Gluten Free Treacle Tart

This gluten free treacle tart is the perfect autumnal dessert – sweet, sticky and perfect served warm with ice-cream.

I remember making treacle tart in food tech at school but I don’t see it too often nowadays.

It’s a shame as making a gluten free treacle tart is really easy using gluten free bread and my simple gluten free shortcrust pastry recipe.

It’s also a perfect way to use up any leftover gluten free bread which may have gone dry or stale.

Combatting food waste is super important to me and this is a great way to use up stale bread without throwing it away.

In fact, leaving your bread out for a day before baking this actually makes the treacle tart even better!

The best treacle tart recipe

Treacle tart is a traditional British dessert made of pastry with a sweet, syrupy filling.

The filling is made up of Golden Syrup, bread crumbs and lemon zest – all of which is easily made gluten free.

You can find some gluten free treacle tart recipes without breadcrumbs which use ground almonds instead.

But I went for the proper, old-school version which I love in all its simplicity.

It’s perfect served warm with a dollop of ice-cream or a cheeky slathering of custard.

And you can also enjoy it cold with a cuppa, or even freeze and leftovers to defrost and have a simple dessert on a demand.

If you’re a fun of traditional British desserts like jam roly-poly pudding, then you’ll absolutely love this gluten free treacle tart.

Making gluten free shortcrust pastry

The first part of making this gluten free treacle tart is making the gluten free pastry crust.

But don’t worry – making gluten free pastry dough is actually really easy.

I have a full step-by-step guide with photos and a video showing you exactly how to make it.

The pastry recipe has a full step-by-step guide, and you’ll want to use half the quantities to make this treacle tart.

Which means for this gluten free pastry recipe you’ll need:

• 170 g plain gluten free flour
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 medium egg
• 1-2 tsp water
• 110g unsalted butter (cold)
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• Pinch salt

For this pastry dough you’ll need a gluten free flour blend which is either a plain or All Purpose mixture.

To make the pastry you first add the dry ingredients to a bowl, and then rub in the butter using your fingertips.

Next you add the egg and water, working the pastry into a dough before chilling it.

The chilling step is really important as it stops the gluten free pastry being so sticky and helps you to roll it out easier.

I recommend rolling the pastry between two sheets of clingfilm (or baking paper) as it makes it a lot easier.

You’ll also need to blind-bake the gluten free pie crust before adding the filling, and I’ve explained this fully in the recipe card below.

Buying some baking beans can be helpful but if you don’t have them you can use dried lentils or rice instead.

Filling ingredients

There’s a full printable recipe card below, but for the shopping list you’ll need the following ingredients for the treacle tart filling:

• 150g gluten free bread
• 400g Golden Syrup
• Zest and juice of one lemon

And that’s it – this treacle tart filling really is super easy!

Any gluten free bread will work, but if it’s a little on the stale side then that’s even better.

I prefer using a white gluten free bread but you could use a brown bread if you prefer.

To make the filling you simply whizz up the bread in a food processor to make bread crumbs.

I wouldn’t recommend using pre-made gluten free bread crumbs as they won’t be as absorbent – you want to do it this way by blitzing slices of bread.

If you’re in the US, you may not be so familiar with Golden Syrup.

It’s a common baking ingredient in British baking and I believe it’s thicker than corn syrup – you’d need to try and source it or make your own.

There are quite a few recipes for Golden Syrup online like this one from International Desserts Blog, do if you’re not in the UK you can make this recipe too.

You can omit the lemon if you don’t like citrus – but I do find it cuts through the sweetness nicely.

My gluten free treacle tart recipe

This gluten free treacle tart recipe will happily feed between 8 and 12 people, depending on how hungry you all are.

Serve it up with ice-cream and enjoy it warm – or have a cold slice with a cuppa for a lovely afternoon treat.

It’s such a quick recipe to whip up when you need something sweet and it’s also a great way to combat food waste and use up leftover gluten free bread.

If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. I love seeing your bakes!

And please do leave a review to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me. 

NEED SOME MORE GLUTEN FREE Baking INSPIRATION?

Want to have a go at some of the other gluten free baking recipes on the blog?

Give some of these other gluten free bakes a try and see what you think!

There are plenty to choose from – here are a couple of easy baking tutorials to get you going:

• Jamaican Ginger Cake
• Gluten free gingerbread
• Gluten free apple pie

If you do make this recipe please let me know! I’d love to see your photos using #theglutenfreeblogger, share them in my Facebook group or tag me on Instagram. 

And if you have any recipe suggestions, please let me know in the comments what you’d like to see next!

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LIKE THIS GLUTEN FREE TREACLE TART RECIPE?

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