Classic Canadian Nanaimo Bar Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Are Nanaimo bars a Canadian thing? ›

The Nanaimo bar. It's a sweet treat made from chocolate, custard, coconut and walnuts. Love it or hate it, it's uniquely British Columbian.

But neither Nanaimo's historical miners nor current residents have an exclusive relationship with the dessert; over the last century, similar sweets have popped up across North America, going by names like “New York slice,” “London fog bar” and “prayer bar.” Still, when it comes to branding, Nanaimo is the winner, bar ...

The more common name is Nanaimo bars. Interestingly, they have also been called prayer bar, London Fog bar and New York slice. What's more, they now come in a variety of flavours such as mint, cappuccino, peanut butter, and more in addition to the original vanilla.

In the Refrigerator: Nanaimo bars will keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Serve straight from the fridge. In the Freezer: You can also keep your Nanaimo bars in the freezer for 2-3 months in an airtight container.

After that, the Nanaimo bar began to be sold on BC Ferries and spread in popularity across Canada. It can now be found in Costco, Starbucks and countless cafes in Canada and the United States. A variation known as “prayer bars” is also popular in the American Midwest.

The Nanaimo bar (/nəˈnaɪmoʊ/ nə-NY-moh) is a bar dessert that requires no baking and is named after the Canadian city of Nanaimo in British Columbia. It consists of three layers: a wafer, nut (walnuts, almonds, or pecans), and coconut crumb base; custard icing in the middle; and a layer of chocolate ganache on top.

Founded as Colvilletown around a Hudson's Bay Company trading post, it developed after 1849 when coalfields were discovered nearby by local Indigenous people. In 1860 the settlement was renamed Sne-ny-mo (whence Nanaimo) from an Indigenous word meaning “a big, strong tribe,” which was applied to a tribal confederation.

But in reasonable doses (or not), Nanaimo bars are wonderfully luxurious, satisfying treats; the shredded coconut and nut counterpoint to the thick velvety texture of the icing and ganache has been winning the hearts of sweet-toothed Canadians and visitors for decades.

Nanaimo is the corruption of the name they gave the area, meaning "gathering place." During 1792 the Spanish explorer Alejandro Malaspina dispatched the gallettes SUTIL AND MEXICANA, under the command of Alcalá-Galiano and Cayetano Valdés, to explore the Strait of Georgia.

The completed bar weighed in at 530 pounds and measured eight feet long, 44 inches wide and three inches high. The family will submit their logs, photos, weights and measurements to the people at Guinness. They hope to receive the official certificate in the mail in a couple of months.

What is a substitute for custard powder? ›

If a recipe lists custard powder and you don't have any, you can make some simple swaps to achieve the same effect. For each tablespoon of custard powder that's called for in your recipe, you can make your own custard mix with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch plus 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and a pinch of fine salt.

Custard powder and instant custard powder are the generic product names for similar and competing products. The product is a powder, based on cornflour, which thickens to form a custard-like sauce when mixed with milk and heated.

Dark chocolate, with its higher cacao content, can be good to eat for as long as three years past the best before. Due to their high milk contents, milk and white chocolates might not last as long as dark, but their longevity is still nothing to sniff at — you can expect to get another 8 months or so out of it.

All locals should experience one of the tastiest things to come out of the True North. In a land not so far away, north of the 49th parallel, every bakery worth its butter, every cookbook, everyone's grandmother knows the secret to heaven on earth.

Founded as Colvilletown around a Hudson's Bay Company trading post, it developed after 1849 when coalfields were discovered nearby by local Indigenous people. In 1860 the settlement was renamed Sne-ny-mo (whence Nanaimo) from an Indigenous word meaning “a big, strong tribe,” which was applied to a tribal confederation.