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Nutella Nanaimo Bars

Nutella Nanaimo Bars

Today’s dish is a decadent one and a Canadian original. I am talking about the infamous Nanaimo bars that originated in Nanaimo, BC.

Dating back in the 1950’s, this ultra rich dessert has evolved into a variety of variations, making that much more yummy.

It starts off with a crumbly wafer bottom, followed by a custard butter cream filling and topped off with melted chocolate.

I adapted a recipe from Anna Olson, one of the few people I religiously follow for baking how-to’s. I did not add coconut flakes as it is not a household favourite, therefore I added a little more almonds (instead of walnuts) and a little less butter.

I thought of the genius idea in replacing the top layer with Nutella, however, there is a reason why you don’t use just Nutella. It’s too thick!! Now they did come out delicious, but not as pretty as I would have hoped.

You can see in my photos where there are chunks of Nutella that take over the whole top layer. But in the end, I have other plans for this decadent treat. Stay tuned for a new recipe!

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Nutella Nanaimo Bars (adapted from Anna Olson’s recipe)

INGREDIENTS

Crust

  • 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 3 Tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4  cup chopped almonds (I put them through the food processor)
  • 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Filling

  • ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 cups icing sugar, sifted
  • 2 Tbsp vanilla custard powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 3 Tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping

  • 3/4 cup of Nutella

DIRECTIONS

Crust1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (180 °C).  Line an 8 inch pan with parchment paper (that way it will be easy to pull it out).2. For the crust, combine the graham crumbs with the cocoa powder and salt, then, add the almonds. Stir in the melted butter and the egg and stir until blended. Press this into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 12 minutes. Cool completely before starting with the next layer!Filling1. By hand, beat the butter with 1 cup of the icing sugar, the custard powder and a pinch of salt until smooth. Add the milk and vanilla and beat in (don’t worry if it doesn’t look smooth at this point – it will smooth out), and then beat in the remaining 1 cup of icing sugar. The filling should be smooth, layer it over the cooled crust.

Topping1. For the topping, melt the Nutella in a metal bowl placed over a pot of barely simmering water, stirring gently with a spatula until melted. Cool the chocolate slightly and then pour this over the filling, spreading to cover it.

Chill the pan for about 2 hours before slicing into bars ( I leave it overnight).

 

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Antonietta Ferretti
Antonietta Ferretti

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