This famous Canadian dessert is named after the city of Nanaimo on beautiful Vancouver Island, and as a child I used to holiday near there. On a recent visit to a café just north of Nanaimo, I chose one of their Nanaimo Bars because it was made with dates instead of sugar, and it looked too good to resist. Well, it turned out that I was right – it was truly scrumptious! The chef kindly shared her wonderful recipe with me, and I’ve adapted it so it’s super easy to make in your Thermomix.
These Nanaimo Bars are wonderfully nourishing and your children won’t ever guess they are healthy! That suits me to a tee too, because over recent years I have gradually shifted to less sweet and more nourishing desserts – by the way, the orginal 1950’s recipe was an extremely sugary creation. Keep a box of these delicious nutritious Nanaimo Bars in your fridge or freezer to have a quick snack available whenever an energy boost is needed!
I always make this generous quantity, however it’s easy to halve the recipe if you’d like 20 pieces instead – see 6th tip.
If you’d like to watch me making this recipe, just click YouTube or Facebook to view.
This recipe is suitable for Thermomix TM6, TM5 and TM31.
Method
Base Layer
- Blend oats, coconut, dates, walnuts, cocoa powder, vanilla and sea salt 20 sec/speed 6.
- Add whey and mix 5 sec/speed 5. Line a rectangular cake tin (approx. 20×30 cm) with enough greaseproof paper to hang over the sides and ends, then transfer base mixture to lined cake tin and press down flat with your hands or a spatula (if the mixture is too sticky, place another piece of greaseproof paper on top of it, then press flat). Peel off and discard top layer of greaseproof paper if used. Place tin with base layer in fridge to chill while making middle layer.
Middle layer
- Blend cashews, sea salt, water, coconut milk, maple syrup, vanilla, lemon juice and coconut oil 2 min/speed 10, then pour on top of base layer and spread out evenly. Place in fridge (not freezer) to chill overnight – see 4th tip.
- The next day, 3 hours before you add the top layer, transfer baking tin from fridge to freezer for base and middle layers to become more solid.
Top layer
- Melt coconut oil and chocolate 4 min/50°C/speed 2.
- Scrape down sides of TM bowl with spatula, then continue melting without heat 3 min/speed 3 until completely melted and smooth.
- Mix 1 min/speed 1, then pour onto middle layer and spread out evenly to create top layer – it will start to set almost immediately.
- Boil a kettle, then carefully fill ¾ full a heat-proof jug with hot water.
- When the chocolate ganache top layer is set, dip a straight edged kitchen knife in the jug of hot water for approx. 10 seconds, dry it carefully with a cloth and allow the hot knife to gently melt the chocolate layer before cutting all the way down through the middle and base layers – this takes patience, as you need to dip the knife into hot water and wipe it clean after each cut. Cut 8 rows down the long side of the baking tin, and 5 rows the other way, to give 40 Nanaimo Bars. Serve one bar per person, immediately returning the rest to the fridge so they don’t melt. Keeps well in fridge up to 2 weeks or in freezer up to 6 months.