Chocolate tiffin is a fabulous dessert that consists of a base of crushed cookies and raisins surrounded in rich chocolate with a thick topping of melted chocolate.
It’s a Scottish recipe that’s also very popular in Britain. They sell a vegan version at an Organic Cafe that I go to and the moment I ate it for the first time I knew I had to make it for the blog!
This stuff is amazing!
Chocolate tiffin is usually made with digestive biscuits. And by the way ‘biscuit’ in Brit speak (or South African speak for that matter) means cookie!
But I’ve seen it made with shortbread and various other types of biscuit (cookie).
So I decided to make it with my shortbread cookies since I couldn’t find vegan digestives.
So just a note that if you can buy vegan shortbread cookies or vegan digestives, then you can use those if you prefer instead of making cookies from scratch.
Once you have your cookies, whether baked from scratch or store bought, putting this recipe together is the easiest thing ever and comes together in minutes.
Crush your cookies, being sure to leave some nice chunks in there too. I found the food processor made the cookie crumbs too fine, I wanted to have more chunky pieces, so I tried putting the cookies into a ziplock bag and then rolling over it with the pestle from a mortar and pestle (but a rolling pin would also work great here) to crush the cookies but still leave some good chunks in there. This worked perfectly.
Then you just melt together some vegan butter, syrup, brown sugar and cocoa powder. When it’s all melted into a thick chocolate sauce, you add the crushed shortbread cookies together with some raisins. Stir in so that everything is coated, and then pour out into a loaf pan.
Put it into the fridge to set and when set, melt some chocolate and pour it over the top. Let that set, and then slice it up into squares and you have chocolate tiffin!
I used parchment paper held in place by some handy pegs, which made it really easy to lift the whole block out of the loaf pan.
And then a heated knife (heated by dipping in boiling water from the kettle and then dried off with a paper towel) lets you slice the tiffin neatly into squares.
This chocolate tiffin is very rich, my squares were really quite huge considering how rich a dessert this is.
So you could cut smaller squares if you’re not as well trained in the art of dessert eating. 
You will love this chocolate tiffin, it is:
- Rich
- Chocolatey
- Crunchy
- Packed with shortbread cookies and raisins in delicious chocolate!
- Super easy
Keep your tiffin squares in the fridge as the chocolate will melt if they’re left out.
So what do you think of this chocolate tiffin recipe? Let me know in the comments.
If you make this, let me know how it turned out! And if you take any pics, tag me #lovingitvegan on instagram so I get to see them!
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Chocolate Tiffin
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Vegan Shortbread Cookies (226g) Homemade or Store Bought
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- ¼ cup Golden Syrup (60ml) or Maple Syrup
- 2 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar
- ¼ cup Cocoa Powder (21g) Unsweetened
- 3.5 ounces Raisins (100g) Small, Seedless
- 7 ounces Vegan Chocolate (200g)
Instructions
- Crush the shortbread cookies by placing them into a ziplock bag and rolling over them with a rolling pin or pestle so that they are crumbly but still have some chunks remaining.
- Then add the vegan butter, syrup, sugar and cocoa powder to a pot or saucepan.
- Heat up stirring gently until it melts into a thick hot chocolate sauce.
- Turn off the heat and add the crushed shortbread and the raisins. Stir so that everything is well covered in chocolate.
- Pour out into a 9x5 parchment lined loaf pan and smooth down with a spoon. Place into the fridge to set.
- Once set, melt the chocolate in the microwave by heating for 30 second intervals and then stirring until it's completely melted. Pour over the top of the tiffin base and smooth down with the back of a spoon.
- Return to the fridge and allow to set completely before slicing into squares.
Notes
- If you're making my vegan shortbread cookies recipe, then you can just use all of them in the tiffin.
- Prep time does not include baking the shortbread cookies (if you're baking them from scratch), or time spent setting in the fridge.
This recipe looks and sounds amazing, I can’t wait to try it! I may have missed it, but what size tin should i use for this?
Thank you
Hi Sarah, it’s a 9×5 loaf pan. 🙂
Great, thanks! I don’t think I have that size pan, but I guess as it doesn’t get baked in the oven, I could use anything!
Hi Sarah, yes you could really use any pan, so long as it doesn’t spread the tiffin too thin. 🙂
Delicious! We used Pure for our vegan butter, which must have been a bit too soft as they didn’t set initially. Adding some dark chocolate helped them set perfectly though.
My partner and I aren’t vegan, but this recipe sounded amazing so we tried it. Oh my, it was so, so good!! We used your shortbread cookie recipe as well and they’re also amazing!! The only substitution I made was using regular butter instead of vegan. It’s our new favorite dessert!! Loved it!!
Wonderful! Thanks so much Joyce!
I make these about once a month since I discovered the recipe. I find that I need to measure the syrup carefully or the base is super sticky. I wish I could find vegan mini marshmallows so I could add those too!
By the way, Scotland is in Britain – did you mean it’s a Scottish recipe that’s also popular in England?
So glad you enjoyed them Ginette! And yes, that is what I meant! 🙂
I made these with vegan freefrom chocolate, mix of two flavours and the biscuit with vegan homemade shortbread, chocolate is hard great@ but the base was so gooey and soft when cutting, how long does it take for base to go really hard? Very sweet lol great recipe thank you 🙂
Hi Julie, I’m not sure if that has something to do with the brand of vegan butter used that it doesn’t want to set super firm. Ours did set well so that’s my best guess because vegan butters can be very variable.
Just made this and it was wonderful! I replaced the raisins with bourbon biscuits (oops) and added a bit of soya milk to the chocolate so it wouldn’t be so hard. Worked a treat, thank you!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Bethany!
Great recipe! I made the shortbread cookies from your recipe and I had to resist eating the lot before making the Tiffin!
I made one substitute – agave in place of the golden syrup. The base is super soft so I wonder if that’s because of the substitution or if that’s just the way it’s supposed to be!
Hi Scarlett! It isn’t supposed to be super soft at all, I’m not sure how much of a difference the syrup would have made though. Hope it’s still delicious!
“It’s a Scottish recipe that’s also very popular in Britain”.
Welllll…..this is awkward! 😀
Comedic geopolitical gaff aside, the recipe is a great starting place for experimentation.
For the chocolate topping, i’ve used a mix of plain dark chocolate and orange flavoured chocolate, and holy God that came out fantastic.
Haha not sure what you mean! This is according to the internets! ???? I did also live in Britain. But anyway – glad you enjoyed the recipe and that does sound good! 🙂
I have made the chocolate tiffens … gorgeous… how long will they keep in the fridge…or should I freeze them???? I need them for a party in a weeks time!!!
Hi Sue, probably better to freeze them if you want them to be great in a weeks time. They would probably be fine that long in the fridge, but not at their absolute best. So glad you like them! 🙂
Could you do raisins and dried cranberries instead of just raisins? Thanks!
Yes! That would be great! 🙂
The recipe is simple and delicious, so much so that I have already made it three times in about a month. I strongly recommend it.
Haha so pleased to hear that Mel! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Made these this week to give to my Church staff team (some vegan people and some not) and they loved them! Great recipe, thank you!
Wonderful! Thanks so much for posting! 🙂
This is a wonderful recipe – I’ve made it a few times now, and added other things like cherries and chocolate chips. It never lasts long when I take it into work! Everyone loves it!
Awesome! Love your additions! 🙂
I just tried making this – it looked so good and easy. For the most part it was, but the amount of the “sauce” wasn’t enough for the amount of cookies. So it doesn’t really cut into proper squares, it’s too crumbly for that. But it still tastes good! I’ll definitely make it again, and either use less cookies or make more of the sauce.
Hi Nancy! That’s so weird, did you use shortbread cookies or digestives? Glad to hear it still tastes good though! 🙂
Hi – I used vegan ‘petit beurre’ cookies (options are limited where I live). I used the 250 grams the recipe called for. Would the type of cookie make a difference like that?
No matter – this recipe is a keeper!
Hi Nancy, I wouldn’t have thought so before, but maybe so! Maybe that type of cookie absorbs more of the sauce so more is needed (or less cookies). That is just a guess though! Thanks for posting, it’s helpful info!
This is a must!
Indeed is a must ! I might try it tomorrow as our Sunday dessert 🙂