As kids get older they become aware of lots of things you probably wish they wouldn’t. For example, I’m sure we can all remember the first time our little ones took note of the inviting cartoon faces on the sides of sugar cereal boxes at the supermarket. The more tuned in kids become, the more they will start to ask you for things you want them to stay way clear of.
Recently, to my dismay, my kids have become transfixed by the delicious fruit based juices at our local Farmers’ Market. Every weekend, lined up on the tables of the prepared food stands sit enormous glass jars filled with a rainbow of flavored lemonades, watermelon fruit juice and a creamy, milky drink called Horchata. Kenya has started regularly begging for a horchata to accompany his weekly Farmers’ Market pupusa. I was fine with it the first couple of times, but he’s now addicted to them and there’s just way too much refined sugar in all of these juice drinks for me to let it become a regular thing. But not wanting to deprive Kenya of something he loves, I decided to come up with my own recipe.
There are different varieties of horchatas from Spain to Latin America, but the inspiration for this one comes from Mexico, where rice is used as the base for the drink. Even though this drink looks just like a cup of milk, it’s not made using any milk at all. The whitish tan color comes from the starch of the rice that gets ground, strained and mixed with the other ingredients. My recipe is a bit different because it contains a lot less sugar then most pre-made horchatas, but it’s still unbelievably delicious. Instead of white sugar I let the kids squeeze in some honey or agave until we think the flavor is just right. They also have fun getting to toss the cinnamon stick in the blender.
Even though it’s still tough dissuading Kenya from wanting to have a big cup of horchata at the market, the excitement of waiting to get home and make our own ultimately wins out and is certainly worth it’s weight in fun!
Horchata
Ingredients
- 1 Cup White Rice
- 5 Cups water
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- Zest of 1 Small Lime
- 1 Tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 Cup Agave, Honey (or 1/3 Cup Sugar)
Instructions
- Place the rice, cinnamon stick and water in a large bowl and let the mixture sit covered for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
- Place the rice and water mixture in a blender with the remaining and blend on high for 2 minutes.
- Strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth into a pitcher.
- Chill, stir and serve over ice.
- *As the horchata chills in the fridge, all the sediments will sink to the bottom, therefore you will need to stir the horchata each time you serve it.
Just found this site today and love it because of recipes like these! Taking such elaborate foods and turning them into something I can make in my kitchen!
It’s a delicious version of the rice milk. Love it!
Thanks for a beverage idea! My kids get tired of the norm so one think I started doing is putting frozen cherries or berries in their water bottles. It keeps it cold and gives it flavor without processed sugar.
we’ve just discovered Horchata and my little guy is always asking for it. Now we can make it! 🙂
This makes me start humming the Horchata song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkUQ-OBazbc) – now I can drink one and dance around! Thanks!
Hi. I have been reading your website for a few weeks and so excited to see someone so passionate about their food and what goes in their children’s bodies! I take a lot of time each week thinking about dinners and packing lunches that my children will eat. Thank God I don’t have picky eaters so it makes my job a lot easier.
I noticed that you use agave in this recipe. I have recently read some distressing info re: agave and wondered how you feel about it. I am still researching it but have stopped using it for now. I’d love to hear what you think about it.
Thanks in advance and thanks for sharing your recipes!
Samantha
Never mind, I just saw the last bit about sediments. Well, My husband tasted it and loved it. So did my 14 month old. I prefer it with out the sediments mainly because it coats my mouth.
So I decided to make this today as I’ve never had horchata but my husband loves it. I soaked the rice in the morning and decided to make this after lunch. I put it in the blender and it was a very liquefied and I pour it through a mesh into my jug. The drink wasn’t clear still and so I must have poured it back and forth through the mesh about 5 times (cleaning it every time I used it) Finally when the mesh was clear, I poured into the jug and in the fridge. Now, I get it and the drink has separated. It’s pretty muddy type texture at the bottom and clear drink at the top. Is that how it’s supposed to be?
Interesting! Our farmers’ market is a little less interesting, it seems, but there is a lemonade made only with honey. Bless the honey lady!
I can’t wait to try this. We’re allowing the odd juice box, but mostly diluted juice if any. If our daughter likes this it could be a great addition! I’m hoping I’ll like it too! Thanks for sharing!
Cool recipe. I’m going to try it. By the way, what happened to your weekly menu plan? It will often jog my memory and give me some ideas for a few of my meals during the week. Please bring it back!
I LOVE Horchata and my kids LOVE Horchata. I’m from Guatemala and drank it as a little kid. You’re right about how much sugar is in there but we have it as a treat. We usually get Horchata when we got to my favorite Mexican restaurant.
For those asking about the cinnamon stick, I believe you grind it up with it. You will be straining the mixture so any big chunks leftover will not go into the drink. You can also add a touch of almond extract and that gives it a good flavor too.
The rice is still pretty hard. It’s best to soak overnight though.
Still not clear. Do I remove the cinnamon stick before blending or leave it in? And I’m now almost to 24 hours of soaking the rice, and it doesn’t seem like it has expanded or soaked up any water at all. The rice is still hard and unchanged. Is that normal?
Good advice Catherine to stay away from the “Shite rice” 😛
<3 weelicious!
Yay! One of my fave drinks & my son drinks it all up when I get it at our local taqueria. Thank you!! Will try this recipe this week!!