Chocolate Tiffin | Easy Scottish Dessert (2024)

Have you ever had chocolate tiffin? If you have, then you know the simple deliciousness from Scotland! If you haven’t, then sit tight and begin to fall in love with this chocolate tiffin recipe…

I have this habit of afternoon coffee – every afternoon. My mom has this habit of morsels at tea time and dessert after dinner when we’re traveling.

While one of us might be able to have self-control, when we’re together, we do it all, “sharing” along the way to feel a little less guilt.

At each afternoon coffee and tea time, we select the most delicious looking goodie. At one small coffee shop in Dufftown (pronounced Duff-tun) – in the heart of Scotland’s whisky tasting country – they had tiffin. We asked what it was and instead of explaining it to us, they offered us a chocolate tiffin sample and from that moment on we were hooked…

Chocolate Tiffin

Tiffin is a chocolate morsel with cookie crumbs and dried fruit mixed in. It’s usually a combination of milk and dark chocolate. Traditionally, it’s made with tea biscuits or digestive crackers and raisins. yep, it’s that simple, but the combination of all these ingredients is far more amazing than you can imagine.

Finding variations of this, however, is normal – the most fun version was a cranberry, orange chocolate tiffin we enjoyed in Lerwick up on the Shetland Islands {that’s a fun video to watch by the way!}.

During the course of our Scotland trip, I googled and emailed myself a number of recipes, but this was always going to be the first one I made if only because of how easy it is!

Tiffin Ingredients

When I googled the tiffin recipe, one of the ingredients that stood out to me was golden syrup – corn syrup really. Trying to make the best decisions I can about what we eat, I tried to find an alternative.

Apparently you can use maple syrup, but maple syrup has a distinct flavor and I wasn’t sure the consistency would be the same. So down the rabbit hole I went.

During my research I stumbled on two things. First was this article by David Lebovitz on when to use corn syrup. He basically says that while we should avoid corn syrup (mostly because it’s just another form of sugar), some recipes need it.

Additionally, most recipes call for very little of the ingredient which is then divided by the servings. Second there are many kinds of corn syrup. Wholesome sweeteners makes a non-gmo, organic corn syrup, so that made me feel a ton better.

(side note – I found the sweetener at my local Sprouts market for $5.99 and then on sale from there. I have no idea why the Amazon price is so high!)

A No-Bake Chocolate Dessert

A few more tasty things. Most importantly, this is a super simple recipe that requires no baking, so it’s the perfect summer dessert! You can switch up the chocolate, the dried fruit, or even add chopped pecans (that’s what we’re going to do next).

Also, since it’s chocolate, it can be served with your beverage of choice. I fell in love with it with my afternoon coffee, but when we got home, Scotch seemed the perfect pairing. I think it’d be delicious with a good red wine. But if there are kids around, a big glass of milk will do just fine!

My recipe below is an American adaptation for a chocolate tiffin recipe with US measurements and ingredients that are readily available here in the States. Since things weren’t exactly the same, I was worried that it wouldn’t taste right.

When I took that first bite (13 seconds after pulling it out of the fridge), it was delicious but not exactly right. After it had come to room temperature, like how it’s served in Scotland, however, it tasted exactly as I remembered.

How to Keep Cookies Fresh?

This recipe is a great way to use up the last few cookies or dried fruit bits, but you want the ingredients to all be fresh – you’ll taste it otherwise.

If you ever have cookies, dried fruit, or nuts that aren’t getting eaten fast enough, you can easily avoid food waste by putting them in a sealed container and placing them in the freezer. Then when it’s time you enjoy them, you can simply let them come to room temperature.

The sealed container and the freezer slow down any processes that dry them out!

CHOCOLATE RECIPES

Chocolate lovers are serious about their love of chocolate – my husband is. And he’s a purest – he wants straight chocolate morsels rather than chocolate with a bunch of stuff added in!

Other favorite chocolate recipes in our house include thisMexican Chocolate Cake, theseChocolate Cinnamon Toast Crunch Bars, the best cakey brownies, and chocolate dipped figs!

Of course, you can’t skip classic seven layer bars, mini s’mores tarts, and these mini chocolate chip cookies!

And if you’re a fan of white chocolate, or know someone who is, try this white chocolate bark! The dried fruit and nuts can be swapped out to fit the season or holiday!