Another Daring Bakers challenge!  We missed last month – so sad.  But we made up for it this month with these yummy Nanaimo Bars!  The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca

The first half of the challenge involved making home made graham crackers.  The recipe was for gluten free, but I just couldn’t bring myself to invest in more types of flour when I’m struggling to use up the ones we have now before we move.  So we used whole wheat flour instead.  Alas, I happened to bake these when I was home alone.  And of course, silly me didn’t think to stop to take pictures.  So… I don’t have any.  But you can pretend I posted lovely pictures of the tasty graham crackers.  And they were tasty!  Even if rolling out sticky dough isn’t really my forte.  I really need to practice my rolling technique!  I made a mess.  It happens.

But on to the Nanaimo Bars – the second part of this month’s challenge.  And guess what?  Steve and I made these together!  And that means?  Pictures!  Yay for that, otherwise this would be a very boring post!  (I’m assuming that pictures can save us from the mundane.  Fingers crossed.)  For those of you who don’t know what Nanaimo bars are they are a three layer bar – a nut/graham cracker/chocolate/coconut layer, a thick buttercream-type layer, and a layer of chocolate on top.  Sound rich don’t they?  I won’t lie.  They are.  But we like rich.  We like it so much we made two batches of bars: (1) the usual nanaimo bar recipe with toffee (so basically vanilla, almond, toffee) and (2) hazelnut espresso.

Bottom layer: For our bars we omitted the coconut because, well….. we don’t like coconut.  And this is our Nanaimo bar party and we can do what we want.  So no coconut.  For the toffee version we added toffee bits instead of the coconut.  Aren’t we smart?  And for the hazelnut espresso we substituted toasted hazelnuts instead of the almonds and coconut and added instant espresso powder.  Here I am packing in the first layer.  This picture also showcases my parchment sling for getting the entire thing out in one piece and making cutting easier later.

Middle layer:  We did the classic for the classic (on the right).  For the hazelnut espresso we did things a little different – Frangelico and Kahlua (on the left).  Did you really think I would make it through this post without throwing in some liqueurs to spice things up?

Top layer: Beautiful shiny chocolate.  Enough said.

Here’s the final product.  You probably can’t tell the difference, but the top photo is the toffee and the bottom is the hazelnut espresso.  The winner?  Neither.  The toffee was great in the bottom layer, but the Frangelico/Kahlua was the clear winner for the middle layer.  So maybe next time we’ll do toffee/hazelnut/espresso.  Maybe that’s too much… or maybe not.

Almond Toffee Nanaimo Bars

Bottom layer

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 granulated sugar
• 5 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup toffee bits

In a bowl, combine graham cracker, almonds, and toffee bits.  Set aside.  Over a double boiler, melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa.  Add egg and whisk in to cook and thicken.  Remove from heat and add to the graham cracker mixture.  Press firmly into the bottom of an ungreased 8×8 square pan.  If you want to make life a little easier for yourself make a parchment sling to place in the pan first – then press the bottom layer in over that, making sure you leave enough overhang for you to grab onto later.

Middle layer

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp and 2 tsp heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp instant vanilla pudding
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Cream the ingredients together until light in color.  Spread over the bottom layer.

Top layer

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Melt chocolate and butter together in a double boiler.  Remove and cool, making sure it is still spreadable.  Pour over middle layer and chill.

Once chilled you can use the sling to remove the whole thing from the pan.  I used a warm knife to gently cut the pieces, making sure my top chocolate layer didn’t crack. Best served chilled as the middle layer definitely melts in your hands.

Hazelnut Espresso Nanaimo Bars

Bottom layer

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 granulated sugar
• 5 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup toasted hazelnuts, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp instant espresso powder

In a bowl, combine graham cracker, hazelnuts  and espresso powder.  Set aside.  Over a double boiler, melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa.  Add egg and whisk in to cook and thicken.  Remove from heat and add to the graham cracker mixture.  Press firmly into the bottom of an ungreased 8×8 square pan.  If you want to make life a little easier for yourself make a parchment sling to place in the pan first – then press the bottom layer in over that, making sure you leave enough overhang for you to grab onto later.

Middle layer

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/8 cup Kahlua coffee liqueur
• 1/8 cup Frangelico hazelnut liqueur
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Cream butter with 1 cup of the powdered sugar.  Add the second cup of sugar with the Kahlua and Frangelico and beat until smooth.  Spread over bottom layer.

Top layer

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Melt chocolate and butter together in a double boiler.  Remove and cool, making sure it is still spreadable.  Pour over middle layer and chill.

Once chilled you can use the sling to remove the whole thing from the pan.  I used a warm knife to gently cut the pieces, making sure my top chocolate layer didn’t crack. Best served chilled as the middle layer definitely melts in your hands.