I first heard about these from my cousin Janey, and it took her a while to explain how to pronounce the name Nanaimo. “Nah-nye-a-mo” seems to be the preferred pronunciation, as opposed to “Nana-e-mo”, and the recipe I have is from Doris Osborne, who was probably a friend of my maternal grandmother. I often see these bars as part of a bake sale or potluck, and after reading the recipe, I see why.
Nanaimo Bars
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup cocoa
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1 cup flake coconut
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 Tablespoons vanilla pudding mix
- 3 Tablespoons milk
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 3 squares semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 Tablespoon butter
Melt 1/2 cup butter in saucepan. Blend in sugar, cocoa, vanilla, egg, crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press in a 9″ square pan.
Cream 1/4 cup butter and add dry pudding mix, milk and confectioner’s sugar. Blend well. Spread over top of crumb mixture and chill thoroughly.
Melt chocolate with 1 Tablespoon butter. Blend and spread over chilled mixture, then cut into squares.
Well, what do you know? These are not even baked! Perfect for a hot summer picnic, when you need a little sweet treat. Or any other time when a bar cookie is appropriate!
For more vintage recipes, check out Joy of Desserts. Photo courtesy of Jodi Green. And more information about the origin of Nanaimo Bars can be found on Wikipedia.
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June 4th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
That looks delicious and so no-bake easy! So these must have been hiding in Canada all my life. Like when we learn a new word, I’ll bet I’ll start spotting this recipe all the time now. Thank you for participating!