50 First Dates: Sticky Toffee Cookies
Recipe 7/50
50 First Dates is a spin off on my Ramadan series, Date Of The Day, where I’ll be sharing 50 date based recipes that are easy to make! Because dates are not just for Ramadan.
If you want more Date recipes, mainly stuffed dates, check out my Date Of The Day book:
- E-book
- Hard copy: Ingram Spark & Amazon
Paying subscribers (only $5.99 a month) get all the recipes, as well as my archive date based recipes and a big virtual hug because I really appreciate you.
HI Y’ALL I’M BACK. On Substack, but also in Texas. 2024 me had decided in 2025 I’ll have one base, and instead of doing that, I ineffectively added one more. Dallas, London and now Dubai… it got me. More on that later, but while I wasn’t writing about dates, I sure was cooking with them. Almost 40 kgs (that’s 88 lbs) in 3 months.
Around 10kgs went into making a very delicious date spread - my very first date based product - Sticky Toffee Date Spread. I started developing this spread in January 2024, and finally released it in March 2025 with Eat ME, a Dubai based marketplace I helped build. It was well received, and sold out, and now that I’m in the US I can finally make a batch for US date lovers! It’ll be a limited amount, but if you’d like to place a pre-order, do so HERE :)
Sticky Toffee Cookies
Yield: about 14–16 cookies
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10–12 minutes
Cool Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: about 45 minutes
Now, onto the cookies! This recipe has a few alterations
1. The Best: making the dough from scratch and using my Sticky Toffee Date Spread.
2. The Quickest: buying pre made cookie dough and stuffing with Sticky Toffee Date Spread.
3. The ‘Sold Out’: Since I’m only selling a small batch, this version is the alternate for using my Sticky Toffee Date Spread (see below). It’s not the same, but still delicious!
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups (160g) all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp fine sea salt
½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (100g) light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Optional add-ins:
⅓ cup chopped dates
⅓ cup caramel chips
Sticky Toffee Date Spread (for stuffing)*
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate large bowl, cream the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes).
Beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth. Add in the egg yolk and beat once more.
Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined. If using, fold in chopped dates or caramel chips at this stage.
Scoop about 1 heaping tablespoon of dough and flatten slightly in your hand.
Divide it in two, and slight flatten and indent one (video for reference), and stuff with about 1 tsp of Sticky Toffee Date Spread (see below for alternate, albeit not as good 😉).
Top with another small piece of dough and seal the edges fully to hide the filling inside.
Repeat with the remaining dough and place cookies spaced a few inches apart on the baking sheet.
Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are golden and the centers are still soft.
Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Optional, but recommended: Sprinkle flaky salt over the cookies while still warm.
*No Sticky Toffee Date Spread?
If you don't have my spread yet, you can improvise by:
Mixing a thick date syrup or caramel sauce with a spoonful of caramel until thick enough to scoop. Won’t be the same, but good enough :)
Notes:
If your dough feels too soft, chill it for 15 minutes before stuffing.
Warm them up before eating - it’s extra delicious with ice cream.
Get Your Sticky Toffee Date Spread
👉 Fill in this form
👉 I’ll contact you right before making your jar
👉 Shipping out next week, US-only.
(Small batch, once they’re gone, they’ll take a few months to return!)
ENJOY!
- Ayesha
Okay I need to make these ASAP!!