Alternative ingredients to bring in the new year: a vegan and gluten-free shortbread smothered in date caramel and buckwheat crepes made with browned butter

I like the challenge of taking something away from my usual line-up of ingredients. It makes me think and cook differently, and usually leads to a new (and better) way of doing things.

This millionaire’s shortbread is testament to this: it’s both vegan and gluten-free, with a date caramel that would rival any traditional one and a crisp shortbread with a snap any Bake Off contestant would be proud of. The crepes are a gluten-free classic, made with buckwheat flour and brown butter, to which I am completely addicted. Hats off to whoever first burned their butter and decided to use it anyway. As they say, imitation is the mother of creativity.

Vegan millionaire’s shortbread (pictured above)

I find normal millionaire’s shortbread too cloying and sweet. This version, which uses the sweetness of dates and has seeds and nuts for added crunch, is much more my thing. I use Doves Farm gluten-free flour, which gives the best texture for most gluten-free baking – and I have tried them all.

Prep 30 min

Cook 40 min

Set 2 hr

Makes 16 squares

For the base

150g gluten-free porridge oats

100g gluten-free flour

½ tsp cornflour

3 medjool dates, pitted

200g vegan butter

For the caramel

350g medjool dates, pitted

125ml almond milk

150g coconut oil

1 pinch salt

For the topping

250g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

1 tbsp coconut oil

30g dried sour cherries or dried cranberries

50g roughly chopped nuts (almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, pecans)

2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Flaky sea salt

Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/gas 4 and grease and line a 20cm x 20cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper. Start by making the base: blitz the oats in a food processor until you have a fine, scruffy powder. Add the remaining base ingredients, and blitz in stages until the dough just comes together into a ball. Press the dough into the tin in an even layer, then bake for 15-20 minutes, until pale golden. Leave to cool in the tin.

Put the dates, milk and oil in a saucepan and bring to a simmer for a few minutes, until the dates start to soften, then cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Once cooled, add to the same food processor (no need to wash) and blitz to a thick caramel. Add a pinch of salt.

Put the chocolate and coconut oil in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir occasionally and take off the heat just before it melts – the chocolate will finish melting in the residual heat. Stir in the sour cherries/cranberries and nuts, reserving a few for the top.

Next, dollop the caramel on to the cooled shortbread: one in the middle and four around the edges. Using a knife, spread into an even layer, then pour over the nutty chocolate, smoothing with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle the top with the remaining nuts, sesame seeds and some flaky sea salt, then put in the fridge for a couple of hours until set, then cut into squares.

• This recipe was amended on 4 January 2020 to specify that the oats used should be gluten-free and to remove oat milk as an alternative ingredient to almond milk in a gluten-free context.

Brown butter and orange buckwheat crepes

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Anna Jones’ browned butter and orange buckwheat crepes.

I haven’t been able to find a vegan butter that browns, so if you are vegan, just melt your butter (do not take it to the brown stage) and use a non-dairy yoghurt. This batter makes a good savoury pancake too – just don’t add the orange zest and fill with savoury stuff (I go for egg, gruyere, greens and red chilli).

Prep 15 min, plus resting

Cook 15 min

Makes 6

50g butter, plus extra for frying

50g buckwheat flour

50g gluten-free flour or rice flour

1 unwaxed orange, zested then peeled and sliced

150ml any milk

To serve

100g natural yoghurt

50ml honey or maple syrup

50g toasted almonds, roughly chopped



Put the butter in a small saucepan, and melt on a medium heat for three to four minutes, until foamy, golden brown and smelling sweet. Pour into a bowl to stop it browning further, then leave to cool slightly.

Sift the flours into a bowl or jug, add the orange zest, then add the milk, little by little, until you have a smooth, thick batter. Now add 150ml cold water and whisk until everything is mixed, then leave to rest for 10-15 minutes, or even overnight, if you want to make them the next morning. Once you’re ready to make the crepes, add the cooled browned butter and combine.

Put a medium-sized, nonstick frying pan on a medium heat and add a little knob of butter to melt. Once the pan is hot, add a ladleful of batter and swirl it around so you have a thin, even layer. Cook for a minute, until crisp around the edges, then flip over to crisp up the other side.

Serve warm with a dollop of natural yoghurt, a drizzle of honey or syrup, some chopped nuts and sliced orange.