One of our favorite desserts is a sweet, delicious sticky toffee pudding. This recipe builds on that favorite recipe by adding in delicious sauteed apples and a touch of molasses. The richness of the dates and apples and sweet toffee sauce is just wonderfully delicious! I find it's a lovely mid-winter treat. Enjoy!

Delicious apple sticky toffee pudding, ready to bake, then top with toffee sauce!

Apple Sticky Toffee Pudding

Makes a 9 x 13 pan or two 8 x 8 pans, serves ~12  

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Butter a 9 x 13 glass baking dish or two 8 x 8 baking dishes. 

In a bowl, soak for 5-10 minutes: 

1 cup boiling water

1 cup chopped (pitted) dried dates (after chopping, press them into your 1 cup measuring cup so you have a nice, generous amount of dates)

Cook over medium heat, just until apples are softening a bit: 

4 Cortland apples, peeled and diced (or similar apple that holds it shape while cooking)

1-2 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

In a food processor, or with a stick blender, blend together: 

3/4 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 Tbsp molasses

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Add your soaked dates and the liquid.  Blend just until smooth.  

Fold the apples into the batter. 

Pour into the buttered 9 x 13 baking dish or two 8 x 8 baking dishes.  Bake at 350 F until nicely set in the middle.  I suggest 30 - 35 minutes for the 8 x 8 dishes and 35-40 minutes for the 9 x 13 pan.

While the pudding is baking, make the sauce, below. 

The date pudding, fresh from the oven.  

Toffee Sauce & Topping Recipe

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat together over medium heat, stirring occasionally: 

2 cups/473 ml heavy whipping cream (35%) (lactose-free whipping cream works perfectly, too)

1/2 cup/8 Tbsp butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Heat until mixture is bubbling nicely, and is smooth and even.  Let it bubble for only a minute or two, then remove from heat.  

Toffee sauce, ready to use!

To finish your sticky toffee pudding:

After baking your cake, set oven to broil.  If you have an option, I recommend the broil "low" setting.  

Pour 1/2 of your toffee sauce slowly and evenly over the baked pudding.  

Cake covered with half of the toffee sauce, ready to broil.

Place the cake under the broiler, checking every minute until the top is nice and bubbly and you're just barely starting to see a few brown spots (I recommend checking every minute because some broilers are HOT and some are cooler).   Broiling the top of your sticky toffee pudding should take 2-4 minutes.  

Broiled until bubbling nicely and you're just seeing some browned spots.

Remove from the oven.  Serve warm in a bowl with additional toffee sauce served overtop!  Leftovers can be stored separately (cake in one container, sauce in another).  Serving leftovers into a bowl and heating them up together works perfectly.  Enjoy!!!

Cut and serve squares of these delicious puddings with extra toffee sauce on top.  Yum! 

Apple Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

 One of my favorite desserts was an oatmeal butter brittle with toffee bits on top, but since most toffee bits sold may contain nuts, they weren't safe for family members with nut allergies.  So, I finally decided to break out the candy thermometer and whip up the easiest and fastest candy - homemade toffee. You can leave it plain or pop some chocolate chips on top for a thin layer of chocolate on top of your toffee. Yum! Delicious broken into chunks to snack on, or add to chocolate chip cookies or on top of oatmeal butter brittle. Yum! 

Toffee bits spread on top of melted chocolate on an oatmeal butter brittle. Yum!

Homemade Toffee

Makes about 1 1/2 - 2 cups toffee bits

Please read this whole recipe before you start. It cooks quickly and hardens quickly, so you want to make sure you're prepared!

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. 

In a medium saucepan with a thick metal bottom, stir together constantly over medium heat until sugar is dissolved: 

165 g (~3/4 cup packed) dark brown sugar

85 g (~6 T) salted butter

2 Tbsp water

Add in the candy thermometer and lower the heat to medium-low heat to boil.  Swirl the pan every 30-60 seconds. This is VERY important, because while you don't need to stir it with a spoon, if you don't give the pan a bit of a swirl, you could end up with burned sugar on the bottom of the pan.  Heat until you just reach hard crack, approx 295 - 300 F on your candy thermometer.  (there's a range, but I prefer it on the lower end of this range so it's not quite as hard).

Immediately pour the toffee mixture onto a parchment lined baking pan. If you want it to be a bit thinner, you can spread it with a spatula as fast as possible immediately after you pour it. It's helpful to have a second person to help with this, as the toffee starts to harden very quickly.  

Optional chocolate layer: 

If desired, right after pouring the toffee out, you can sprinkle the top with: 

~1/4 - 1/2 cup milk, semi or dark chocolate chips  

Spread out the chocolate into a smooth layer once the chips have melted.  This will not affect the hard toffee in terms of texture, but it uses the heat from your toffee to melt the chocolate perfectly. 

Let the toffee cool completely, including the chocolate hardening on top, if used.  You can break or chop into smaller chunks. Or, if you'd like toffee bits, then put larger chunks into a food processor and pulse until your toffee bits are the desired size.  

Store the toffee in a well sealed container at room temperature up to a week.  Technically, it can keep longer than this, but depending on the humidity, etc., you can lose the dry, crunchy texture of your toffee. 

Enjoy! 

Chocolate topped toffee, ready to break and enjoy!

Homemade Toffee with optional Chocolate Topping Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

I've loved sticky toffee pudding since I first tried it years ago in England.  Since going gluten-free, I've tried a couple experiments, but none of them turned out - until now!  Oh, my goodness, I'm so glad I got over my aversion to chopping up dried dates.  Turns out they are, thankfully, very different to the dried prunes my grandma used to offer me when I was a kid.  When soaked and baked into a sticky toffee pudding, dried dates add the perfect flavor.  I love this toffee sauce, too.  It's much more creamy than an ordinary toffee sauce, so I find it isn't as sweet.  Yum.  Leftovers store perfectly in the refrigerator and heat up perfectly with a bit of sauce drizzled on top.  Enjoy! 

Gluten-Free Sticky Toffee Pudding with Homemade Toffee Sauce on top!

Amazing Sticky Toffee Pudding

Inspired by and partially based on a recipe in the NYTimes.  

Makes a 9 x 13 pan that serves ~12  

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Butter a 9 x 13 glass baking dish. 

In a bowl, soak for 5-10 minutes: 

1 cup boiling water

1 cup chopped (pitted) dried dates (after chopping, press them into your 1 cup measuring cup so you have a nice, generous amount of dates)

In a food processor, blend together: 

3/4 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix

1/2 - 2/3 cup dark brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Add your soaked dates and the liquid.  Blend just until smooth in the food processor.  

Pour into the buttered 9 x 13 baking dish.  Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 F, until nicely set in the middle.  

While the pudding is baking, make the sauce. 

The date pudding, fresh from the oven.  

Toffee Sauce & Topping Recipe

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat together over medium heat, stirring occasionally: 

2 cups/473 ml heavy whipping cream (35%) (lactose-free whipping cream works perfectly, too)

1/2 cup/8 Tbsp butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

Heat until mixture is bubbling nicely, and is smooth and even.  Let it bubble for only a minute or two, then remove from heat.  

Toffee sauce, ready to use!

To finish your sticky toffee pudding:

After baking your cake, set oven to broil.  If you have an option, I recommend the broil "low" setting.  

Pour 1/2 of your toffee sauce slowly and evenly over the baked pudding.  

Cake covered with half of the toffee sauce.

Place the cake under the broiler, checking every minute until the top is nice and bubbly and you're just barely starting to see a few brown spots (I recommend checking every minute because some broilers are HOT and some are cooler).   Broiling the top of your sticky toffee pudding should take 2-4 minutes.  

Broiled until bubbling nicely and you're just seeing some browned spots.

Remove from the oven.  Serve warm in a bowl with additional sauce served overtop!  Leftovers can be stored separately (cake in one container, sauce in another).  Serving leftovers into a bowl and heating them up together works perfectly.  Enjoy!!!

This cake slices nicely.  I like to cut nice, even squares to serve.

Serve each square with extra toffee sauce on top.  Yum! Sticky Toffee Pudding at it's best! 

Amazing Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Toffee Covered Donut Holes! (with dairy-free option)

These toffee-covered donut holes are divine.  I have to admit, I sometimes find things made with coconut oil or coconut milk to overpower the flavor I'm going for, but in this case, the dairy-free version works just as well.  It has more of a light toffee glaze taste, where the regular one has more of a caramel type flavor.  Both were delicious.  Both were eaten with gusto.  All were heartily enjoyed by gluten-free and non-gluten-free eaters at a church activity where I brought them to share.  I try to space out how frequently I make up donut holes, but these are such a perfect fall treat, I may have to whip some up again soon!   Happy eating! Enjoy!

Fresh toffee covered donut holes, ready to eat! 

Toffee Covered Donut Holes! (with dairy-free option)
Makes ~36 donut holes

Mix together in a large bowl:
2 cups Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix
1/2 cup brown sugar (dark is best)
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup coconut milk (or regular or lactose-free milk)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla bean paste OR vanilla extract

Let rest 5-10 minutes while your frying oil heats.

In large high-sided frying pan, heat 1" avocado oil (or similar frying oil, but I love the crunch and flavor of avocado oil for donuts) over medium-high heat.   Cook donut holes using a mini cookie scoop, or by small spoonfuls (like you would to make cookies if you had two teaspoons to use).   Cook 2-3 minutes per side.

Remove donut holes to a paper towel-lined pan.  Allow them to fully cool.  Once they are cooled, dip the donut holes one by one in the toffee glaze, below, then place dipped donut holes on wire racks.  I like to use a slotted spoon to dip. The toffee coating hardens as it cools, making for a lovely combination with the donut hole.

Toffee Glaze
This makes a generous amount - you could definitely halve this recipe and still cover all the donut holes.  

Heat over medium heat in a saucepan or frying pan until sugar has fully dissolved:
4 Tbsp butter OR coconut oil
1/2 cup brown sugar

Once sugar has dissolved, add and bring to a boil:
2/3 cup whole milk or light cream (lactose-free works) OR canned coconut milk

Remove from heat and add, mixing well to fully incorporate the sugar:
3 cups powdered sugar

I like to put the toffee glaze back over medium heat briefly, just until bubbles form, stirring constantly.  If you have any clumps of powdered sugar that aren't breaking up, it really helps.

Use delicious toffee glaze while hot/warm to dip your donut holes!    Below, I made two types of toffee glaze, making a half recipe of each.  I used two small frying pans and made one batch of dairy-free (using coconut oil & canned coconut milk) and one batch of lactose-free (using butter + 10% lactose-free cream).

The darker glaze on the left is the dairy-free one, the lighter glaze on the back/right were the regular glazed donut holes. 

On the left are the dairy-free, (toffee glazed made with coconut oil & coconut milk substitutes), on the right are the regular glazed donut holes.  Both were delicious!  And, best of all, no one could tell the difference, they were both inhaled!