Peanut Butter and Jelly Porridge with Freshly Milled Grains

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Familiar and nourishing, peanut butter and jelly porridge with freshly milled grains makes a delicious breakfast on a chilly morning. Made with fresh cracked grain berries, the texture is beautiful and it’s full of stick-to-your-bones ingredients that you can feel really good about!

Peanut butter and jelly porridge with freshly milled grains has become a regular in our breakfast rotation. There is such a feeling of accomplishment when your kids wolf down food that’s full of such good ingredients, and that’s why I lean on this meal so much during the fall and winter. It’s quick and easy to throw together and continues to cook as the house wakes for the day. Sometimes on a good snow day, we cuddle up under a blanket by the fire and fill our bellies with this satisfying hot breakfast porridge, and it just feels like the right way to begin the slow kind of day that I love during the colder months, after the bustle of the holidays is behind us.

What is Porridge?

Porridge is a dish made with grains such as rolled oats, quinoa, rice, corn, whole wheats, ancient grains, etc. Oatmeal and polenta are both examples of types of porridge, and although we often think of a bowl of hot porridge as a breakfast food, this is not always the case and porridge can be served sweet or savory. The whole grains are cooked in rice or milk or another liquid such as oat milk or almond milk until they begin to break down and release starches. For this wheat porridge, we will take whole grain berries or oat groats and crack them using a home grain mill for a delicious porridge with a really special texture. 

The health benefits of porridge also make it a great healthy breakfast option. Whether you’re making creamy oatmeal with old-fashioned oats, or quinoa porridge, or this pb&j variation, porridge is full of simple ingredients that are packed with protein and fiber and may even help stabilize blood sugar. There are lots of great reasons why this easy breakfast recipe is one of my favorite things to serve in the morning!

Prepping Your Freshly Milled Grains

The first step in preparing peanut butter and jelly porridge is to crack your grains, and for this I use my Komo grain mill. If this is not a tool that you have in your kitchen, no worries! Just substitute steel cut oats or this awesome seven grain blend for the grain berries and skip ahead to cooking your porridge! Porridge made with cracked grains has a texture very similar to steel cut oats and can be made with many varieties of wheat grain berries that you have at home. For example, I always have hard white wheat berries on hand for my bread baking, and often use that exclusively to make porridge. However if I have different grains, rye berries or quinoa or an ancient grain such as einkorn wheat or khorasan wheat on hand, I love to use a combination for a more complex flavor and nutritional profile. 

Begin by setting your grain mill to the most coarse setting and add your grains into the hopper. Run them through the mill according to the instructions and the final product will be freshly cracked grains ready to be cooked! Purchasing a grain mill was a big decision for our household.  I really love that this recipe gives me another way to make this appliance work for our family. 

Discovering the Grain Mill

I remember when my mom first came home and told us she was going to buy a grain mill. She had five kids who were consuming a huge amount of sandwich bread and she, like me, was starting to feel like there was a large nutritional gap in our diet. Looking for an answer, she became fast friends with a woman who taught her to make sandwich bread in bulk amounts, six loaves at a time, with freshly ground wheat berries. 

Now, twenty years later, she still pulls out her mill every few weeks to make the same recipe. Milling flour became a way of life for her because of the huge impact it had on the way our family ate and thought about food. Discovering that I could make something as wholesome and functional as homemade pasta, fresh porridge recipes, and daily bread from fresh milled flour has had a similar impact on my growing family, and I will never go back!

My Komo Classic grain mill is a work horse in my kitchen and has served us well for years! I love it more each time I use it. It is a great option if you are ready to add freshly milled grains into your family’s diet. However, if you are looking to dip your toes into the water to see if milling whole wheat flour fits into your life, then I would highly recommend starting with this neat little Kitchen Aid Grain Mill Attachment. It has a small kitchen footprint and does a great job milling coarse to fine flours for all of your baking needs!

Cooking Porridge

There are two ways to cook your porridge with freshly milled grains, in an instant pot or on the stove. I love making any type of porridge or oatmeal in my instant pot because I simply have to load it up with the ingredients and walk away. However, if you don’t have an electric pressure cooker, don’t worry. This is still such an easy meal to prepare the old fashioned way!

My brother recently accused me of being too obsessed with countertop appliances and it did make me think. I am someone that has always enjoyed doing things the hard way. 🙂 Have I become too reliant, I thought? My conclusion was: I do REALLY use my instant pot, my food processor, grain mill, stand mixer, etc. I don’t feel one bit bad about it, or that they are a waste of space. I feel a great love for my little countertop appliances as they are the reason we can keep doing things the hard way, cooking from scratch and baking bread and keeping a hard working kitchen running smoothly! 

Instant Pot Porridge:

For the instant pot method, load your instant pot with three cups of water, a pinch of salt, and cracked grains and place the lid on. Using the porridge button, pressure cook on high pressure for 10 minutes and natural release for an additional 10 minutes. Quick release any remaining pressure and carefully remove the lid. Add in your peanut butter, jelly, plain greek yogurt (optional) and stir until well combined. 

Adding greek yogurt to your porridge gives it a lovely texture and a hit of probiotics if you’re into that sort of thing (Learn to make your own here!). If you don’t have yogurt on hand then cream or milk work nicely as well! Serve to groggy customers as they roll out of bed and know that you’ve started the day well!

THIS is the instant pot I’ve been using almost daily and loving for years!

Stove top Peanut Butter and Jelly Porridge:

Place hot water and salt in a medium saucepan and bring the water to a boil over medium heat. Add in your grains and return to a simmer. Let the mixture simmer for 15-20 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Once the porridge is cooked you will want to remove the heat and let it set for about five minutes. Add in your peanut butter, jelly, and greek yogurt and stir until well combined. Enjoy this delicious combo of nostalgic flavors and satisfying, hearty grains! 

Peanut butter and jelly porridge is best when eaten right away, but I certainly wouldn’t throw away any leftover! Keep it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week and warm it up in either the microwave or on the stove with a splash of milk!

Additional Ideas for Your Breakfast Porridge with Freshly Milled Grains

If peanut butter and jelly isn’t your thing, this hot breakfast porridge with freshly milled grains is delicious with a variety of your favorite toppings and sweeteners. A drizzle of honey or maple syrup would be wonderful with a spoonful of raisins. Brown sugar and cinnamon with a sliced banana is another one of my favorite ways to eat porridge! I love adding yogurt and fresh fruit like berries or peaches. The possibilities are endless!