Mom’s Nanaimo Bars

Nanaimo Bars are a classic Canadian Christmas dessert. The holidays wouldn't be the same without them. This is my mom's recipe and it is less sweet than most. That's a good thing! They are made with a chocolate graham cracker, coconut, and walnut crust then topped with a layer of buttery custard and chocolate. They're amazing!

It's Christmas baking season! Christmas cookies! Christmas bars! Christmas sweet everything!

And yes, I did just use four exclamation marks in a row. In case you didn't notice, I'm a bit excited.

The first time I shared my mom's Nanaimo bar recipe with you was back in December 2011, a few months after I started this blog. It was my favorite Christmas baking recipe then, and six years later, it's still my fav.

I'm bringing these babies back for Throw Back Thursday (the 28th #tbt post!) partly because I really want you to make them (you won't regret it!) and partly because it gave me an excuse to make a couple of batches. ← Truth!

This classic Canadian treat made by smothering a graham cracker, coconut, and walnut crust with lightly sweet and buttery custard and topping that with chocolate. If you haven't made my mom's recipe before, can you promise me you will this year? You will love it!

(BTW: if you want to see the first pics I took of these Nanaimo bars, I've hidden them a few photos down.)

The first step is making the base. You'll want to melt some butter and whisk some cocoa powder, sugar, and an egg into that. (The heat from the melted butter cooks the egg.) Then you'll stir in some graham crackers crumbs, coconut, and walnuts until you have a thick batter.

That batter gets pushed into a baking pan to form the crust.

Step 1 = done!

The next step is making the middle custard layer. If you can put things into a bowl and mix them together using electric beaters (or a stand mixer, if you're one of the lucky devils who has one), then you can make this.

You want to make sure the butter is nice and soft, which can be a little challenging if your house is winter chilly. I like to cut the butter into cubes and put it in the bowl I'll use to make the custard. Then I put that bowl into my oven with the oven light on (don't turn on the oven!) and let the butter stay there a while. The heat from the oven light will soften the butter without melting it. If you don't have a cold house, you can leave the butter on your counter.

My mom always used Bird's Custard Powder in her Nanaimo bars, and I've done the same. It's that stuff in the red, yellow, and blue box tin that looks like the branding hasn't changed since 1952. The ingredients are simply: cornstarch, salt, color (annatto, a natural color), and flavor (vanilla). If you can't find it, you could substitute corn starch, a tiny pinch of salt, and some vanilla. But for ‘authentic' Nanaimo bars, do see if you can find it.

The final step is the chocolate. I got in the habit of buying dark Callebaut chocolate in bulk when I had my supper club, so that's what I use. My mom always used Bittersweet Baker's Chocolate. You can use chocolate chips in a pinch, but they will make the chocolate a lot sweeter.

You'll want to melt the chocolate with some butter in a pot over low heat. Don't rush this step; funny things happen to chocolate that melts at too high a temperature. Put the chocolate on right after you put the custard in the fridge to set, that way you won't feel rushed. Put the chocolate and butter in a pot and turn on the element to the lowest heat. Then walk away for a while. Trust me on this one.

When the chocolate has melted and the custard is firm, you can pour the chocolate on top. Smooth the top with a spatula and then tap the pan on your counter a few times. Gently! This will help to level the chocolate so you have a smooth top.

Wait until the chocolate is soft set then cut your Nanaimo bars. Either dig in right away or let the bars set completely in your fridge. My vote is you sneak at least one before putting the rest back in the fridge.

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Original post date: December 20th, 2011

When I was 16, my then boyfriend and I ate a whole container of Nanaimo bars that my mother had made ahead and frozen for Christmas. I won't admit to what we were smoking before we felt like munching on so many sweets.

In an effort to hide the evidence, I dug up her handwritten recipe. The filling in the middle called for a custard. This was before the days where a quick Google search could have answered any of the questions I could not ask the person I was trying to pull a fast one on. Questions like, “what's custard, anyway?” I searched the pantry and came up with a solution that was runny and pudding-like.

Then I did what any teenager worth their weight would do: I assembled the misshapen, soggy bars and quickly put them in the freezer, delaying any possible punishment.

Ten years after that incident (or 8 years or maybe 12 years, I struggle with linear time) my mother passed on the recipe, this time with a chuckle and some advice about the custard in the middle of Nanaimo bars.

The original pictures of my Mom's Nanaimo Bars:

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If you’re interested in learning a few tricks that I did to improve my food photography, check out the posts 10 Food Photography Tips for New Food Bloggers and The 10 Best Food Photography Props to Improve Your Food Photography and The Food Photography Equipment I Use.

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Favorite Christmas Baking Recipes:

• Melt in Your Mouth Shortbread Cookies
• Cranberry Coconut Macaroons
• Holiday Spiced Almond Shortbread Cookies
• Cranberry and White Chocolate Butter Cookies
• Cranberry and White Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

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