Topdown view of Moon Milk Farina in a red bowl, with milk and maple syrup
February 7, 2024

Moon Milk Farina

February 7, 2024

Moon Milk Farina

Topdown view of Moon Milk Farina in a red bowl, with milk and maple syrup

Looking for a yummy, tummy-warming breakfast? Say hello to this bold and beautiful Moon Milk Farina. The bright yellow colour of this creamy wonder porridge comes from turmeric, which is also the dominant spice in moon milk itself.

Ingredients

Ingredients for Moon Milk Farina
  • Farina: Farina is not a specific grain, it’s actually a term for something that’s been finely milled, whether it be wheat or rice or even nuts. One common brand of farina, at least in Canada, is Cream of Wheat. If you don’t eat gluten, the good news is that there’s also brown rice farina. I’ve tested both types for this recipe. The brown rice version takes a bit longer to cook (8 minutes instead of 3), and it’s got a somewhat chewy texture, but it’s still delicious.
  • Oil or brown butter or vegan brown butter: You can use your choice of oil, butter, brown butter or vegan brown butter in this recipe. Using brown butter (or the vegan version) elevates the farina with its nutty, buttery flavour, but it will still be delicious without it. 
  • Turmeric: This golden-coloured spice is the dominant spice in moon milk, which based on Ayurvedic tradition of milk and spices, used to help alleviate stress.   
  • Maple syrup or other sweetener: You can use any sweetener you like. If you are plant-based and aren't sure which sweeteners work for that diet, see Sugar Sugar, honey, honey: A guide to sweeteners for plant-based diets.
  • Milk: Use any type of milk that you like, animal or plant-based. You could also just use water.  
  • Other spices:  You can also add in other spices such as ginger, cinnamon, or ashwagandha. See also the suggested flavour combinations if you want to go beyond the basic version. 

Simple Preparation for Early Mornings

I purposely made this recipe really simple, partly because I am so not a morning person and squinting with one eye open at spice labels early in the morning is really too much for me. 

The basic steps are: melt a little oil or butter in your pot, sprinkle in the turmeric, add your cooking liquid and farina, heat and stir.

Suggested Flavour Combos

The base version is really good, so you’ll probably want to try that version first and then do some experimenting. That said, I do have got some flavour combos for you to try: 2 vegan versions: Blue Moon, featuring dried blueberries and ginger, and Tropical Moon, with bananas, dates, and coconut syrup. For those hedonistic vegetarians out there, I made Over the Moon just for you, with an over the top combo of brown butter, dried peaches, and honey. Oh yeah.

  • Blue moon: vegan brown butter or vegan butter, oat milk, dried blueberries, 1 tsp ginger, maple syrup
  • Tropical moon: coconut oil, plant milk, bananas, dates, coconut syrup
  • Over the moon: brown butter, cow milk, dried peaches, honey
Variations for Moon Milk Farina, including blue moon with blueberries, tropical moon with dates and bananas, and over the moon with brown butter and dried peaches

Other Delicious Spice Options

Of course, you can always freestyle it and add other typical moon milk (aka golden milk) spices, such as cinnamon, cardamom, or a pinch of nutmeg. Another good option is Ashwagandha, an Ayurvedic herb that’s also called Indian ginseng. My experiments with that were quite tasty, but I didn’t include it as required as not everyone is going to have it sitting around in their pantry

Pin for Moon Milk Farina

Moon Milk Farina


Tips: Cooking for mixed groups

 If you’re making this for a mixed group of vegans and vegetarians, make the base vegan and then let your diners choose their own toppings. For example, you can make the base with vegan brown butter, or vegan butter replacement (such as Earth Balance), and any kind of plant milk (or even just water).  Then let the vegetarians dairy it up with a swirl of butter (or brown butter) and milk or cream.

You can use your choice of sweetener in this recipe. Some plant-based diets include honey, others don't. If you choose white sugar, be aware that some brands use animal products (bone char) in the processing. For more information, see see Sugar Sugar, honey, honey: A guide to sweeteners for plant-based diets.

Recipe Card

Moon Milk Farina

Prep Time 1 minute
Cook Time 3 minutes
Total Time 4 minutes
Perfectly spoonable moon milk porridge brightened with turmeric. Get this warm breakfast on the table in minutes. For gluten free option see Recipe Notes. 
Servings 2
Calories 313 kcal
Author Sylvia Eastman

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon oil, butter, butter substitute, or brown butter (See instructions for links.)
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • optionally include other herbs and spices to taste, such ginger, cinnamon, and ashwagandha (For some ideas, see the flavour combos section in the post)
  • 1 teaspoon sweetener (maple syrup, honey, sugar)
  • 2 cups water or milk (any kind of plant or animal milk)
  • 1/3 cup farina, aka cream of wheat (See Recipe Notes for gluten-free option)

For serving:

  • milk of choice
  • sweetener of choice
  • additional butter, butter substitute or brown butter, for serving
  • chopped dried fruit {Check out the flavour combos below}

Instructions

  • In a medium-sized sauce pan, melt the coconut oil (or butter, vegan brown butter or dairy brown butter) and then stir in the turmeric and sweetener. If you are making the blue moon option, add the ginger now too. (Or if you are adding other spices, now is the time.)
  • Stir in the water/milk and bring it close to a boil. (You can throw in any dried fruit you are using too now if you want it a bit softer.)
    Slowly pour in the farina/Cream of Wheat while stirring.
    Simmer for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
  • Serve hot with your choice of toppings.

Notes

Recipe Notes

Gluten Free Option

To make a gluten-free version of this, you can use Brown Rice Farina. Follow the cooking instructions on your package. (I used Bob’s Red Mill for testing and that farina cooks in 8 minutes and you use a ratio of 3:1 water to farina, so 1 1/2 cups of water/milk and 1/2 cup brown rice farina for 2 servings. 

Flavour Combos

  • Blue moon: vegan butter, oat milk, dried blueberries, 1 tsp ginger, maple syrup
  • Tropical moon: coconut oil, plant milk, bananas, dates, coconut syrup
  • Over the moon: brown butter, cow milk, dried peaches, honey

Nutritional Information

Nutritional information is an estimate only, and is based on maple syrup and cow milk.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 313kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 44mg | Sodium: 174mg | Potassium: 445mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 570IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 512mg | Iron: 10mg

Courses, Cuisines, and Keywords

Course
Breakfast
Cuisine
North American
Keywords
breakfast farina
|
breakfast porridge
|
brown butter
|
easy vegan brown butter
|
golden milk farina
|
golden milk porridge
|
moon milk farina
|
turmeric porridge
|
warm breakfast

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Hello!


We're creating a course: Baby Steps to Plant-Based Eating

Yes, seriously. Trying a plant-based diet can be overwhelming and we'd like to help. 

This course is for you if: 

  • you're curious about plant-based eating, but don't know where to start 
  • you have family or friends who eat plant-based and you'd like to be able to cook for them
  • you've dabbled with plant-based cooking, but would like to expand your repertoire 

Baby Steps to Plant-Based Eating will: 

  • answer your pressing questions
  • cultivate your confidence 
  • arm you with recipes

Want to learn more?  

Join our email list for updates about the course launch. You'll also get priority access to new recipes, and other subscriber privileges.