This ridiculously moist and sponge-like vegan sticky toffee pudding is drenched in a simple homemade toffee sauce, and it’s all unbelievably vegan, dairy free, and made without eggs. Topped with vegan vanilla ice cream, my friend from England said it tastes just like her grandmother’s classic British sticky date pudding!

bitten sticky toffee pudding

Why you’ll love the vegan version of this classic British dessert:

If you love sticky toffee pudding, then you’re going to absolutely become obsessed with this vegan version. Our neighbors are from England, so of course, they were the ones I had to please. I brought over a few test rounds of the toffee pudding, and they said it tasted just like their grandmother’s.

That’s a win in my book!

Think soft pudding meets warm brown sugar cake, all drenched in toffee sauce (which is different from caramel- caramel sauce uses granulated sugar, while toffee sauce uses brown sugar!).

This toffee pudding is unbelievably eggless, dairy free, and naturally vegan. You’d honestly never know! The cake is delicate yet structured, full of dates, and of course made extra sticky with the warm toffee sauce. It’s a very sweet cake, but honestly, you could sit eating it bite after bite, it’s so good.

Topped with extra toffee sauce, and it’s the perfect vegan Christmas dessert that everyone will love, vegan or not!

Alongside my vegan Yule log cake and my veganized version of my great grandfather’s Italian rainbow cookies, this vegan sticky toffee pudding is constantly on our Christmas menu. And gooey cinnamon rolls of course!

plate of finished sticky toffee pudding

What is sticky toffee pudding?

Sticky toffee pudding (or sticky date pudding, toffee pudding, or date pudding) is a delicious British dessert served around the holiday times for Christmas. It’s made with soaked dates that have been blended into a puree. Then folded into a brown sugar cake batter that’s been layered and baked with a warm toffee sauce.

Traditionally, sticky date pudding is served with even more warm toffee sauce and a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream.

When sticky toffee pudding first came about, it was truly a delicacy that was only had on special occasions, as it used ingredients that were hard to come by and/or expensive. Sticky date pudding was made from start to finish in one day and well worth the time and effort!

Sticky toffee pudding, however, is quite different from figgy pudding and Christmas pudding, two other very classic British desserts!

The simplest ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need for making this easy vegan toffee pudding:

  • For the toffee sauce: You’ll need vegan butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, and coconut cream or vegan heavy cream. I don’t recommend swapping out the coconut cream for anything lighter, as you really need a heavy cream-like liquid that just won’t work with a store bough lighter almond milk.
  • For the date puree: A crucial part to the sticky date pudding’s success is pureeing medjool dates with water. That’s it! I recommend organic Natural Delights dates- they’re always so soft and sweet. You can get the pitted or regular ones.
  • For the cake component: Aside from adding in the date puree, you’ll also need vegan butter, brown sugar, dairy free yogurt (an egg replacement), flour and leavening agents. That’s really it!

Overview: Step by Step how to make vegan sticky toffee pudding:

For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.

The entire process of making vegan toffee pudding should take just under 2 hours. These mini cakes are best served warm, so I don’t recommend making any component ahead of time. You want everything to be as fresh as possible!

You’ll first start by making the toffee sauce, followed by the date puree, and finally the cakes and assembly.

vegan toffee sauce
Prepare the toffee sauce first. If you’ve ever made caramel sauce, then it’s actually quite similar. You’ll cook this sauce with vegan butter, coconut cream, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Typically, you would use golden syrup in toffee sauce, but I’ve found that golden syrup is much harder to come by in the U.S., so I opted for maple syrup. The results were essentially identical! This part will take about 45 minutes start to finish.
As the toffee sauce is cooling (it will be HOT!), soak the dates in hot water, then puree everything together into a date puree. Then set this aside while you make the cake batter! We’ll start by whisking the dry ingredients in one bowl.
Then adding in the other ingredients, including the date puree, and whisking until you get a smooth batter (but be careful not to over mix!).
Divide the batter evenly into your muffin tins with a spoonful of toffee sauce first on the bottom of the pan.
Then bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 30 minutes!
Once baked, flip them over onto a cooling rack.
Poke a few holes into the bottom sticky toffee pudding cakes.
And drench in more toffee sauce.
Flip back over and serve with more vegan toffee sauce and a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream!
Enjoy warm 🙂

Can sticky toffee pudding be made in advance?

This specific type of pudding is very difficult to make in advance while still maintaining the same desired textures and flavor. When you make this in advance, you risk the cakes drying out. The cakes should be very very moist! Or the toffee sauce not being as delicious and moveable as right when you made it. I would suggest allotting 2 hours to just prepare the sticky toffee pudding. It will be well worth it!

Can I make vegan toffee pudding without dates?

Unfortunately, dates is one of the main components of sticky date pudding. It won’t give you the best results to make it without dates and still achieve the desired taste and texture. Some people have used prunes instead of dates, but I personally believe it’s a very different flavor.

bitten sticky toffee pudding

Can this sticky toffee pudding be made gluten free?

Absolutely, you can easily make this vegan toffee pudding gluten free as well by swapping out the flour for oat flour with a tablespoon of arrowroot starch or cornstarch. Adding this extra starch will help the oat flour resemble more of an all purpose flour texture. You can also use gluten free 1:1 baking flour, but I recommend the oat flour above all.

I’ve given the specific measurement swaps for the gluten free sticky toffee pudding in the recipe card notes section down below!

Do I need a large muffin tin?

I used a large muffin tin with 6 muffin cups. However, if you have enough ramekins, you can use those instead, or use 3″ or 4″ cake pans (of course, me being the cake baker that I am, I do have those as well! But I thought the muffin tin was more approachable!).

How to store leftovers:

If you have any leftover sticky toffee pudding cakes, you can store the cakes in an airtight container and in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 2 months!

plate of eaten sticky toffee pudding

You’re just going to absolutely love this easy vegan sticky toffee pudding! It’s perfect for any Christmas celebration or even New Year’s Eve!

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
bitten sticky toffee pudding

Easy Traditional Vegan Sticky Toffee Pudding- Date Pudding

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 30
  • Cook Time: 30
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 6 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: British
  • Diet: Vegan
Print Recipe

Description

This ridiculously moist and sponge-like vegan sticky toffee pudding is drenched in a simple homemade toffee sauce, and it’s all unbelievably vegan, dairy free, and made without eggs. Topped with vegan vanilla ice cream, my friend from England said it tastes just like her grandmother’s classic British sticky date pudding!

Ingredients

Scale

Toffee Sauce:

  • 1 cup (240 mL) creamy coconut milk or vegan heavy cream or cashew cream
  • 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup (120 mL) maple syrup

Date Pudding Cake:

  • 6 ounces medjool pitted dates
  • 2/3 cup (160 mL) water, boiling
  • 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour*
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 3/4 cup (150 g) light brown sugar
  • 4 tbsp vegan butter, melted
  • 1/3 cup (87 g) unsweetened vanilla dairy free yogurt, room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Please read through all instructions before beginning.You should plan for this to take you about 2 hours start to finish. You’ll first start by making the toffee sauce, then the date puree, and finally the cakes.
  2. Make the toffee sauce: Measure out all ingredients for the toffee sauce. In a medium sauce pan, add the coconut milk, vegan butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Turn the heat on to medium, and continue to stir the mixture until the butter has melted, about 3 minutes. Continue stirring with a silicone spatula or a whisk until the mixture starts to bubble. Then reduce the heat to medium-low, and cooke the toffee mixture for 40 minutes, or until thick. You should continue to stir the toffee every few minutes as it’s cooking. The toffee sauce should be amber in color and super thick. Remove from heat, and pour into a bowl. Set aside to cool. You can start the date puree and batter about 20 minutes into the cooking process of the toffee sauce.
  3. Make the date puree: In a large bowl, add the dates and boiling water. Allow the dates to soak in the water for 10 minutes. Then pour both the water and the dates into a food processor, and pulse until you reach a puree. Set aside.
  4. Prep for the cakes: Preheat the oven to 350F. Generously grease a 6-cup large muffin pan with vegan butter or cooking oil, and set aside. Measure out the remaining ingredients for the cake.
  5. Make the batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, light brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Add in the melted vegan butter, date puree, dairy free yogurt, and vanilla extract, and whisk again until combined. 
  6. Bake:  Once the toffee sauce is down, pour about 2 tbsp of sauce into the bottom of each muffin cup. Then pour the batter evenly into the 6 muffins cups. Place the muffin tin into the oven and bake for 28-30 minutes. A toothpick should come out clean, and that’s how you’ll know they’re done. Remove the tin from the oven, and allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes in the tin. 
  7. Invert the sticky toffee pudding: Before inverting the toffee puddings, poke a few holes onto the bottom of each pudding and pour more toffee sauce on top. Let stand for 5 minutes to soak in the sauce. Then run a serrated knife along the sides of the sticky toffee puddings again, and carefully invert the muffin pan onto a plate.
  8. Serve and enjoy! Plate each sticky toffee pudding, and top with the remaining toffee sauce and coconut whipped cream or vegan vanilla ice cream. This dish is best served warm, fresh out of the oven. Enjoy!  

Equipment

Notes

I do not recommend making this sticky toffee pudding ahead of time. You really want to capitalize off of the cakes being so moist and fresh, and the longer they sit out, the less moisture they’ll have. 

Gluten free: You can swap in 1 1/4 cup (or 125 grams) of oat flour for all purpose flour if you want a gluten free version. Add 1 tbsp of arrowroot starch to the oat flour as well. This will help the flour bind! Additionally, you can use a gluten free flour blend, like King Arthur gluten-free measure for measure flour.