Nanaimo Bars 2.0

A repost of the Nanaimo Bars recipe I first posted in 2009. It's a modification of the City of Nanaimo Official Recipe. This time with more pictures!

Ingredients: 
1 cup + 3 tbsp cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
5 tbsp cocoa
1 egg
1 1/4 cup graham wafer crumbs
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 cup shredded coconut
2 tbsp + 2 tsp cream
2 tbsp custard powder
2 cups icing sugar
8 oz (200 g) dark or semi-sweet chocolate

Step 1: In a medium saucepan on low heat melt together 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup sugar and 5 tbsp cocoa powder until it becomes a liquid. Stir almost constantly. 

Step 2: Beat in 1 egg and stir constantly until the egg cooks and mixture thickens.

Step 3: Remove pot from heat. Mix in cookie crumbs (1 1/4 cups), ground almonds (1/2 cups) and coconut (1 cup). Stir until well combined.

Step 4: Press mixture into an 8"x8"x2" (or equivalent) pan. I usually line the pan with parchment paper for easier clean up but it's not required. Then pop the whole thing in the fridge while you work on the next step.

Step 5:  Cream together 1/2 cup butter, 2 tbsp + 2 tsp cream, 2 tbsp custard powder and 2 cups icing sugar until the mixture is smooth and well combined.

(Note: This step should probably be done in a proper mixing bowl rather than a sauce pan but I don't currently possess any mixing bowls so it is what it is)

Step 6: Spread the custard over the crust. Try not to get crumbs from the crust into the custard. Then put the whole thing back in the fridge.

Step 7: Melt together 8 oz chocolate and remaining butter (3 tbsp). I usually do this in a microwave, in 30 second increments, stirring after each. But right now I don't have a microwave so I did it on the stove on low heat.

 Step 8: Marvel at melted chocolatey goodness

 Step 9: Spread chocolate over custard. Try not to mix the custard with the chocolate too much. Then refrigerate until chocolate is set, 4-6 hours or overnight.

 Step 10: Cut into squares. I try to make them small, maybe 1"X1" because they are very rich.

Step 11: Enjoy!

Chocolate Walnut Bar Cookies

I made these cookies for a pizza night with some friends. They were easy, quick and tasty.

1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 375, mix together oil, white sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla. In another bowl mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly mix the dry mixture into the wet mixture. Knead with hands when the dough becomes difficult to stir. Grease a cookie sheet (or line with parchment paper), roll, or stretch out the dough onto the cookie sheet, this works best if you grease your hands first. Once the dough is in a long sheet, sprinkle on the walnuts and chocolate chips and press down slightly. Bake 7-8 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes or so, then cut into strips and allow to cool completely.

Chocolate Butterscotch Ripple Squares

Originally posted on Facebook April 10, 2009

I recently cleaned out our recipe cupboard and found a bunch of "Robin Hood Flour's Baking Festival" catalog/brochure/recipe pamplet things. They had a whole bunch of great recipes in them. This recipe came from the 2000 edition.

Chocolate Butterscotch Ripple Squares

1 pkg (300g) butterscotch chips
1 can (300 ml) sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp butter
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup melted butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup oats
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup chopped walnuts (I used almonds which I toasted first)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease a 9x13 pan. Melt together butterscotch chips, sweetened condensed milk and 2 tbsp butter over low heat, stirring constantly until melted. Set aside. Mix together brown sugar, eggs, melted butter and vanilla until smooth. Then mix in the remaining ingredients. Pour half this mixture into the pan. Spread the butterscotch mixture over top. Drop the rest of the chocolate mixture on top and then spread it around so that it covers the butterscotch. Bake for 30-35 min. Cool completely and then cut into squares.

I'm not a big fan of butterscotch and I had some chips I needed to use up so this turned out to be a good way to do so. They were very gooey chocolate butterscotch brownies. I took then to my hovercraft group meeting and young adults and they went over well. So overall a good recipe to have on hand.

Raspberry Jam Bars

This is one of my favourite recipes that I've made so far. Originally posted on Facebook April 21, 2009

Chocolate Raspberry Layer Bars

Base:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup butter (margarine)

Filling
1/3 cup raspberry jam
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 package cream cheese
2 tbsp milk (or light cream)

Topping
1 cup chocolate chips
3 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 375. Spray 9x9 baking pan with Pam (I don't own a 9x9 so I used an 8x8) Combine flour and icing sugar. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Press into pan. Bake for 15-18 min. Spread jam over warm crust. Melt white chocolate chips according to package directions (My package said microwave for 2 minutes but that burnt some of then so I think next time I would microwave them for 1 min, stir and then microwave for another 30s or so) Beat cream cheese and milk. Add in melted chocolate, beating until smooth. Spread mixture over jam. Chill for about an hour. Melt together chocolate chips and butter. Spread over filling. Chill until set. Allow to thaw a little before cutting.

These were pretty tasty. My brothers didn't really like them though. I took them to YA and they were a hit there.

Butter Tart and Magic Chocolate Toffee Bars

Originally posted April 30, 2009

I got this recipe for butter tart bars from a family friend. It's modified a little from her recipe so that it fits in a 9x13 pan.

Butter Tart Bars

Crust
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 cup flour

Topping
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 + 1/8 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup raisins
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan. Mix together crust ingredients and press into pan. Bake for 20-25 min. Mix together eggs and brown sugar. Beat in the rest of the ingredients in order. Pour into crust and bake for another 30 min or so. It should be lightly brown and puffy all over. Cool and cut into squares.

These are tasty, although I think I still prefer butter tarts the original way. I used less raisins and more walnuts than the original recipe called for because I'm not a big fan of raisins. Also, you may have to fiddle with the cooking times a bit.

These are Magic Chocolate Toffee bars I made some modifications to the recipe so I'll post the original and then my changes at the bottom.

Magic Chocolate Toffee Bars

1 1/2 cups Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup flaked coconut
3/4 cup Toffee bits
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter (or margarine)
1 can sweetened condensed milk

My Modifications
Replace the coconut and almonds with about 1 cup of pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x13 pan with PAM. Combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press firmly into pan. Bake for 12 min. While waiting, mix together all other ingredients (except for sweetened condensed milk) When the crust is done pour the condensed milk over the crust. Sprinkle with chocolate chip toffee nut mixture. Press down firmly. Bake for another 25-30 min. Cool and cut into bars.

These were so tasty my dad banned me from ever making them again.

Nanimo Bars

Nanimo Bars are a Canadian Classic, I love them.

Originally posted on Facebook May 11, 2009

Crust
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
5 tbsp cocoa
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 cup graham wafer crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup coconut

Melt first three ingredients over double boiler. Add egg and cook to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients. Press firmly into ungreased 8x8 pan.

Filling
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp and 2 tsp cream
2 tbsp custard powder
2 cups icing sugar

Cream together and beat until light and then spread over bottom layer.

Topping
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 tbsp butter

Melt together and spread over top.

This recipe is from the official City of Nanimo website. They are pretty tasty, although I think I'd use a bit more chocolate in the topping.

Toffee Bit Triangles

Originally posted on Facebook March 30, 2009

Well, Saturday afternoon was spent helping the some friends move and so as a housewarming treat I baked them some "Toffee Bit Triangles". I have to admit this recipe came from an ad in a magazine but it was quite tasty.

1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg yolk
2 cups flour
1 (200g) package of Toffee bits
2 cups chocolate chips*

Preheat oven to 350. Line rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. Stir in flour and 1 cup of toffee bits (set the rest aside for later). This dough will be very crumbly. Press the dough evenly onto the cookie sheet. Try to get it to stick together as much as possible.
Bake for 18-20 min until golden brown. Then remove and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let the chocolate chips sit and melt for 5 min or so and then spread the melted chocolate all over the base. Sprinkle the rest of the toffee bits all over the melted chocolate. Refrigerate until chocolate has set. Then cut into triangles (or whatever shape you find easiest).

* For future reference, chocolate chips means semi-sweet chocolate chips unless otherwise specified

These were pretty tasty. There was some debate as to whether the edge pieces or middle pieces tasted better. The edge pieces had a crunchier base which I liked but other people liked the softer middle base.