Name: Christmas Sticky Toffee Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Ingredients: 25g pecan nuts – replace with the same weight in flour if you are allergic; 50g dates, stones removed; 100g very ripe banana (roughly 1 medium sized banana); 65g unsalted butter, at room temperature. (See Recipe Notes below.); 65g dark brown sugar; 1 egg; 65g plain/all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; ⅛ teaspoon fine salt; 1 - 1½ teaspoons Christmas Spice or mixed spice; 1 tablespoon treacle; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 70g unsalted butter; 100g light soft brown sugar; 70g double cream; 20g roasted pecan nuts – omit if you don’t like or are allergic; ⅛ – ¼ teaspoon fine salt, ideally sea salt

Jump to Recipe

These Christmas Sticky Toffee Puddings with Salted Caramel Sauce are soft, fluffy, banana and toffee flavoured sponge puddings elevated with Christmas spices and smothered in a salted caramel sauce loaded with roast, chopped pecan nuts; oh my gosh – this has got Christmas written all over it!

If you are looking for an alternative dessert to a traditional Christmas Pudding, this would be ideal. It can be fully made in advance and just warmed up on the day; an easy, exceptionally delicious option with all the flavours of the festive season. Simply top with ice cream and/or cream, and dessert is sorted.

How to make Christmas Sticky Toffee Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce

Collect all your ingredients for the Banana Sticky Toffee Pudding together:

Quick, easy and whipped up in just one bowl.

pecan nuts – replace with the same weight in flour if you are allergic
finely chopped dates
very ripe banana
unsalted butter, at room temperature – if you need to soften the butter, see here
dark brown sugar
egg
plain/all-purpose flour
baking powder
fine salt
Christmas Spice or mixed spice
treacle
vanilla extract

First make the pudding:

Preheat the oven and roast the pecan nuts for both the pudding and the sauce, for 7 minutes, stirring them after 4 minutes.
Finely chop the dates.
Mash the banana.
When the nuts have cooked, remove the pecans you need for the sauce and then pulse the remainder in a mini food processor until they are finely ground.
In a large mixing bowl, weigh in all the ingredients – butter, sugar, egg, flour, baking powder, salt, spice, treacle, vanilla extract, dates, banana and pecan nuts.
Beat with an electric whisk until fully combined.
Thoroughly grease a muffin tray with butter. I use a silicone muffin tray for this. You could also cook the batter in a greased and lined 18cm/7 inch round cake tin.
Fill with the pudding batter until around 4/5 full – this quantity makes 5 individual desserts.
Cook in the centre of a preheated oven for 25 – 30 minutes or until it is cooked. If you have cooked it in an 18cm/7 inch round cake tin, it will take around 40 – 45 minutes to cook.
It is cooked when:
- the centre feels springy when lightly touched with your finger and no imprint remains
- a toothpick inserted into the centre of the sponge comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and leave to sit for 5 minutes before removing the puddings from the muffin tray.
Either serve immediately or leave to cool on a cooling rack.

Collect all your ingredients for the Salted Caramel and Roast Pecan Sauce together:

I like to make this whilst the puddings are cooking in the oven. If you are not serving it straight away, simply pop it in the fridge when it is cool and re-heat it gently when you are ready to eat.

unsalted butter
light soft brown sugar
double cream
roasted pecan nuts – omit if you don’t like or are allergic
fine salt

How to make the sauce:

Heat the butter and sugar in a small saucepan over a moderate heat, stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved and is mixed thoroughly with the butter.
Stir in the cream and salt and heat gently to warm through. Taste and add more salt if necessary. (Be careful it will be very, very hot.)
Chop the pecan nuts you roasted earlier and add these to the sauce just before you serve the desserts.

Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.

Christmas Sticky Toffee Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce

Course Dessert

Keyword banana, pecan nuts, salted caramel, sticky toffee

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Servings 5

Author Susan

Ingredients

Banana Sticky Toffee Pudding:

25g pecan nuts – replace with the same weight in flour if you are allergic
50g dates, stones removed
100g very ripe banana (roughly 1 medium sized banana)
65g unsalted butter, at room temperature. (See Recipe Notes below.)
65g dark brown sugar
1 egg
65g plain/all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon fine salt
1 – 1½ teaspoons Christmas Spice or mixed spice
1 tablespoon treacle
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Salted Caramel and Roast Pecan Sauce:

70g unsalted butter
100g light soft brown sugar
70g double cream
20g roasted pecan nuts – omit if you don’t like or are allergic
⅛ – ¼ teaspoon fine salt, ideally sea salt

Instructions

Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
First make the Banana Sticky Toffee Puddings: preheat the oven to Fan Oven 160°C/180°C/350°F/Gas 4
Roast the pecan nuts for both the pudding and the sauce, for 7 minutes, stirring them after 4 minutes.
Finely chop the dates.
Mash the banana.
When the nuts have cooked, remove the pecans you need for the sauce and then pulse the remainder in a mini food processor until they are finely ground.
In a large mixing bowl, weigh in all the ingredients – butter, sugar, egg, flour, baking powder, salt, spice, treacle, vanilla extract, dates, banana and pecan nuts.
Beat with an electric whisk until fully combined.
Thoroughly grease a muffin tray with butter. I use a silicone muffin tray for this. You could also cook the batter in a greased and lined 18cm/7 inch round cake tin.
Fill with the pudding batter until around 4/5 full – this quantity makes 5 individual desserts.
Cook in the centre of a preheated oven for 25 – 30 minutes or until it is cooked. If you have cooked it in an 18cm/7 inch round cake tin, it will take around 40 – 45 minutes to cook.
It is cooked when:
– the centre feels springy when lightly touched with your finger and no imprint remains
– a toothpick inserted into the centre of the sponge comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and leave to sit for 5 minutes before removing the puddings from the muffin tray.
Either serve immediately or leave to cool on a cooling rack.
Whilst the puddings are cooking, make the Salted Caramel and Roast Pecan Sauce: heat the butter and sugar in a small saucepan over a moderate heat, stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved and is mixed thoroughly with the butter.
Stir in the cream and salt and heat gently to warm through. Taste and add more salt if necessary. (Be careful it will be very, very hot.)
Chop the pecan nuts you roasted earlier and add these to the sauce just before you serve the desserts.
If you are not serving it straight away, simply pop it in the fridge when it is cool and re-heat it gently when you are ready to eat.
Serve the Puddings: If you have made the puddings in advance you will need to re-heat them You can either:
– Reheat in the microwave – a single pudding will take around 20 seconds. A few at a time may take up to a minute and will depend on how many you are warming and the strength of your microwave. Start with 20 seconds and then continue in 10 – 15 second bursts until piping hot, OR
– If you do not have a microwave, place your pudding/s in a dish, cover with foil and place in the centre of an oven preheated to Fan Oven 160°C/180°C/350°F/Gas 4 for 5 – 10 minutes or until piping hot.
– To re-heat the sauce, simply heat in a saucepan over a gentle heat and stir until heated through. Stir in the pecan nuts
Serve: the puddings in warmed serving bowls, topped with the hot sauce and some cream and/or ice cream.

Recipe Notes

Equipment:

kitchen scales and measuring spoons
mixing bowl
electric whisk
chopping board and knife
muffin tray thoroughly greased with butter. I use a silicone muffin tray for this. OR
You could also cook the batter in a greased and lined 18cm/7 inch round cake tin.

The best way to soften butter:

The best way to do this is to chop the butter into small pieces or thin slices and leave to sit at room temperature until it warms up. I allow around half an hour but in the summer, 15 minutes may be long enough.

After the butter has softened, beat it with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. The butter is now ready to use.

You can also soften butter in the microwave:

If you really do not have time to wait for 15 – 30 minutes, you can soften butter in the microwave. However, you have to very careful not to actually melt the butter, even just a little bit. Melted butter does not bond properly with sugar when you are beating it and you may end up with cookies that spread too much, and cakes and muffins which are flat and dense.

If you really have to use the microwave, chop it into cubes and microwave in 5 second bursts, stirring the butter in between each burst, until you achieve the consistency you are looking for.

Christmas Sticky Toffee Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce