Sticky Toffee Pudding Biscuits

Sometimes I have a recipe idea in my head, but the road to creating it is paved with a few kitchen disasters and sometimes a sugary mess which tends to end up in my tummy! Luckily I now have the foresight to test a recipe before I even attempt it with the children or I would have three very disappointed little people when this happens!

Creating this recipe was enjoyable, calorific, but yes enjoyable.  Sticky Toffee pudding is one of our family’s favourite puddings and I wanted to create a biscuit which perfectly encompasses what we like about a good sticky toffee pudding.This recipe also takes considerably less time than making an actual sticky toffee pudding which means there is less time between starting the activity and enjoying the fruits of our labour!

The addition of oats and ground almonds to create flapjack-like biscuits means that they can be dolloped onto the baking tray rather than having to refrigerate biscuit dough before rolling and cutting it out. This is great for children who get frustrated when they can’t lift an intricate biscuit cutter design from the surface by themselves to put on the baking tray without it breaking. We have had tantrums from little people in our house when such an incident has occurred. Also as it is a biscuit, it could be an acceptable snack as a treat or pudding for hungry little tummies.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of butter/margarine
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of chopped dates
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup of oats
• 1/2 cup of self raising flour
• 1/2 cup of ground almonds
• 2tbsp golden syrup
• 7 fudge pieces chopped into small pieces.

I have also made this recipe substituting the self raising flour and oats for gluten-free equivalents and used sunflower spread instead of butter and the results were also good, but you may need to cook them for a little less time. They do end up with more of a cakey texture with the gluten-free products, but they still taste good. If you require a nut free alternative you could just omit the ground almonds. I add them as I like my sticky toffee pudding to have a nutty flavour and texture.

For the icing

• 200g icing sugar
• 2tbsp of golden syrup
• 2tbsp water
• Cake decoration chopped toffee pieces

These quantities will make a very firm icing, you could make it runnier to resemble the toffee sauce that you have with sticky toffee pudding. This will make them messier to eat and if your little people are anything like mine, they may well need a bath after having one!

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°c fan.
2. Cream the sugar and the butter together in a bowl.
3. Crack the egg, I tend to suggest that the child gently tap the egg on the surface and then hold the egg in two hands and pull the crack apart. Gently whisk the egg in a cup or bowl with a small whisk or a fork.
4. Add the whisked egg, cinnamon and vanilla extract into the creamed sugar and butter and mix well. Add the 2tbsp of golden syrup and mix again until fully combined.
5. Add the oats, self raising flour and ground almonds and mix again and then add the dried fruit to the batter and ensure they are spread as evenly as possible. 
6. Chop the seven fudge pieces (my children enjoyed trying to chop the fudge pieces with a table knife, but they did need some help) and add them and mix for a final time.
7. Dollop the biscuit mixture onto two baking trays and place in the oven. The biscuits will spread so don’t place them too close together. This recipe will make around 12 large biscuits or 20 smaller ones. If I am making them for grown ups I do tend to make them larger, but if little people will be eating them, I aim for smaller biscuits.
8. Place in the oven cook for 8-10 minutes for smaller biscuits and 10-12 minutes for larger ones checking them and moving around in the oven if necessary.
9. While the biscuits are cooling make the icing. Measure out the ingredients for the icing and sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Add the golden syrup and water mix them all together thoroughly. You want quite a thick icing if you don’t want it to drip off the biscuits too easily. Spread the icing on the biscuits and add some of the cake decoration toffee pieces. If you are unable to get toffee pieces, just chop some fudge and place on top of the icing.

These biscuits have become a firm favourite in our household as all the kids can help out. Even the youngest at 21 months enjoys trying to have a mix and dollop them onto the baking tray. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

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