Nanaimo Bars
Nanaimo bars are a three layer, easy to make no bake dessert recipe originating in Canada. Add this one to your own personal recipe book. You'll use it over and over again.
Equipment
- 8" square baking pan
Ingredients
First Layer Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cocoa
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups graham cracker crumbs, (measure lightly)
- 3/4 cup coconut
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped, (or pecans or almonds)
Second Layer Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup butter
- 3 cups icing sugar
- 3 tablespoons custard powder
- 3 tablespoons hot water
Top Layer Ingredients:
- 2 squares unsweetened chocolate
- 2 1/2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
To Make the First Layer:
- Place butter, sugar and cocoa in top of double boiler, stir until very smooth. Add egg and vanilla. Remove from heat. Add cracker crumbs, coconut and nuts. (You may find that you usually end up using your hands to mix in dry ingredients. That's just fine.)
- Spread the base mixture in an 8 inch square pan and pack it down. Place it in the refrigerator while preparing the second layer.
To Make the Second Layer:
- Mix together all of the ingredients for this step. Cream them until the mixture is lighter in color (an electric mixer works well for this). Spread the custard mixture on top of first layer and return it to the fridge.
To Make the Top Layer:
- Melt the butter and chocolate together, making sure you don't burn the chocolate. Slowly pour this mixture over the second layer of the Nanaimo bars, tipping the pan back and forth to make sure it is all covered evenly. Return the bars to the fridge.
- Cool for 30 minutes before slicing into squares.
Notes
Here's a great tip:
The top chocolate and butter mixture can sometimes get hard in the fridge. To make sure the squares cut cleanly you can score them before you pop them into the fridge for the final cool down. By score I mean make cuts exactly where you will be cutting the squares once they are cooled. This will help to avoid cracking the chocolate layer when cutting the Nanaimo bars into slices later. You will have squares with nice clean edges.
The top chocolate and butter mixture can sometimes get hard in the fridge. To make sure the squares cut cleanly you can score them before you pop them into the fridge for the final cool down. By score I mean make cuts exactly where you will be cutting the squares once they are cooled. This will help to avoid cracking the chocolate layer when cutting the Nanaimo bars into slices later. You will have squares with nice clean edges.
Nutrition
Calories: 369kcalCarbohydrates: 47gProtein: 3gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 49mgSodium: 247mgPotassium: 134mgFiber: 2gSugar: 31gVitamin A: 389IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 36mgIron: 2mg
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