with the sugar level next time we have some extra Rice Krispies laying around. 🙂
Glad you like it, Sarah! Hope it works out great for you.
You are very welcome, Becky! And I have yet to try Sticky Toffee Pudding, as well. But I really need too!
Thanks for your quick reply! I have a weird love of anything with dates, and it’s not easy to come by a recipe that I know my husband would “choke down” (his words) too!
Since discovering your blog, I am looking at my vintage cookbooks in a new light. They used to be for the humor factor, but I do read them now to see if there are recipes which wouldn’t make the cook seem like they have gone stark raving mad!
I was wondering if you have ever run across this one: It’s not a true cookbook per se, but I am guessing many of the excerpts are from books you own. I highly recommend it, because it is so funny (I’ve even given it as gifts – used start at $1.20 and new at $11): https://www.amazon.com/dp/0609607820/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=
Kristin, many years ago the Gallery of Regrettable Food was a blog ( I guess it started out that way and then they got a book deal, as often happens!) I loved it so much that my friends and I had a Regrettable Food party. Though most of it was tasty, none of us could choke down the spectacular jello mold with carrots and peas floating in it.
I’ve made the sticky toffee pudding, and it is TO DIE FOR , if you like dates. My favorite kind of dessert (served at Hogwarts, no doubt). So I am eager to try this rice krispie date pudding, too, it sounds divine.
if it wasn’t 1928 I would say this sounded like a depression era ” How to have deserts on handouts/cheap stuff” recipe
my grandma has a banana pudding recipe that great grandma made because the usda gave out a ton of bananas as part of the relief program and it was the first time shed ever eaten one ………. and she thought they’d be good as a sweetener …..
I always enjoy trying recipes from your adventurous collection, but this one looks especially wonderful! I love dates soooo much. I’m going to pick up these ingredients after work tomorrow and try it right away! Yummo! Thanks so much!!!
Hi Ruth and Kristin,
When I first came to North Carolina (mid 70s) I was puzzled by the term, “sweet milk,” too. You don’t hear it so much anymore, but as you said, Ruth, sweet milk means regular milk. If it wasn’t referred to as sweet milk, just as “milk,” that meant buttermilk.
I remember my neighbor complaining that she couldn’t keep sweet milk in the house–her children would drink it all up (and “couldn’t keep” meant that it wouldn’t stay put).
Speaking of buttermilk, my hubby is on a chocolate pudding kick lately and whined when I ran out of milk to make it, so he picked some up for me after work. I was pouring the milk into the powder and thought it was oddly thick – sure enough, in his haste he bought buttermilk (he asked, “can’t you make it work?”) 😉
I know that this is the antithesis of your plan, but I may have to go out and buy a box of Rice Krispies just so I can make this! 😉
It looks soooo good! It puffs up magnificently! We love dates too. I wonder how it would be with almonds, although I’d now have a good excuse for buying some pecans along with the RKs.
Sticky toffee pudding is the bomb! Some people put dates in it (my Mum does when she makes it) but it doesn’t always have them. It’s basically just a soft, moist cake (traditionally steamed rather than baked) with a toffee sauce. No rice krispies though haha
This looks delicious! I love dates. My family used to make a spiced carrot pudding for Christmas. I’d like to branch out and try some others. This looks like a good one.
Not a date fan, but interested in trying it with dried cherries and almonds. I have a few packages of dried cherries I need to use.
Do you crush the Rice Crispies pre- or post- measuring?
Rats! I just threw out about 2 cups of Rice Krispies that were looking forlorn. But I am intrigued by this and plan to make it. My “mid century” mom grew up in the post-depression era and I’ve seen many good recipes from that time period that she made that were actually quite yummy and still cheap to make today. Of course, recipes into that time morphed into mid century “madness” food-guess the mid century weird recipes were considered exotic as compared to post depression era recipes!
It’s surprising that Kellogg’s had the same logo in the 1920s as they do today. I would have thought that recipe card was from the ’50s at the earliest.
Also I’m definitely going to make this sometime.
Sounds divine and like the perfect comfort dessert for a sorrowing maiden (forget the Haagen Dasz!) Maybe make this for a friend who is going through a romantic parting