Grown Up Nanaimo Bars

If you are Canadian or live near the Canadian border, you already know about sweet, gooey, coconut- and-chocolate-laden Nanaimo Bars! This “grown-up” vegan Nanaimo Bar recipe from World Vegan Feast by Bryanna Clark Grogan is less sweet than the version you might know from childhood. The addition of the cocoa nibs in the base gives the bars extra crunch and a slightly bitter edge that counteracts the sweetness. Dark chocolate ganache and coffee liqueur add the “grown-up” elements.

These popular no-bake bars originated in the 1950s in the city of Nanaimo, just an hour south of where Bryanna lives on Vancouver Island. As popular legend has it, a local housewife submitted the recipe with the name “Nanaimo Bars” to a magazine for a recipe contest. Her recipe won, giving it substantial publicity. It made its way throughout the province’s communities. The earliest confirmed printed copy of the recipe “Nanaimo Bars” appears in a publication entitled “His/Hers Favorite Recipes,” compiled by the Women’s Association of the Brechin United Church, in the 1950s. Nanaimo Bars are a must at many a dessert table during the winter holiday season.

Grown-Up Nanaimo Bars

Ingredients:

Base:

  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon flax seed
  • 
1/3 cup vegan margarine
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 
2 1/2 tablespoons agave nectar, maple syrup, or brown rice syrup
  • 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups vegan graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup chopped roasted cocoa nibs (see note)
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or almonds, toasted

 

Filling:


  • 1/2 cup vegan cream cheese
  • 2 tablespoons vegan margarine
  • 2 tablespoons plain bird’s custard powder or cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur or coffee-flavored Italian syrup
  • 1/4 tablespoon pure vanilla
  • 2 cups confectioners’ sugar

 

Ganache Topping:


  • 4 ounces vegan semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped, or chocolate chips (2/3 cup)
  • 
1/3 cup nondairy milk
  • 1/4 cup extra-firm silken tofu
  • 1 tablespoon liquid espresso, coffee liqueur, or coffee-flavored italian syrup

 

Preparation:

  1. Base: Process the water and flax seed in a blender until it is thick and foamy. Set aside.
  2. In a saucepan over low heat, combine the margarine, brown sugar, syrup, cocoa, and flax seed mixture. Stir until the consistency is thick and custard-like. Stir in the vanilla. Set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, coconut, cocoa nibs, and nuts. Add to the mixture in the saucepan, and mix well. Pack the mixture into an oiled 9-inch square cake pan lined with baking parchment cut to fit. Set aside.
  4. Filling: Cream together the cream cheese, margarine, custard powder, liqueur, and vanilla. Add the confectioners’ sugar. Beat until it is creamy, then spread it over the crumb base. Refrigerate until the filling has set, at least 30 minutes.
  5. Ganache Topping: Process the chocolate finely in a dry food processor. Leave the chocolate in the processor. Whip the nondairy milk and tofu together in a blender or with an immersion/ stick blender in a deep, narrow container until smooth – this is the vegan cream.
  6. Heat the vegan cream in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until almost to the boiling point. Alternatively, you can cook the cream in a microwave-safe bowl for about 1 minute at 50 % power or until it is very hot, but not boiling. (If the mixture curdles, blend it again until smooth.)
  7. With the motor running, pour the hot cream into the chocolate in the food processor through the feed tube. Process until smooth. Add the liqueur and process again briefly. When the ganache mixture has cooled slightly, but is still pourable, spread it evenly over the chilled filling. Refrigerate until the ganache is solid.
  8. To serve: Score the ganache with a very sharp knife into 30 squares and then cut the squares all the way to the bottom of the pan. Loosen the squares along the sides of the pan with a table knife. The bars will keep refrigerated for a month (well-covered).

 

Soy-Free Ganache: Omit the tofu and nondairy milk and use 1/2 cup coconut nondairy creamer or nut milk instead.)

 

Note: Cocoa nibs are simply broken or crushed pieces of cocoa beans. Traditionally, the beans are roasted, cracked and de-shelled. Cocoa nibs are the dry-roasted pieces of the cocoa bean, and they are labeled as “roasted.” Raw cocoa nibs are made from cocoa beans which have gone through the fermentation process (which precedes drying and roasting) and are dried and then peel and crushed.

 

 

World Vegan FeastFrom World Vegan Feast by Bryanna Clark Grogan. ©2011 Bryanna Clark Grogan. Used by permission from Vegan Heritage Press.