Delicious individual sticky toffee pudding with the added flavours of gingerbread, for a festive holiday dessert. These mini sticky toffee puddings are make-ahead friendly and can be baked and frozen, as well.
If you’re looking for a crowd-pleasing and make-ahead-friendly holiday dessert recipe, this gingerbread sticky toffee pudding is a perfect choice!
This date sticky toffee pudding features the addition of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg to bring the classic gingerbread flavours to this festive dessert. Of course, it’s all topped with a quick and easy homemade warm toffee sauce.
Ingredients and substitutions
A few notes about the key ingredients …
Dates – I have had lovely sticky toffee puddings made with basic pitted dates and with Medjool dates. Either is fine. Use what you have or prefer.
Nuts – Adding chopped nuts to the top of the puddings dresses them up nicely, but it is completely optional. Either walnuts or pecans would work nicely.
How to make gingerbread sticky toffee pudding
This is a visual summary of the steps to make this recipe. Always refer to the complete instructions in the Recipe Card below when making the recipe.
- Start by adding the whole, pitted dates to a food processor (or blender or small bowl). Pour boiling water over the dates and let them stand while you mix up the batter.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the butter and sugar, then stir in the egg.
- Add the vanilla and molasses and stir in.
- In a small bowl, stir together the dry ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients to the pudding batter and whisk together.
- Process the dates in the food processor, then add the baking soda and pulse briefly to combine. Add the date mixture to the pudding batter.
- Divide the batter between the ramekins, filling only about 1/2 full. Bake.
- Meanwhile, add the toffee sauce ingredients to a measuring cup and microwave (or to a saucepan and bring to a boil).
- Poke the cooked puddings with a toothpick and pour the toffee sauce over the top. Garnish with nuts, if desired, and serve warm.
Recipe tips!
- I love individual serving desserts baked in ramekins, but if you prefer one large pudding, use a smaller ceramic baking dish (square or oval) in which the batter fills the dish by just about halfway or a touch more.
- My festive ramekins, shown here, are on the larger side. If your ramekins are smaller, you may get up to 6 individual servings. In all cases, fill the ramekins just 1/2 full with batter or a touch more.
- Be careful using ramekins with gold or silver embellishments like the ones I used here, as they may not be microwave safe. Opt for oven re-heating instead.
Making ahead, freezing and reheating sticky toffee pudding
Making ahead: If you’d like to make the puddings ahead, keep the puddings and sauce separate. Once the puddings have mostly cooled, cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate. Cover and refrigerate the toffee sauce separately. for up to 3 days.
Reheating: To reheat, place the ramekins, still covered with foil, in a 350°F oven until warmed (10-15 minutes) or microwave to warm. Reheat the toffee sauce in the microwave or a small saucepan and pour the warm toffee sauce over the warm puddings to serve.
Freezing: You can freeze the baked puddings well-wrapped for up to 1 month. To reheat from frozen, microwave loosely covered with plastic wrap for about 1 minute or until thawed and warmed. You can also reheat from frozen in a 350F oven, covered with foil, for 15-20 minutes. While you can refrigerate the toffee sauce for several days, I don’t recommend freezing the toffee sauce.
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Get the Recipe: Gingerbread Sticky Toffee Pudding
Ingredients
- 4 ounces (g) whole dates, noor or medjool dates, pitted
- 1/2 cup (ml) boiling water
- 2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons (g) butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (g) light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon Fancy molasses
- 3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon (g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Toffee Sauce:
- 1/4 cup (ml) heavy whipping cream, 35% b.f.
- 1/4 cup (g) butter
- 6 Tablespoons (g) light brown sugar, packed
- Pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For garnish:
- chopped walnuts, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. (non-convection/not fan-assisted). Lightly grease 4 large ramekins or 6 smaller ramekins. Set onto a baking sheet and set aside.
- Add the dates to the bowl of a food processor or blender and pour the boiling water over them. Set aside for 5 minutes while you mix up the batter.
- Tip! I use a bowl for mixing and a spoon for mixing the batter, as it is a small amount of batter. You can use a bowl and an electric mixer or a stand mixer, if you like.
- In a medium bowl, add the room temperature butter and brown sugar and stir together vigorously until well combined. Add the egg and mix in well. Add the molasses and vanilla and mix in.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter and stir together until the flour is fully incorporated.
- Pulse the date mixture in a food processor, then add the baking soda and pulse briefly to combine. Add the date mixture to the pudding batter and fold in gently to combine. Don’t over-mix.
- Divide the batter between the prepared ramekins, filling each ramekin about 1/2 full or just a touch more. Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes or until a tester inserted in the centre of the pudding comes out clean or with a few crumbs. Don’t overbake. *Baking time will vary depending on the exact size of your ramekins.
- *If making ahead, allow the pudding to cool 10 minutes, then cover tightly with aluminum foil and refrigerate for up to 3 days. See Recipe Notes for reheating instructions.
- Toffee Sauce:
- Add cream, butter, brown sugar, and salt to a saucepan or 2-cup glass measuring cup. For the saucepan, cook over low heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the sauce is smooth, and slightly thickened, about 7-10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. For the microwave, cook in the glass measuring cup in 30-second bursts, stirring well in between, until melted and thickened.
- *If making ahead, cover the sauce and refrigerate for up to 3 days. See Recipe Notes for reheating instructions.
- To serve, use a toothpick to poke holes in the warm puddings. Pour warm toffee sauce over the puddings and garnish with chopped walnuts, if desired.
Notes
Storing, freezing and reheating instructions
If you’d like to make the puddings ahead, keep the puddings and sauce separate. Once the puddings have mostly cooled, cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate. Cover and refrigerate the toffee sauce separately. for up to 3 days.To reheat, place the ramekins, still covered with foil, in a 350°F oven until warmed (10-15 minutes) or microwave to warm. Reheat the toffee sauce in the microwave or a small saucepan and pour the warm toffee sauce over the warm puddings to serve.
You can freeze the baked puddings well-wrapped for up to 1 month. To reheat from frozen, microwave loosely covered with plastic wrap for about 1 minute or until thawed and warmed. You can also reheat from frozen in a 350F oven, covered with foil, for 15-20 minutes. Be sure to read the notes above this Recipe Card for more tips, substitution suggestions and step-by-step photos that you might find helpful.
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Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
