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Why You’ll Love My Recipe
This buttercream custard-filled bar is a dessert lover’s dream and a staple of Canadian desserts. Build up a stockpile in your freezer for the holiday season, or just for a quick sweet treat.
Except perhaps for the butter tart, there is nothing quite as famous as a Nanaimo bar when it comes to Canadian dessert cuisine. Why not pair yours with an Espresso Martini or a Classic Rum Runner Cocktail?
Reader Review
Hi Karlynn
Thank you so much for this recipe.
I have never made Nanaimo Bars before…
And I wanted to make some for Christmas
Love Nanaimo Bars… but I find the store bought ones are Sooo Sweet!
I have had homemade ones… and they was so good… of course way better!
I made your recipe…. and they are Absolutely Delicious!
Thank you 🙏🙏
Karlynn’s Recipe Notes
- Skill Level: This recipe is very easy.
- Total Time: Making these Nanaimo bars will take you approximately 3 hours, depending on how long you chill them for. The actual work of preparing and assembling them only take 15 minutes or so.
- Variations: Nanaimo bars are so basic that they don’t really do well with changes. You can try different sort of chocolate chips for the top layer though. Try some dark chocolate to cut the sweetness, or use milk chocolate for a creamier flavour. Remove the coconut or walnuts from the base layer if you need to, but be sure to find a substitution that will add crunch and chewiness.
- Tools Needed: For this recipe, you’ll need a hand mixer, a whisk, a large pot, a glass measuring cup, a 9×9 baking pan, a sharp knife, and some parchment paper.
What You’ll Need For Ingredients
Bottom: This chewy crust is a yummy combination of ingredients that you likely have in your pantry. If you are allergic to coconut or walnuts, you can omit them, but you may want to find alternatives to keep the chewy and crunchyb texture.
Middle: This fluffy, and vibrant middle layer is made from icing sugar (aka powdered sugar), butter, heavy cream, and custard powder. Look for custard powder in the baking section of your grocery store. If it isn’t near the flour and sugar, it may be by the pudding mixes and gelatin. The most commonly available brand here in Canada is Bird’s Custard Powder, but depending on your store you may have more options.
Top: The delicious top layer of Nanaimo bars is a simple mixture of chocolate chips and butter, melted and spread across the top of the chilled custard layer.
How To Make Nanaimo Bars
This is a brief overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Line 9×9 pan with parchment paper, leaving some paper overhanging the edges.
- In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter, sugar, and cocoa. Mix together until smooth. Remove from heat. Mix a small amount of the hot mixture with the beaten egg, whisking quickly to avoid lumps. Whisk the tempered egg into the the hot mixture.
- Add the graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and walnuts. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan and put in the fridge to chill.
- Cream the icing sugar, butter, cream, and custard powder with a hand mixer. Spread onto the chilled bottom layer in the pan.
- Melt chocolate chips and butter and pour over middle layer. Spread evenly and cool in fridge for a few hours.
- Remove from pan as a slab. Slice and serve while the bars are still cold.
Karlynn’s Tips and Tricks for Making Nanaimo Bars
Custard Alternative: Custard powder is one of the distinctive ingredients in Nanaimo bars, and it’s readily available in the baking aisle of most grocery store. However, if you can’t find custard powder or just really don’t like it, you can use vanilla pudding mix instead. It won’t give you the same bright yellow colour, but otherwise it should turn out almost the same.
Keep it Chill: Nanaimo bars need to be kept cold. If they’re left at room temperature, they soften and start to melt. Keep them in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to eat them. Keeping them nice and cold also helps make them easier to slice, especially if you heat up your knife before cutting. To keep the chocolate from cracking, be sure to gently score lines in it before it fully hardens. They’ll help guide your knife.
Storage Instructions
Store these in the fridge until just before you plan to eat them, otherwise the chocolate will soften and melt. You can keep them in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 5 days.
Freeze Nanaimo bars in individual bars or as a frozen slab, in a sealed container for up to 3 months.
More Delicious Bar and Square Recipes
Looking for more easy bar recipes to add to snack platters this holiday season?
Try some Pecan Pie Bars or Pumpkin Pie Bars for more seasonal flavours.
How about making Saltine Toffee Squares and Chewy Chocolate Puffed Wheat Squares for some classic childhood snacks?
There you go. Sweet, simple, and easy to freeze for later. Try this classic Canadian recipe and let me know what you think.
Happy Baking!
Karlynn
Nanaimo Bars
Ingredients
Bottom Layer
- ½ cup salted butter
- ⅓ cup sifted cocoa
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, beaten (this can be omitted)
- 1 ¾ cups graham cracker crumbs
- ¾ cup shredded coconut, sweetened
- ½ cup finely chopped walnuts
Middle Layer
- 2 cups icing sugar, (powdered sugar)
- ½ cup salted butter, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons custard powder
Top Layer
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
Instructions
- Line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper, leaving some parchment paper hanging over the edge for handles.
- In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter, sugar, and cocoa together until it's smooth. Heat until the mixture is steaming hot.
- Temper the egg by adding a large tablespoon of the hot butter mixture into the beaten egg, whisking rapidly. Once you have whisked it in completely, pour the beaten egg into the hot butter and cocoa mixture, whisking rapidly to ensure that there are no lumps. This will cook the egg in the hot mixture.
- Mix in the graham crumbs, coconut, and walnuts. Firmly press into the bottom of the prepared 9×9 pan. Chill in the refrigerator while you get the middle layer ready.
- Get your middle ingredients together.
- Cream the icing, butter, cream, and custard powder together with a hand mixer, then spread onto the bottom layer.
- Melt the cup of chocolate chips and 2 tbsp of butter together in a microwave-safe glass measuring cup, heating on high power in 20-second increments, making sure to stir after heating each time.
- Once the chocolate is smooth, spread the chocolate on top of the middle layer evenly, then cool in the fridge for a few hours. The middle layer will set and the top layer will harden.
- Remove the slab of bars from the pan once chilled by lifting the parchment paper. Slice the bars on the paper and serve.
- Keep the bars refrigerated in a closed container for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
- This is a very old-fashioned recipe and has a raw egg in the base. For food safety reasons you can temper the egg in step three, and then make sure to cook it in the hot butter and cocoa mixture.
- Try dark, semi-sweet or milk chocolate for the topping!
- If you want to cut the sweetness, you can use unsweetened coconut in the bottom layer.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Donna Boyle-Hawthorne says
Hi! I’m just wondering if I can add green or red food colouring to the custard layer for Christmas?
thanks!
Donna 😊
Lynn says
Where can I buy the custard powder here in US ? these sound yummy
Laurie says
I am not Canadian but I have relatives in Ontario. Believe it or not, I first tasted Nanaimo bars at a Chinese buffet!
I’ve become famous for my bars with my friends and acquaintances on the East Coast of the USA, and make numerous batches every year. Here are my secrets:
– Use clarified butter for the ganache topping – it avoids the occasional problem of the ganache seizing up and getting lumpy.
– I always use raw, organic almond meal (skin on) for the nuts. It gives a delightful flavor and texture. If you can’t find any, take raw unskinned almonds and whiz them in a food processor with the sugar used in the base layer ’til they’re nearly, but not quite, as fine as flour – more like cornmeal. Hazelnuts are really good, too.
– For a change of pace, mix powdered instant espresso into the whipping cream. (I use lots.) The espresso flavor is a lovely counterpoint to all the sweetness.
– for a delicious vegan version, sub out Miyokko vegan butter for the butter in the bottom layers, vegan egg substitute (the kind suitable for baking – be careful there are not savory ingredients like pepper or onion) for the eggs, coconut cream for the whipping cream, and a mixture of 1/2 cacao butter and 1/2 coconut oil for the clarified butter in the topping. Some of my “customers” prefer this to the original recipe!
– I have also used home-roasted raw peanuts for people with tree nut allergies and gluten-free wafers/cookies/biscuits for those who have celiac.
– For years, I used a double-handed cheese knife (16 inch) to cut the bars, warming the bars over a gas flame. Well, now we’ve gone with an induction cooktop. So, I’m gonna try scoring the bars and warming the knife with a heat gun.
Valerie W says
I cannot have the coconut. These sound fabulous! Is there something else I can use besides the coconut?
Karen says
I don’t want to buy a carton of heavy cream for just 3 Tbsp. Any suggestions for a substitute?
jenjp says
i just buy a small container… if you google “uses for heavy cream” there are a ton of ways you can use it up….. so it wont go to waste. Ive even put it in mashed potatoes or mac & cheese.
Stephanie says
Was super easy & turns out every time!
Alana says
Perfect. Balance of flavour. Loved making this!
Pam says
All of the layers in the recipe say bottom layer. You may want to correct that.
Andrea Hilton says
what is Custard powder?
Penny says
Hi Karlynn
Thank you so much for this recipe.
I have never made Nanaimo Bars before…
And I wanted to make some for Christmas
Love Nanaimo Bars… but I find the store bought ones are Sooo Sweet!
I have had homemade ones… and they was so good… of course way better!
I made your recipe…. and they are Absolutely Delicious!
Thank you 🙏🙏
Penny
Sarah says
Really great recipe. I used unsweetened coconut in the base and it is plenty sweet.
Mike Twining says
Can I leave out the raw egg?I would not feel comfortable with an uncooked egg in the base
Vickie says
I use Egg Beaters instead of raw egg.
Karlynn J says
Absolutely! A lot of people leave it out nowadays, you don’t really need it to bind the base together.
Karlynn J says
Hi Mike,
I have adjusted the recipe for instructions on how to temper the egg in step three, and then making sure that you cook it in the hot butter mixture. It’s the same concept that you make puddings with, ensuring that the egg is cooked and then using it to bind together the base ingredients.
A lot of these old-fashioned recipes do use raw eggs, and can be adjusted sometimes !
patricia prudhomme says
Can real custard be used or will it be to soft .
Karlynn J says
You have to use the powder, real custard is too soft:
Debbie says
I am going to make these sometime over the Christmas season. I was born and raised in Kamloops, British Columbia and my parents moved to Nanaimo in 2007 when my dad retired after teaching for 30+ years. Nanaimo bars have always been my downfall. I moved down to the USA after graduating from college and still live in the USA but I will try the recipe with vanilla pudding instead of custard because ordering custard online in very expensive!
BarbiAnne says
Custard powder is an egg custard base in powder form, it has a really good vanilla flavor. It’s used a lot in Ireland, Scotland and England for many, many desserts when they don’t have time to make custards by hand or as an additive to make a dessert thicker. A touch also can be added to protein drinks or blended coffees for a little added flavor. I hope this helps ?
Kate says
I thought the Canadian version used heavy cream instead of milk… along with the custard powder?
Deb says
WHAT IS CUSTARD POWDER????
Lori Coggin says
Bird’s custard powder. I am Canadian but live in the US, and I can buy it at Publix here.
Leigh says
My personal memory of ‘Nanaimo Bars’ comes from childhood, some 55 years ago.
It was a tradition to get these treats on the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo…and I had always assumed they were developed by some clever chef on the B.C. Ferries system and named for the port of arrival.
My Mom often made them at home, too, like most British Columbian Moms in those days.
We always used ‘Birds Eye’ custard powder.
Deb says
WHAT IS CUSTARD POWDER????
Shortstuff42 says
Close but no cigar with respect to the name of the custard powder – it’s “Bird’s Custard Powder”.
I always have some on hand.
In Winnipeg, MB, and probably the rest of Canada, it comes in a 340 gm tin with red on the top part of the label, yellow in the middle and blue on the bottom. I noted a “General Foods” logo on the back of the label.
Pamela Houdashell says
I would also like to know what custard powder is.
Lynda says
From what I can tell o. google its like a powdered mix to make custard. Much like the powdered mix we use to make pudding. Google it, you can easily make your own with average pantry ingredients.
Chris says
I’ve always thought that Canadians were the sweetest people, and now I know why! I’m definitely making these for the family this weekend. Thanks for sharing dear!
Chris says
Oh, now I have a question. What is custard powder? I don’t know that I’ve seen it in the States?
Lori Coggin says
I buy it at Publix, in the International aisle.
Brenda says
Yet again a kitchen magpie, no fail recipe that takes me back to my prairie childhood. She really has perfected these food staples and her Nanaimo bar recipe will not disappoint.
Lynda says
I think the labels for the layers are mixed up in the recipe
Cindy says
I agree.
Margaret Buffie says
Hello from Winnipeg. Just found your site today when I was looking for the source of whipped “shortbread”. I make traditional Scottish shortbread and wondered where the shipped form began. I think it was in the 30’s or 40’s but no real proof.
One question: Is it me(?) or is your list of the three levels for Nanaimo bar upside down. You say the bottom layer (of crumbs etc) is the “top layer.” and the chocolate and butter layer is the bottom layer in your recipe. Nanaimo bar has been around for quite a long time before the Bridge cookbooks. Great books. I have all of them. I found Nanaimo Bars in one of my mother’s old church recipe books put out by the women’s auxiliary – c 1940 – and I also have an old CCF cookbook I found a long time ago in a book sale (the CCF is of course, now the NDP.) A terrific book with many local recipes. Not sure of the date, but the CCF cookbook was probably printed at least 50 years ago. I am looking forward to seeing some of your recipes! Love the site.
Margaret Buffie says
That’s whipped, not “shipped”! Lol. I will try your version of Nanaimo as my old recipe is too dry/ crumbly on the bottom and it falls apart.
Alycia says
Semi sweet chocolate chips for the top layer?
mrsnewton says
I love making these for my kids.
TB says
This recipe was great! Best nanaimo bars ever! .
Shelly says
These look so good! I’m wondering if I have to cook the base layer for a bit so the sugar will dissolve???
Thanks!
B Hamilton says
I have used this recipe many times. Turns out perfect every single time. A little chilling between layers does help for sure but I usually can’t wait that long..lol. Also I found it a lot nicer without the walnuts in the crust, i sprinkle them on top of the chocolate instead. Sooooooo good. Way better then store bought variety.
Skeeezx says
hi great recipe just wondering if base and middle need to be chilled before trying to apply icing my attempt did nothing but smear and mix with the middle…thanx again
Seagullgal2002 says
First time making this and its chilling now cant wait
Valerie W says
Can I leave out the coconut in the base layer?
Jennifer says
These look AMAZING!