Dessert

Sticky Toffee Chocolate Bread Pudding

Sticky toffee chocolate bread pudding made with sweet Hawaiian bread and a dark brown sugar custard. Maybe the best dessert you'll ever taste!

To recipe
Chocolate bread pudding but with sticky toffee flavors.
Recipe insights & TIPS

There’re some recipe ideas that start developing in my head and then they snowball. Sometimes they’re just plain old stupid, sometimes they change completely and other times I wonder what the heck I’m doing in the kitchen that day and I should just go and take the dog for a walk.

Chocolate bread pudding but with sticky toffee flavors.

This recipe idea started from dates, not the EHarmony kind but the squishy slightly weird what could I do with these kind. I’m sure there’s a list of date recipes available, but one of my most favorites in the world is sticky toffee pudding.

It’s a dessert that you’ll find on every menu in every British pub everywhere. It’s as famous as fish and chips but way tastier and we all know how freakishly awesome fish and chips taste.

And here’s where that idea in my head completely changed.

Chocolate bread pudding but with sticky toffee flavors.

I took the flavors from sticky toffee pudding and made another popular Brit dessert, the bread pudding. Feeling pretty darn smug with myself for coming up with this sweet hybrid dessert, I started to think about what to call it. A quick Google search for some ideas showed that it’s been done (many times).

A few choice words with 4-6 letters and I decided to go ahead and make my recipe.

The $8 pack of dates staring at me kinda sealed the deal.

Chocolate bread pudding but with sticky toffee flavors.

Slices of sweet Hawaiian bread were covered in butter and then laid nicely in a dish. So easy!

I chopped most of the dates and sprinkled them over the bread followed by chocolate chips. Place a second layer of buttery bread on top and repeat with the dates and chocolate chips.

Make the custard by whisking together eggs, cream, milk, molasses and dark brown sugar. It’ll turn a muddy brown color and taste absolutely nothing like mud.

Pour the custard over your neatly arranged bread and let it soak in. This can take up to 2 hours but overnight is best to capture all of the flavors.

Make the toffee sauce and pour some over each slice.

Chocolate bread pudding but with sticky toffee flavors.

A white, fluffy chef's hat with an orange band, logo of Foodness Gracious.

Recipe

Sticky Toffee Chocolate Bread Pudding

Course:
Dessert
COOKing TIME:
50 minutes
Total TIME:
80 minutes
CUISINE:
American
PREP TIME:
30 minutes
SERVINGS:
8

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 3 tablespoons molasses
  • 4 tablespoons butter at room temperature
  • 1-16 oz sliced sweet Hawaiian style loaf or brioche about 12-14 slices
  • 12 dates with stones removed and roughly chopped
  • 2/3 cups dark chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup chopped pecans
  • Make The Toffee Sauce!
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream

Ingredient Swaps

Instructions

  1. Prepare a 13x9 baking tray with a non-stick spray or butter.
  2. In a large bowl combine the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, melted butter, cream, milk and molasses.
  3. Whisk until the mixture is well combined.
  4. Take the bread slices and spread each one with butter on one side.
  5. Slice each slice across diagonally to create two triangles.
  6. Place about 4-5 slices into the baking tray in a shingled pattern covering the base of the pan.
  7. Sprinkle some chocolate chips and chopped dates over the bread.
  8. Create another layer of bread on top and add the remaining chocolate and dates over the surface.
  9. You can press down on the bread to make things fit if you need to.
  10. Slowly pour the liquid mixture over the bread making sure to cover every part of it. Press the bread down with your fingers to make sure all of it has been touched by the liquid.
  11. Add the chopped pecans to the surface.
  12. Cover and let the bread soak up the liquid for at least two hours in the fridge.
  13. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, cover the bread pudding with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
  14. Remove the foil and turn the heat up to 400 degrees.
  15. Bake for a further 15-20 minutes and the top of the bread pudding feels springy when gently pushed in the center. It'll still seem wet which is okay.
  16. Add all of the sauce ingredients to a pan over a med-high heat and bring to a boil.
  17. Whisk until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes then turn off the heat.
  18. Let the bread pudding rest for 10 minutes before serving warm with the sauce.

A white, fluffy chef's hat with an orange band, logo of Foodness Gracious.

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