Nanaimo Bars
Caution: the following recipe is only for those with a serious sweet tooth, and an equally serious disregard for nutrition in the face of pure buttery, chocolatey, sugary, and coconutty deliciousness. Sound good? Read on.
My friend Cady turned 20 today, and when it came time to pick a recipe I couldn’t help but feel that I always make the same kinds of things. Blame it on the overall dearth of special baking equipment and ingredients in the pantry that is my dorm room, my laziness, or perhaps a combination of both, but I wanted to branch out a little to something a bit more exotic. OK, so admittedly these no-bake bars aren’t that exciting, but they are incredibly easy to make and quite tasty.
So what is a Nanaimo Bar, you ask. It consists of three layers: a chocolate, graham cracker, and coconut crust on the bottom, with a somewhat custardy filling, topped with a thin layer of chocolate. Oh, and it’s served chilled. The origins of the Nanaimo Bar are slightly ambiguous, but according to Cake Spy it all began with a Nanaimo woman in Canada some fifty years ago who developed the recipe for a magazine contest. My mom used to make these quite a bit when I was a younger, and to this day I am quite partial to them. Pretty sure this is the first time I’ve made the bars myself though, which surprises me because the recipe is so simple.
Apparently now there are different variations, but below is the original and “official” one, courtesy of Cake Spy.
Nanaimo Bars:
For the crust:
- 1/2 C unsalted butter (European style – I actually splurged on this but my tastebuds aren’t discerning enough to detect any difference)
- 1/4 C granulated sugar
- 5 T unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 3/4 C graham cracker crumbs
- 1 C shredded coconut
For the filling:
- 1/2 C unsalted butter
- 2 T and 2 t cream (I used coconut creamer since that’s the only thing I had)
- 2 T vanilla pudding powder
- 2 C confectioners’ sugar
For the top layer:
- 4 oz semi sweet chocolate
- 2 T unsalted butter
To make the crust, melt together the first three ingredients in a double boiler. Add the egg and stir to cook and thicken. Mix coconut and graham cracker crumbs in. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 8 x 8 inch pan.
For the filling, cream together all ingredients until light and fluffy. Spread evenly over crust.
To make the topping, melt chocolate and butter together on stovetop or in the microwave. Let cool before spreading over filling. Chill until top layer is set.
