This recipe comes from one of my favorite contestants of The Great British Bake Off, Nadiya Hussain. Her take on this British treat is influenced by the American peanut butter & jelly sandwich. The mixture of chocolate and festive candies makes it a perfect treat for Valentine’s Day.
What is tiffin?
In the UK, tiffin is a layered bar sweet that doesn’t require baking. I’ve seen tiffin referenced as a no-bake traybake or fridge cake and the recipes will differ from family to family. The closest American equivalent I found is rocky road – a confection of nuts and marshmallows suspended in chocolate. While similar, tiffin contains crushed biscuits (cookies), fruit, and nuts enrobed in chocolate.
You can also find tiffin massed-produced by companies like Cadbury’s.
The combination of chocolate and dried fruit is very European. In the States it is more common to mix chocolate with nuts. My recommendation is don’t knock it until you try it. The addition of a tart dried fruit is a nice complement to the chocolate.
Modifications and adjustments
One of the nice things about tiffin is you can switch out most ingredients to items you have on hand or prefer. Swap out milk chocolate for dark. Use raisins or dried cherries instead of dried cranberries. Use strawberry jam instead of grape jelly. I’ve also used my papaya-ginger jam. Decorate with whatever you have on hand – make seasonal tiffin using Easter or Halloween candies.
The original recipe calls for digestive biscuits which are not readily available in the U.S. except in specialty shops or larger grocery stores with international aisles. And if you find them they could be pricey. Good substitutions are graham crackers or shortbread cookies (like Lorna Doones).
The point is to have fun and make something you love!
Peanut Butter & Jelly Tiffin
- Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
Description
This British no-bake dessert is adapted from the original by Nadiya Hussain. It’s a delicious combination of dark chocolate, graham crackers, peanut butter, and jelly.
Ingredients
14 ounces dark chocolate*, broken into pieces
1 1/4 cup chunky peanut butter, divided (you can also use 1 cup smooth peanut butter and add 1/4 cup roughly chopped dry-roasted peanuts)
1/2 cup grape jelly or strawberry jam
9 ounces graham crackers (about 2 sleeves or 16 double crackers)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
Pinch of salt
To decorate
Wafer cookies
Yogurt-coated pretzels
Mini-marshmallows
Colorful candy-coated chocolates
Instructions
Line a 9″ x 9″ baking pan with parchment paper.
Roughly crush the graham crackers. Pieces should be small enough so you can mix them in with other ingredients but not fine crumbs. You want to see chunks of crackers in the final product.
Place a medium-sized, heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water and melt the chocolate, being careful not to let the bowl touch the water. Once melted, stir in ½ cup of the peanut butter and all the jelly or jam.
Stir the graham cracker pieces/crumbs, cranberries, and chopped peanuts (if using smooth peanut butter) into the chocolate mixture.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and level off.** Cover and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Once set, carefully remove the tiffin from the baking tray and spread with the remaining peanut butter. Sprinkle with a little salt, then decorate with the cookies and candies.
Cut into squares and serve.
Notes
*You can use a mix of dark and milk chocolates. Adjust to your preference.
**I place a piece of wax paper on top of the mixture and level it off with my hands.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Candy
- Cuisine: British
Nutrition
- Calories: 373.17
- Sugar: 27.60 g.
- Sodium: 184.43 mg.
- Fat: 19.85 g.
- Saturated Fat: 6.53 g.
- Carbohydrates: 44.57 g.
- Fiber: 4.39 g.
- Protein: 7.25 g.
- Cholesterol: 2.08 g.
Keywords: chocolate, peanut butter, jelly
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