There are two three many things I miss about Canada; My friends, Tim Horton’s coffee, Montréal Smoked Meat Sandwiches, and the ubiquitous presence of Nanaimo bars at every donut shop and coffee house in the country. Every once in a wonderful while, a friend will send me a tin of Tim Horton’s coffee. My husband even had a tin shipped in for my birthday one year when I was feeling particularly homesick. But I had not had the gustatory pleasure of biting in to a lusciously sweet, decadently rich Nanaimo bar in over 5 years. FIVE YEARS. This was not an acceptable situation, and it needed to be addressed ASAP.
I consulted my bestest internet friend, Google, who gave me a whole whack of Nanaimo Bar recipe ideas (about 80,600 in 0.22 seconds). I settled on this one. This recipe comes to us via Joyce Hardcastle and the City of Nanaimo, British Columbia’s website. It is the 1986 Ultimate Nanaimo Bar recipe contest winner. So it has to be the really, really, REALLY official best recipe, right?
One of the few changes I made to the recipe was to reverse a step and add the hot cocoa and butter mixture to the beaten egg for the bottom layer. When I added the egg to the hot mixture, it cooked and curdled on me. Twice. I may have been a bit peeved. If you can make it happen, by all means go for it!
I’m sorry, I tried. Despite my best efforts in Lightroom, but there was just no way to make this picture of the bottom layer look more appetizing. It is what it is, folks. Just keep repeating to yourself “Chocolate, almonds and coconut, oh my”. It worked for me, almost.
The recipe calls for “Vanilla Custard Powder”, for which I substituted vanilla pudding. I did this because I have no idea what “Vanilla Custard Powder” is, nor do I have any idea where I might find it. A quick search of the baking sections of my two favorite grocery stores produced zip. Rather than bang my head on my cutting board in frustration, I just moseyed on over to the pudding section and grabbed me a box of vanilla pudding. I suggest you do the same. It’ll work just fine, I promise.
As for the origins of this tasty treat, according to legend and the City of Nanaimo, British Columbia’s website, “about 35 years ago, a Nanaimo housewife entered her recipe for chocolate squares in a magazine contest. In a burst of civic pride, she chose to dub the entry not “Daphne’s Delights” or “Mary’s Munchies”, but “Nanaimo Bars”. The entry won a prize, thereby promoting the town as much as her cooking.”
If this brief explanation doesn’t satisfy your curiosity, you can take a gander at the exhaustive (and I really do mean ex-HAUS-tive) dissertation on the origins and history of the Nanaimo bar at practicallyedible.com.
As for me, I’m not nearly as concerned with where they come from as I am about where they end up, which is on my plate.
Before you settle in with a cup of tea to read that Nanaimo bar novel over at practicallyedible.com, I would suggest that you take a peak at a lovely little corner of the internet called Mangos, Chili and Z, which just happens to belong to an even lovelier lady by the name of Lea Ann.
She recently did me the honor of asking me to be her first interviewee (interviewie? Interviewe?) for a new segment she will be doing called “Just Grilled”. I don’t know why she picked me. I don’t think she’s had any recent head trauma… But hey, you can always just breeze through the interview real fast and scroll on to the great recipes and wonderful writing that is her blog!
Nanimo Bars
Adapted from Joyce HardcastleBottom Layer
½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
¼ cup sugar
5 tbsp cocoa powder
1 egg, beaten
1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup coconut
Combine the butter, sugar and cocoa powder in a double boiler and heat until melted. Slowly drizzle the hot mixture into the beaten egg, whisking constantly until thickened. Stir in the graham cracker crumbs, almonds, and coconut. Press the mixture firmly into an ungreased 8″ x 8″ baking pan.Middle Layer
½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3 tbsp whipping cream
2 tbsp vanilla pudding powder
2 cups icing sugar
Cream together the butter, cream, vanilla pudding powder and icing sugar until light. Spread over bottom layer.Top Layer
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler over low heat. Once cool but still liquid, pour over middle layer and chill in refrigerator until set, about an hour.
Cut into squares using a knife dipped in hot water. For easier (and neater!) pieces, dip the pan very briefly in hot water and then turn out onto a plate. Flip over using a second plate and cut into squares.
Oh and PS: This is my entry for ‘A Sweet Celebration‘ hosted by ‘Fun & Food Cafe‘. 
Do you have to use Almonds? Could you use another nut? Like walnuts? Maybe pecans? Thanks =]
Walnuts would be perfect, and they are actually quite traditional in this recipe. I can’t see why any nut wouldn’t work just as well, since they are ground up anyway
The earliest recipes I’ve seen, from the 1950s, actually call for walnuts. Almonds seems to be a later variation.
You may also see Nanaimo bars referred to as New York Slices, Parksville Squares, and Duncan Bars.
Hi. Congrats on winning the sweet celebration at fun n food cafe. The bars look absolutely great.
Do drop by whenever time permits.
I google tonight looking for recipes for butternut squash and found your soup..but say Nanaimo bars and had to check it out. I laughed when I read that these were originally from the Companies Cookbook lol. Too funny..I have one of the original cookbooks from the first printing of that series. Very well used too!
I am originally from Saskatchewan, and now live in Alberta. I have been married for over 34 yrs and have been making these all my life. My mother made them before me and I believe she learned from her mom how to make them. We have always made them with walnuts in the base and used Birds custard in the center. They were usually made as a “celebration” square for Christmas and Easter and birthdays too.
Your version looks delicious too!
You have a great site here and I have bookmarked it so I can come back and read more.
The vanilla custard powder they refer to may be Bird’s Eye custard powder. It is a British staple and can be found at places like World Market and places like it.
I am finally making these for tea today. Yay! As for custard powder – if you’re still going to look for it at the Indian Asian Store, I found one called “Ahmed Foods”. Gd luck!
I am beginning to feel like a blog stalker…but thought I’d like to update you with how it went. My whole family loved it. I’ve updated it on my blog and linked you. Thanks!
You can find vanilla custard powder at Publix grocery stores if you don’t have a Publix near you, try going online and look up Bird’s Custard. That might help you out. It’s an English product.
these are huge choco bars
How do you cut nanaimo bars without thecustard squishing out? The chocolate doesn’t crack so that’s o.k. – but the middle squishes!
Make sure the bars are chilled for a good while in the refrigerator. I had mine in a for a few hours. Then you need to use a very thin knife to slice them. If you can get the bars out of the dish they are in, they slice even better. I usually sacrifice the first piece, they I can pry out the whole thing. It also helps if you run your knife under hot water (make sure to dry it well) before you slice.
To cut into Nanaimo Bars without cracking the top layer of chocolate, refrigerate bars until the top chocolate layer is firm — about an hour. Take two knives, and put them in a measuring jug filled with very hot water (pick one stable enough that won’t tip over.) Take the squares out of the fridge. Do a few cuts with one knife, then put it back in the hot water, take the second one out, do a few more cuts, put it back in the hot water, and repeat until you have it all completely cut into squares. http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/pages/nanaimobars
I have the original recipe from my girlhood in Vancouver in the 70s… chopped walnuts were in the base, and Bird’s Imported English custard style pudding mix is what you’re after for the icing layer. Frankly, it’s the Bird’s that makes this confection so unique and memorable.
Hi! Do you know if there is something else I can use instead of the vanilla pudding powder? I am neither from the US or Britain and have yet to see Bird’s Custard powder..
Hi,Bird’s custard powder is readily available in most major grocery stores (at least here in BC)in the baking section. If you don’t see it just ask somebody.
I’m Canadian and have been making these since I was a kid. If you want to make them really “WOW” omit the cream from the custard filling and substitute the liqueur of your choice. My favorites are Bailey’s Irish Cream and Frangelico (a hazelnut liqueur).
You definitely should try the custard powder. All of the other variations just don’t come close!
OH YUM! I grew up in Nanaimo and these look just like the ones we used to buy at our local coffee shop that made them from scratch! I’d love to feature them on my site, http://www.canigettherecipe.com with full credits and links back to you if you are keen! You can contact me at carisnell@shaw.ca Looking forward to hearing from you!
I believe the original recipe (I’ve been eating these since the 50’s) called for unsweetened chocolate on the top at least that’s how everyone I knew made them…. It cuts the sweetness of the bars and is absolutely delicious as you bite through the dark chocolate, into the sugary centre, then into the slightly crunchy bottom. Use bittersweet chocolate if you want a compromise – something dark is really the way to go! Try it, you’ll love it!!
What a great idea Carol. You’re right; I bet a good bittersweet chocolate would really work well with the sweetness of the other layers. I’m going to have to give that a try the next time I make it. Thanks for the suggestion!