Classic Nanaimo Bars (No-Bake)

These Nanaimo bars are a classic Canadian treat! Coconut, graham cracker crumbs, chocolate, and a delicious custard layer. No-bake, super easy to make!

How many times have YOU used your hair dryer in the kitchen?

I’m up to twice already. The first time I used it was to save some thawed swiss meringue buttercream that basically looked like cottage cheese soup (lovely, right?). I was this close to tossing it, but was too lazy to make more.

Laziness pays off sometimes. Shockingly, heating the bowl of the mixer with a hair dryer did the trick, and the buttercream came back together better than ever.

The second time was with these Nanaimo bars, because I’m a crazy person and my perfectionism gets a little out of hand sometimes.

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What Are Nanaimo Bars?

Nanaimo bars are a Canadian tradition dating back to the 50’s. They are named after the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. 

The Nanaimo bar consists of three layers:

• A graham cracker, coconut, and chocolate base
• A custard frosting filling
• A chocolate ganache on top

They’re identified by their signature yellow custard layer which is a frosting of sorts traditionally made with Bird’s Custard Powder.

I actually never used to like them. I found them chalky, chewy, and kinda bland. The reality is that I’d never had a good one before!

The first time I had a good Nanaimo bar was from this little Italian bakery close to where I live. My friend Karen brought some over one night, so I tried one and actually liked it (read: loved it).

Karen assured me that the recipe she used to make them was even better. Well this I needed to try! Rest assured, these are the BEST Nanaimo bars you will ever have. EVER!

Plus, no-bake. I mean… come on, that should be a selling point right there.

How to Make The Perfect Nanaimo Bars

Now you’re probably wondering where the hair dryer comes in. Well, that was purely for aesthetic reasons.

You see, I didn’t like what the chocolate layer on top looked like. I can almost hear you rolling your eyes right now.

It wasn’t smooth enough for me, but it had already hardened against the chilled custard. I kid you not, I whipped out that hair dryer and melted the chocolate so I could smooth it out.

This ended up being pointless, as I decided I wanted a thicker chocolate layer anyway, so I made more and added it over the top (note: the recipe below lists the total amount of chocolate I used).

Now, before some of you get all worked up about the “hair dryer in the kitchen” being unsanitary, I can assure you I ate (most of) these on my own – they were too good to give away. Plus my hair dryer is spotless thankyouverymuch. 

These days though, I’d probably bust out my kitchen torch instead, though that has proven to be more of a safety hazard than the hair dryer.

If you’re a Nanaimo bar hater like I was, give these a try. You won’t regret it. And if you’re a die-hard Nanaimo Bar fan, you MUST try my Nanaimo Bar Cake!

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Classic Nanaimo Bars

4.79 from 14 votes

These Nanaimo bars are a classic Canadian treat. Delicious, no-bake, super easy to make!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Canadian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Chilling Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 2 hours hours

Servings 18

Calories 300kcal

Author Olivia

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

Base:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 Tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted
• 1 large egg lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup fine coconut unsweetened

Custard:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp custard powder
• 3 Tbsp milk room temperature

Chocolate:*

• 8 oz good quality dark or semi-sweet chocolate chopped
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Instructions

 

Base:

• Grease a 9 x 9" pan and line with parchment.
• Place 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup sugar, and 3 Tbsp cocoa powder into a large, heatproof bowl over a pot with simmering water. Whisk until combined.
• Slowly pour in egg while whisking vigorously. Add vanilla. Continue whisking over simmering water until mixture has thickened and resembles a pudding.
• Remove mixture from heat and stir in graham cracker crumbs and coconut.
• Spread mixture evenly into the bottom of your 9×9 pan. Press down firmly to pack in. Chill in fridge while making custard.

Custard:

• Cream together butter and powdered sugar, add in custard powder and milk and beat until smooth.**
• Spread evenly over base layer and return to fridge. Chill for 30mins.

Chocolate:

• Place chopped chocolate and butter in to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir. Continue microwaving in 10 second intervals, stirring in between, until chocolate has melted.
• Spread evenly over custard layer. Chill in fridge until set (about 1 hour).
• Cut with a hot serrated knife.

Notes

* The original recipe calls for half this amount of chocolate & butter. I doubled it as I prefer a thicker chocolate layer, but this will make them harder to cut.

** This can be done by hand but I used my stand mixer.

Calories: 300kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 3gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 76mgPotassium: 142mgFiber: 2gSugar: 23gVitamin A: 305IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 28mgIron: 2mg

The nutritional information and metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this is important to you, please verify with your favorite nutrition calculator and/or metric conversion tool.