bloglovinBloglovin iconCombined ShapeCreated with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. rssRSS iconsoundcloudSoundCloud iconFill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. arrow-lCreated with Lunacy arrow-rCreated with Lunacy mix-lineCreated with Lunacy pinch-lineCreated with Lunacy searchCreated with Lunacy

Categories

Recipes from Cheryl, Part I: Nanaimo Bars


When I was growing up, the leader in charge of 11 and 12-year-old girls at church was a wonderful woman named Cheryl. I remember lots of fun parties at her house during the summer, most of which were luaus. We made leis out of oleander flowers (which are EXTREMELY poisonous; it gave my mom fits!) from the hedges near her pool, drank some kind of delicious pineapple punch out of hollowed-out pineapples, swam, and generally had a blast. I was debating a few months ago which delicious recipe of hers I would make that weekend, and decided to do a little series highlighting the wonderful goodies my sisters and I grew up eating courtesy of Cheryl.

In our first installment, we have Nanaimo Bars (pronounced nuh-NY-mo), named for the city in British Columbia where they were created. You can find a million recipes for these, but they are all very similar. They are a cross between a bar cookie and candy. Super rich, super delicious. So very, very yummy. You’ll be tempted to eat several because of their tiny size but you’ll get a tummy ache!

Nanaimo Bars
from Cheryl Poulsen

crust:
1/2 cup butter
5 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 beaten egg
1 2/3 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1 cup coconut, toasted
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (I used pecans)

Combine butter, cocoa, and sugar in the top of a double boiler and cook gently until it starts to bubble; remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Add vanilla and egg and stir. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add crumb mixture to chocolate mixture and press into the bottom of a 8×8 square pan. Set aside.

filling:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 Tablespoons instant vanilla pudding powder
1/4 cup milk

Beat ingredients until well-combined. Spread over cooled crust. Cover and chill.

topping:
4 ounces chocolate, half semisweet and half bitter, or whatever combination you like
1 Tablespoon butter

Heat ingredients in the top of a double boiler and stir until chocolate and butter are melted. Pour over chilled bars and let cool. Before topping hardens, score top gently. I did 6 rows and 4 columns to get 24 little bars. Allow to cool completely. Cut with a very sharp knife so as not to crack the chocolate.

1 thought on “Recipes from Cheryl, Part I: Nanaimo Bars

  1. I live in Nanaimo – and these local treats can be found all over the place – deep fried, inspiring local Martinis and in every local bakery =) They are sure tasty – hope you enjoyed them

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.