I was pretty excited about this one from the start. Not because it felt new or exciting, but because as a Canadian I have eaten my fair share of Nanaimo Bars. Now, up until a few years ago, the Nanaimo situation was great. I love the top two layers and am allergic to the coconut in the bottom layer, while the top two layers are too sweet to my sister, but she loves the bottom layer. So, we would just cut each piece in half, horizontally, and everyone was happy. But then my sister had to go and get married, ruining the perfect Nanaimo sharing situation.
Well, this month, all those problems were erased. Because even though I've been eating Nanaimo Bars for decades, this was the first time I made the whole thing from scratch, so I was able to eliminate the coconut in the base, and now I can eat the entire thing. Unfortunately, I might eat the entire pan.
Nanaimo Bars
The Nanaimo Bar adventure this month began by baking our own gluten free graham crackers to then turn into the crumbs for the base. I've never set out to create something gluten free, but it wasn't really that difficult. I felt that I could taste the different flour in the end cookie, but it was more of a texture thing than a flavour thing. I couldn't taste a difference once it was crumbs in the base. Also, I had some rolling/patience issues, so my crackers aren't nearly as square or flat as they're supposed to be. But hey, they're just becoming crumbs anyways, so who really cares... That's also why it didn't matter that my temperamental oven burned the first batch in ten minutes and took 22 minutes to cook the second batch. (I'm really looking forward to new appliances...)
The graham crumbs were mixed with a butter/cocoa/sugar/egg cooked mixture, and chopped up sliced almonds. I kind of wanted a slightly chunky texture left in the base so I didn't chop anything up too fine. This is where the recipe called for 1 cup coconut and 1/2 cup chopped almonds, and I just went with 1 1/2 cups almonds.
The middle layer is some kind of tasty. My roommate has requested that I just make vats of it for her to eat out of the bowl. I found that it didn't set as hard as the middle layer does in a commercial Nanaimo Bar. But who cares! Man, does it taste good.
Next we have a scenario where you work five hours of overtime and get home to put the top chocolate layer on. Even though you know you should consult the recipe, your laziness wins and you make the amount of chocolate topping that you think you remember the recipe probably called for. But then, when you go to spread it on the square, you discover that you are short a fair amount. Sigh. Laziness wins again and you decide to just leave it, with the sad partial layer of chocolate on top. There's no special event this one is going to... you'll just sit on the couch eating it while watching the Biggest Loser (man, Tuesdays are a boring tv night... until Lost starts next week, that is...), so a little bit of missing chocolate won't make a difference.
All in all, I really enjoyed this challenge. I don't know if I would go to the trouble of making my own graham crackers/crumbs again, but I will certainly make the Nanaimo Bars again! They're addictive! In fact, I might go eat another one right now...
Happy baking!
- Carolyn
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