The ultimate indulgent vegan sticky date pudding served with a generous drizzle of caramel sauce. This is the classic recipe you know and love just made dairy and egg free!
This is one of the all time, most popular recipes on Eight Forest Lane and was originally published on the 5th of September 2016. I thought it was about time to update the photos and make sure the recipe was clear, but with heaps of positive reviews, I know this is still going to be the pudding you know and love!
Sticky date pudding reminds me of when I was a kid. I’m not sure if mum made it often or if I just remember it that way because we would request it for pretty much every special occasion. We were a family that always had dessert, and I loved that. Sticky date pudding is rich, sweet and warming.
It is exactly what a dessert is meant to be. And it is exactly what we have here today.
There are a few foods that I kind of just gave up on when I realised it was dairy that was making me so sick. Caramel was one of those foods. Sweet, creamy, sticky caramel. Recently I have decided that I don’t want to be restricted by what I cannot eat. I really should be looking for creative ways to eat what I want. And I really wanted to eat a sticky date pudding!
I have definitely started to notice more of a trend towards allergy-friendly baking and acknowledgements of people who have different food restrictions, be it by choice or otherwise. I have started taking notice of food which is labelled as vegan as it means I can be sure it will be dairy-free. Vegan options are becoming more and more available. This is something I wanted to incorporate into my baking, making it more available for all dietary restrictions.
A little while back I came across a recipe from Contentedness Cooking that used a caramel made from coconut milk, coconut oil, and coconut blossom sugar. I tested it out and it was amazing. Instantly I knew this was going to be my staple caramel and I was excited to begin to try all the different recipes that I had been avoiding that used heavy cream as their caramelly base.
One Saturday I found myself looking in the cupboard thinking of what I would make. I knew I wanted something with caramel, then I noticed the packet of dates I had bought on impulse without any real purpose. It was time to try a sticky date pudding!
How to make vegan sticky date pudding
Straight away I did a bit of searching around to see what was out there in terms of vegan sticky date pudding recipes and there really wasn’t many. I already knew I would be making the caramel using coconut oil and coconut blossom sugar so I decided to substitute these in rather than the usual butter and brown sugar. The flavour of coconut blossom sugar is fantastic. I find it gives such a rich caramel flavour without being too sickly sweet which was just perfect for this occasion!
To make the pudding, you start by softening the dried dates in warm water with bicarbonate soda. Whatever you do, do not throw away this water as you will need it to make the pudding.
Save the water and use a food processor to chop up the dates into a chunky paste.
Mix together the melted coconut oil and coconut blossom sugar, add in the chopped dates, followed by the date water and the flour. Whisk together until a batter forms either by hand or with a stand mixer.
Pour the batter into a 20 cm square pan and bake in a moderate oven for about 35 minutes. To serve cut into squares.
Make your caramel by adding all of the ingredients into a small saucepan and boiling until a thick caramel forms. You need to make sure you are watching and whisking this occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn or boil over. For this reason, make sure your saucepan has nice tall sides.
Serve the pudding straight away with a generous amount of the caramel and a scoop of ice-cream if you are feeling super indulgent.
This vegan sticky date pudding is sweet, soft, and so very rich which is exactly what a sticky date pudding should be right? As an added bonus this recipe is so easy to make, I am sure this dessert will become a regular crowd pleaser at your house. You definitely don’t need to be vegan to appreciate how delicious this pudding actually is, but it’s great to finally have a recipe that allows non-dairy eaters to indulge in a little (ok, a lot) of caramel.
If you do make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and rating below! And tag any of your creations on Instagram with #eightforestlane as I would love to see.
Vegan Sticky Date Pudding With Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
For The Pudding
- 2 cups dates
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 3/4 cup coconut blossom sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut oil melted
- 1 tsp vanilla
For The Caramel Sauce
- 3/4 cup coconut blossom sugar
- 1 x 400ml can coconut milk
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch salt to taste
Instructions
For The Pudding
- Preheat oven to 180°C and prepare a 20cm (8 inch) square baking pan with a light spray of cooking oil and baking paper.
- Add dates, boiling water and bicarb soda in a bowl and set aside for 15 minutes until dates have softened.
- If your coconut is solid, soften it in the microwave for 30 seconds before then adding it to a large bowl. Add in coconut blossom sugar and whisk together.
- Once the dates are soft, strain and save the water. Finely chop up dates using a food processor or bullet blender before adding to mixture.
- To the sugar and coconut oil mixture, add sifted flour and the water from the dates. Using an electric hand held mixer, beat everything together until well combined.
- Add in chopped dates and mix until smooth.
- Pour mixture into a prepared baking tray and place in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
For The Caramel Sauce
- In a small saucepan on high, add coconut oil, coconut blossom sugar and coconut milk. Using a whisk, slowly stir until mixture comes to the boil.
- Turn down heat and continue to stir for 15 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken and become a darker caramel colour. Add a pinch of salt to taste. The mixture will still be runny but will continue to thicken after you take it off the heat.
- Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before generously drizzling the caramel sauce over the pudding.
Notes
Want more vegan dessert recipes? Try these:
Vegan Chocolate Rose Cupcakes
Cookies & Cream Cupcakes (Vegan)
One Bowl Vegan Chocolate Cake
Vegan Brownies
No-Bake Chocolate Tart (Vegan)
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Pascale says
Hi Sally 😊
Could I replace the flour for Gluten Free self raising?
Also how do you think this would go in a load pan, round pan and muffin pan?
Thank you
Sally says
I haven’t tried using gluten free flour in this, but I would imagine it would work fine. You may just have a slightly denser cake and that wouldn’t be bad with this recipe. Many readers have baked this in a loaf pan with good results. If you do change the pan size, just make sure you alter the cooking time as this will vary. Hope you enjoy!
Guin says
What type of dates do you use – dried or Medjool? What size cake pan do you recommend?
Sally says
Hi Guin. I use regular dried dates as they are soaked before using. And I use a 20cm square pan. Thanks!
Snigdha Gupta says
Hi Sally,
I made this recipe as is, only left the caramel sauce out.
Its perfect, beautiful texture and flavour. I added a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg and it tasted amazing.
Maybe next time, I’ll reduce the sugar in the cake and make the caramel sauce.
Sticky date pudding is one of my favourite desserts, thank you for creating a great easy to follow recipe 🙂
Sally says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Morgan Tucker says
Can you use maple syrup to replace coconut sugar in pudding and sauce??
Sally says
Hi Morgan. We have never tried this so cannot say how it will turn out. My first thought is that if you wanted to try, you may need to reduce the other liquids as you would be replacing a dry ingredient with a liquid and this may impact the texture of both, but let me know if you do try it.
Vineeta Gogia says
Hi instead of coconut oil what can we sub ? Can we use the same recepie for a large batch and increase it 6 times
Sally says
Hi Vineeta! Canola oil would work as a replacement in the pudding itself, but I wouldn’t recommend that in the caramel. For the caramel, I would use a vegan butter substitute if you really wanted to replace the coconut oil. Note that I have not done this myself, so let me know if you do try! As for increasing the recipe by 6x, I have never done that so the only thing I would say is be careful when dealing with that much mixture as to not over-mix.
Mari says
Excited to try this recipe as my first foray into dairy free cooking for a friend! Would u mind explaining using the coconut blossom sugar vs. brown sugar? Thank you so much
Sally says
Hi Mari, coconut blossom sugar is unrefined compared to brown sugar. It therefore is low GI and contains several nutrients that brown sugar does not. I find it has a rich caramel flavour that works perfectly in this dessert, which is why I use it.
Rowena Bucklow says
Oooh this looks really good. You mention about fridge storage – do you think I could freeze the pudding and / or the sauce?
Sally says
Thanks Rowena. Sure, you could definitely freeze the pudding. Just wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months, defrost in the fridge overnight or on the kitchen bench. You can then reheat slices in the microwave if you want 🙂 For the caramel sauce, no, I wouldn’t freeze it as it could cause it to crystallise and change the texture.
Lillie says
This recipe is incredible made it for a bunch of none vegans and they loved it. I haven’t had sticky date since going vegan and his was so incredible thank you so much!!!!
Sally says
Thanks so much for your comment Lillie, I am so happy to hear everyone loved it 🙂
Michelle hughes says
Absolutely delicious ! I used brown sugar because I didn’t have coconut sugar. I also added 1/2 a teaspoon of ginger powder – yum yum yum.
Sally says
Sounds great Michelle! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Dana says
I don’t have any coconut sugar for the Carmel sauce – would date sugar work?
Sally says
Hi Dana. I haven’t used date sugar myself but as I understand it has a similar flavour profile so should yield a similar result. The only thing to consider is as date sugar is made from the fruit, it may not dissolve 100%. This however shouldn’t effect the taste. Let me know how you go.
Dee says
HI, just wondering what size can of coconut milk please ? thank you
Sally says
Hi Dee! Just a standard 400ml can.
Emily S says
This was awesome, I’m so glad that I chose to follow this recipe for my first sticky date pudding. I made this recipe without any oil and instead of the caramel I used custard. It was amazing. Thank you so much!
Sally says
So glad you loved it Emily!
Lisa says
Hi Sally! I’m so excited to make this! Just wondering though for the pudding how much coconut oil is actually needed? (There’s no cup or table spoon measurement). Thank you!! 😊
Sally says
Hi Lisa, thank you so much for letting me know about that typo! It is 1/2 cup of coconut oil in it’s liquid state. This gives the pudding its beautiful soft, sticky texture. I have updated the recipe as well for future 🙂 I hope you love it!
Lisa says
Thanks Sally, I thought so 🙂 I just made it this afternoon!!! It was sooooo delicious, I’m recommending it to everyone hehe. And you’re right it’s so beautiful and soft 😀
Sally says
Glad you loved it as much as I did Lisa! Thanks 🙂
Bryanna Modolo says
Wow! I never thought such delicious caramelly goodness could be vegan friendly. This melt-in-the-mouth sticky date pudding had me licking the plate clean! 😍
Sally says
Thanks so much Bryanna! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Annette says
Delicious recipe – couldn’t take photo as it was eaten too fast
Sally says
So glad you enjoyed it!