How to Make Spotted Pup - A Cowboy Recipe (2024)

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

A spotted pup is another name for a spotted dog or a type of rice pudding. This delicious and comforting food is an old-fashioned dessert that stems from the late 1800s to early 1900s.

Cattle herders and ranch hands would head out on the trail to round up the cattle which had been foraging. The chuck wagon cooks needed to make hearty meals out of shelf-stable ingredients, and a spotted pup was a favorite dessert.

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The dish would simmer in a Dutch oven over the fire while the ranchers ate their meals. Some say the dessert was named after the spotted black and white cattle dogs that helped the ranchers do their jobs. Others say it looked like a pup or calf while cooking, and you knew it was ready to eat when a spoon would stick straight up in the desert, like a pup’s tail. And the raisins were the spots!

This is a simpler form of rice pudding that doesn’t need to be cooked on the stovetop first. In its original form, it may have been made without eggs or fresh milk. And it might have used molasses or sorghum syrup instead of sugar and vanilla.

I like this recipe because I can make a big casserole-sized dish at once, and it doesn’t take a long time to put it together. Even better, it’s a great way to use up some leftover rice before it gets too old. It uses just a few simple ingredients that you can adjust to suit your preferences, too.

Rice Prep: 20 minutes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

It took about 20 minutes for the rice to cook in the rice cooker. Once the rice was done, it took about 10 minutes to put the entire spotted pup together. It baked in the oven for 1 hour and then I let it cool for about 5 minutes before dishing it up.

The actual amount of hands on prep time was very short and clean up was very easy!

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked white rice
• 1 1/3 cups milk
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 eggs (beaten)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup raisins or dried fruit

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Combine cooked rice, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter. I cooked my rice in a rice cooker and allowed it to cool a little bit before I started this recipe. You can make rice on the stovetop, in the oven, or just use whatever leftover rice you have around.

3. Beat eggs and mix in milk and vanilla. I used whole milk. You can use whatever kind of milk works best for you.

4. Pour milk and eggs into the rice mixture and mix it well.

5. Spray a glass casserole dish with coconut baking spray or rub it with butter.

6. Pour the mixture in to the casserole dish. Don’t panic thinking that the rice is too watery; the rice will absorb the excess moisture in the dish.

7. Stir in raisins. I used dried cranberries; other dried fruits would work, as well.

8. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour. To keep the rice from drying out, you can place a pan of water in the oven next to it.

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9. Serve hot or cold!

You can top your spotted dog with a little bit of vanilla ice cream or even maple syrup. It makes a great warm and hearty breakfast food or after dinner desert.

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