Diana’s Holiday Bake-A-Long Week 6: Nanaimo Bars

I’ll admit: I have been pretty confident in my bakes thus far. They have all turned out pretty much exactly how I anticipated on the first try.

So when I arrived at this week’s “bake”, Nanaimo Bars (which aren’t technically a bake since there’s no oven or actual baking involved), I was also confident that these too would go to plan. That was not the case. In fact, I had to start these three times to get them the way I wanted. In my family, nanaimo is a holiday staple, and I was determined to get these right.

The original recipe’s instructions were to combine the base ingredients in a saucepan, so I did… and it separated. Next.

The initial recipe I used was the family recipe from a friend, and I suspect there were some important tips and tricks left out, because that’s how all grandmas write recipes — so that they’re the only ones that can make them the right way.

The results of trial #2. The taste was okay, and my husband will still eat them all, but I was unhappy with the custard — still runny after setting in the freezer.

Through some trial and error, and consulting other online recipes, I think I figured out the way I will continue to make these in the future, and the recipe I will pass on to you:

Nanaimo Bars Recipe
Ingredients:
Base:
3/4 cup (a stick and a half) unsalted butter, melted, and brought to room temp
1/4 cup white sugar
5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 egg (room temp, if possible)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup. coconut (I used sweetened, shredded)
3/4 cup graham crumbs
Pinch of salt

“Custard”:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
5 tbsp. heavy cream
2 tbsp. vanilla pudding powder (I used Jell-O pudding mix)
2 cups icing sugar

Topping:
3 oz. dark chocolate (I used a combo of Lindt 70% and Ghiradelli 60%, as that’s what I had on hand. Semi-sweet chocolate chips would probably work in a pinch)
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
Salt (to taste — use sea salt if you got it, kosher salt works fine too)

Instructions:
Base:
1. Mix sugar, cocoa powder, coconut, graham crumbs, and salt together.
2. Add (melted, room temp) butter to dry mix and stir until combined. Add egg and vanilla and combine.
3. Press evenly into a prepared 8×8″ pan and chill for at least 10-15 min.

“Custard”:
1. Cream together butter, cream, and pudding powder. Gradually add icing sugar a bit at a time until smooth.
2. Spread out over base and chill for at least 15 min.

Topping:
1. Melt chocolate and butter together (I did it in the microwave in 30-sec increments, stirring in between each increment), and spread over the custard layer. Sprinkle salt over top and chill completely, 2-3 hours, before cutting into squares. Store in the freezer for maximum deliciousness.