Cherry Nanaimo Bar
Ingredients
Base
- ½ cup salted butter
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 1¾ cups graham cracker crumbs
- ½ cup shredded coconut
- ⅓ cup coarsely chopped toasted almonds
Middle
- ½ cup salted butter at room temperature
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 3 cups icing sugar
- 3-4 tbsp maraschino cherry syrup
- ½ cup chopped maraschino cherries
Chocolate Topping
- 4 oz dark chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp butter
Instructions
Maraschino Cherry prep
- Our first step with this Nanaimo bar is to prepare the maraschino cherries. We have learnt that it is easier to cut the bar when there is less moisture in the maraschino cherries. We rinse, then we cut them into 1/4" size pieces until we have 1/2 cup.
- We spread them out onto paper towels placing additional towels on top and let them sit for about 30 minutes before we start the base. Although it removes some of the maraschino flavour we do reintroduce it by adding the syrup to the icing middle layer.
Base
- In a medium bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, shredded coconut, and coarsely chopped almonds. Set aside.
- Melt butter on low heat in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat and add sugar and cocoa powder whisking until combined.
- Quickly whisk the egg into the butter mixture to keep the egg from scrambling and return to heat. Turn the heat up to medium and whisk continuously for 2 minutes until the mixture thickens and becomes glossy. Remove from heat.
- Add the dry ingredients to the sauce pan, stir quickly until combined and pour into a prepared 8 inch square pan.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Using your hands, the bottom of a measuring cup, or an off set spatula gently press down on the base until it is level. Set aside until completely cooled, approximately 20 mins.
- In a bowl sift the icing sugar , set aside. Cream the butter with a hand mixer until fluffy then add the almond extract.
- Next add 1 cup of the icing sugar. Once incorporated add a tablespoon of maraschino cherry syrup and repeat finishing with the last cup of icing sugar. Stir in the chopped maraschino cherries until evenly distributed.
- Ensuring the layers are even in a Nanaimo Bar is not easy. For the icing mom came up with this useful trick. Using a cookie scoop we place 9 scoops of icing, 3 across, 3 down over the base.
- Slowly spread each scoop until the icing evenly coats the base. Take your time in this step, there is no rush and you want it to be as even as possible.
- Set aside for at least 10 minutes, this allows for the icing to set and will make it easy for to spread the chocolate layer over top.
Chocolate Topping
- Add chocolate and butter into a microwavable wet measuring cup. On 50% power, heat the chocolate and butter in the microwave for 30 second intervals stirring in between until chips are fully melted.
- Pour over the middle layer spreading evenly with a offset spatula. If you do not have an offset spatula, you can use the back of a spoon. Cover and place in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
- Our next step is to score the chocolate before it fully sets, this will prevent cracking when cutting the Nanaimo bar. Lining the pan with parchment paper allows you to remove the bar from the pan. This will give you more room to work with. Our pan is slightly smaller then 8” so we scored the bar in 1½” squares using a ruler to guide us or if we don’t feel like measuring we use the width of our ruler as a guide which works out to about 1”
- Drag the knife through the chocolate layer cleaning the knife after each score. Make sure the knife goes all the way through the chocolate layer. Cover and refrigerate until the chocolate has fully set.
- To finish cutting the bar remove it from the fridge and allow it to warm up for 10-15 minutes. We do not have a knife that can cut all the way across the bar, so I make the first cut in the second row. This way I only need to cut the remaining pieces over the length of 2 or 3 bars. Store the bar in the refrigerator. Enjoy!