Daring Bakers – January 2010 – Nanaimo Bars
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 www.nanaimo.ca.
OM NOM NOM NOM NOM. Let’s just get that straight out of the way. These things are amazing.
As an Aussie, I’ve never had Graham Crackers before and wasn’t really sure what to expect. I’d always thought they must be like water crackers or something, so was slightly bewildered when I saw the ingredient list. Sugar? Vanilla? What on earth are these crackers?
I didn’t make the gluten free version (just because I’m trying to save money and didn’t want to buy flours I wouldn’t use again) but the wheat version was great! No idea if they’re authentic but they tasted wonderful and I’ll definitely make them again.
Despite the instructions to keep the mixture cool and not let the butter melt, I finally had time to make them on a hot Melbourne summer’s day when it was… 45 degrees celcius. (That’s 113 F!)
To compensate, I put a fan in the kitchen, directed at my mixing bowl and put the butter in the freezer for 3 hours in preparation.
Despite people saying they had problems with the stickiness of the dough, I had absolutely no problems at all! The dough was beautiful and by far the easiest I’ve ever worked with. Score!
A few days later I managed to find the time to make the Nanaimo bars.
I don’t have a food processor so making crumbs was all me, a rolling pin and all my pent up frustrations! I’m sure the neighbours loved me.
Here’s the bottom layer all made
Instead of the middle buttercream filling, I decided to mimic my favourite fudgy/brownie/slice thing – the Mrs Fields Peanut Butter bar. So, for the middle layer I used 1/3 cup peanut butter, 1/3 cup butter and 1/2 cup icing sugar.
Then add on the chocolate layer….
YUM. Lachlan and I slowly devoured the batch over the course of about a week and a half. This slice is very rich so you can’t eat too much at once!
It was so good, I later decided to try a different batch to use up the rest of the almost stale by that point Graham Crackers. Instead of the 1/3 cup of peanut butter in the middle, I tried 1/3 cup of nutella.
In fact, I’m eating one right now.
For Graham Crackers
Ingredients
2 cups & 2 tbs flour
1 cup (200 g) (7.1 ounces) Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly packed
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
Ingredients:
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) Graham Cracker 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)
For Nanaimo Bars — Middle Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar
Or my version – 1/3 cup peanut butter / 1/3 cup unsalted butter / 1/2 cup 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.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
nom nom nom, thats rite
great work
Fun variations! I bet they were GREAT!
Oh my! Peanut butter and nutella Nanaimo Bars are such a fun idea – they look amazing! I’m glad you enjoyed my challenge =D.