Nanaimo Bars - A Tribute to Canada

January Daring Bakers Challenge


Nanaimo Bars are a classic Canadian dessert created in none other than Nanaimo, British Colombia. In case you were wondering, it’s pronounced Nah-nye-Moh. These bars have 3 layers: a base containing graham crackers, cocoa, coconut and nuts, a middle custard layer, and a topping of chocolate. They are extremely rich and available almost everywhere across the country.

Our Daring Baker Challenge this month also celebrates that the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver begin next month. The Nanaimo Bar recipe is a tasty way to welcome everyone to Canada!

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and http://www.nanaimo.ca/.

This month the challenge was a bit more difficult from the supply perspective. I usually don't have any trouble living north of New York City finding just about anything I need. However, for this challenge I'm living in central Michigan where my husband is working on a contract. There aren't any Asian groceries, so I couldn't find any sweet rice flour. The local mega box store, Meijer, does have a small gluten free section with a nice basic selection of flours. Then I found a fantastic Co-op about 30 miles away in Mt. Pleasant, the Greentree, that has a wonderful array of organic and local foods.

Next, I went searching for Bird's custard powder. We began our search at the Eastman Party Store, as they said they carried a large selection of foreign foods. My husband and I imagined that it was a gourmet food store given their name, until we walked in the door. When we saw the numerous aisles of wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages, we understood the reason for the "Party Store" name. Wandering around, we found a variety of foods from around the world, including a jar of Bird's custard powder.

Now all I needed was a bag of sorghum flour. Since I also needed other gluten free flours that aren't easily found locally, I placed an order to a vendor I like to order from. After carefully filling out the form and double checking the Michigan shipping address, I clicked send. When I got the tracking notification for my box, I realized that my box was headed for New York and not Michigan. That meant a little juggling with the flours I had with me to make the Nanaimo bars.

When I worked on the recipe, I made an adjustment to the amount of sweet potato flour as the overall dough was basically honey flavored goo.  The extra 1/2 cup sweet potato flour, fixed the goo issue and also kept the honey flavor from being over powering in the graham crackers. The final cracker was lightly honeyed and beautifully crisp.

The Nanaimo bars are fabulously rich and decadent. My family liked them cut into small squares for just a bit of sweetness. 

Preparation time:

• Graham Wafers: 30 to 45 minutes total active prep, 2 ½ hours to overnight and 45 minutes inactive prep.
• Nanaimo Bars: 30 minutes.

Equipment required:

• Food Processor
• Bowls
• Parchment paper or silpats
• Cookie sheets
• Double boiler or pot and heatproof bowl
• 8 by 8 inch square pan
• Hand mixer or stand mixer (You may use a wooden spoon, but this makes it much easier!)
• Saucepan

Gluten-Free Graham Wafers Recipe

1 cup (138 g) (4.9 ounces) Sweet Potato Flour
3/4 cup (100 g) (3.5 ounces) Arrowroot Starch
1/2 cup (65 g) (2.3 ounces) Buckwheat Flour
1/4 cup (56 g) (2 ounces) Brown Rice Flour
1/4 cup (56  g) (2 ounces) Almond Meal
1 cup (200 g) (7.1 ounces) Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly packed
2 teaspoons (10 mL) Chia Seed Meal
1 teaspoon (5 mL) Baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (4 mL ) Kosher Salt
7 tablespoons (100 g) (3 ½ ounces) Unsalted Butter (Cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen)
1/3 cup (80 mL) Honey, Mild-flavoured such as clover
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Whole Milk
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.

2. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.

3. Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.

4. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.

5. Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).

6. Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.

7. Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.

8. Bake for 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take less, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. The ones that started on the bottom browned faster.

9. When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.

Nanaimo Bars Recipe


For Nanaimo Bars — Bottom Layer:

1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) (160 g) (5.6 ounces) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See previous recipe)
1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)
1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened) or Smashed Corn Flakes

For Nanaimo Bars — Middle Layer:

1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup (60 mL) Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
2 teaspoons (10 mL) Vanilla Extract
2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar

For Nanaimo Bars — Top Layer:

4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter

Directions:

1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.

2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.

3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.


Additional Information:

1. These bars freeze very well, so don’t be afraid to pop some into the freezer.
2. The graham wafers may be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.