Nanaimo Bars

There is one thing I like more than Santa around this time of year, and that’s all the tasty treats. They seem to be everywhere for a good 3-4 weeks straight, plus is there any other time of the year when you can eat sweets non stop all day long and NOT feel the judging glare from those around you?!? Thank you Christmas.

I tend to be a creature of habit when it comes to the things I like, I really need to work on that when it comes to the men I date, but when it comes to sweets I always tend to go with chocolate. So it’s no wonder that when I was first introduced to the Nanaimo bar I fell head over heels. But the problem with Nanaimo bars is all the dairy, the bloody things are jam-packed. Butter in the base, butter in the middle, butter in the top, might as well call them butter bars, it’s probably why they taste so flippin’ good.

And as much as I’d like to share a stick of butter with all of you, I think I managed to find a better butter substitute, good ol coconut.

Nanaimo Bars

INGREDIENTS

Crust:

1/2 cup coconut butter (NOT oil)

2 tbsp coconut sugar

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 egg

2 cups of your fave GF granola (I used One Degree Cocoa Quinoa)

1 cup unsweetened coconut

Middle:

1/4 cup coconut butter (NOT oil)

2 cups icing sugar

2 Tbsp custard powder

3 Tbsp coconut milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Top:

1 small bag of dark chocolate chips (225g)

2 Tbsp coconut butter (and again butter NOT oil)

Crust:

Line a square glass dish with parchment then set aside.

Next up, toss your coconut butter, sugar, and cocoa powder into a large glass bowl over a pot with simmering water (aka the double boiler), then once the coconut butter is melted slowly add in your egg and continue to mix until fully incorporated. Make sure your water in the pot underneath isn’t boiling or you could end up with a scrambled egg.

When this conction starts to resembles a pudding like substance remove from heat and stir in the granola and coconut.

Spread evenly into your square pan and press down firmly to pack it in, then chill in the fridge while you start making the middle filling.

Middle:

With a hand mixer you are going to want to cream together you coconut butter and icing sugar, then slowly add in the custard powder, coconut milk, and then beat until smooth.

This mixture is quite thick and a bit of a bitch to blend, but keep at it, it does eventually comes together, if you’re having serious issues just slowly add more coconut milk.

Spread evenly over the crust, then back into the fridge it goes while you make you the chocolate topping.

Chocolate:

Toss your chocolate chips and coconut butter back into your double boiler and continue stirring until the chocolate has melted completely.

Spread evenly over the middle layer, then back into the fridge it goes one last time to set.

I made mine a day in advance of enjoyment so I knew all three layers would have a chance to chill. You could even pop it in the freezer if you’re impatient and want to bust into these bad boys immediately.