Chocolate Tiffin

This recipe was originally published in December 2020. It has since been updated with new images.

If you've never had one of these bars before, which in the UK is called a tiffin, it's a mixture of crushed cookies, chocolate, syrup, and is usually covered in a layer of chocolate. This Christmas chocolate tiffin recipe has a bottom layer of chocolate, ginger cookies, and orange zest. The top layer is made up of white chocolate, pistachios and dried cranberries - all the flavours of Christmas! It's also a take on my favorite Holiday treat from Pret, their Christmas tiffin.

This is a great no bake recipe to make when you don't want to turn on the oven (or don't have room!). This simple recipe is also called refrigerator cake and is perfect to gift during the holidays! Plus, you can easily customize it depending on what you like!

Why you'll love this recipe!

• This is a no bake recipe, so no need to turn on the oven.
• It's filled with so many festive flavors like ginger, orange zest, and dried cranberries.
• If you aren't a fan of those flavors, you can easily swap in your favorite cookies, dried fruit and nuts!
• This is a great recipe to make with kids since it's so easy.

Ingredients Needed

• Syrup I use golden syrup to keep the bottom layer of these no bake bars together, but you could substitute it for honey, corn syrup or maple syrup!
• Ginger Cookies crushed up a sleeve of ginger biscuits for the bottom layer, but you could also substitute it for digestive biscuits, graham crackers or whatever cookies you like.
• Chocolate this recipe uses a mix of dark chocolate and white chocolate, but if you aren't a fan of dark chocolate you could substitute it for milk chocolate.
• Pistachios & Cranberries are sprinkled on top of the white chocolate layer, but go crazy with your toppings! Sprinkles, more crushed cookies, nuts - so many options!

How to make this recipe

Step 1: Line an 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium or large saucepan, melt the butter with the golden syrup over medium-low heat. Once melted, add the chopped dark chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted completely.

Step 2: Turn off the heat and stir in the crushed cookies, orange zest and ground ginger. Mix well and then pour into your prepared pan. Press down evenly using a silicone spatula. Place in the fridge to set for 30 minutes.

Step 3: Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler. If melting in the microwave, melt in 15 second increments, stirring after each one so it doesn't burn.

Step 4: Pour the white chocolate over the chilled base layer of the tiffin bars. Sprinkle over your chopped pistachios and dried cranberries. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour before slicing into bars or into small squares.

Expert Tips & Tricks

• I always recommend using a kitchen scale when you bake, it's so easy to add too much of one ingredient if you use measuring cups and that throws off the ratio in the recipe!
• Swap out pistachios for walnuts or pecans, the dried cranberries for raisins or dried cherries and the ginger biscuits for Oreos, shortbread or any other cookie you like!
• Give the tiffin bars enough time to set before slicing up.
• I've sliced them up into long rectangular bars, but they are quite rich so I recommend slicing them up into squares if you're serving them to a crowd!