Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars

The January 2010 Daring Bakers were presented with one of the most interesting challenges to date: Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars. Graham crackers are quite readily available in the supermarkets here and so are the English-style digestives - while the former is perfect for milk, the latter were made for a cup of hot tea! Both, of course, are quite commonly used as a biscuit base for pies and cheesecakes. As for Nanaimo Bars, I had encountered a version of these some time back in England, where goodie bags from Canada made some of my lovely Canadian friends ecstatic :)
Nanaimo Bars are a classic Canadian dessert created in Nanaimo, British Colombia. Pronounced as Nah-nye-Moh, these very rich yet addictively delicious bars have 3 layers: a base containing graham crackers, cocoa, coconut and nuts, a middle custard layer, and a topping of chocolate.
The recipe for Graham Wafers comes form 101 Cookbooks and the recipe for the Nanaimo Bars comes from the website for the City of Nanaimo. I made only half the recipe suggested. For the Graham Wafers, I used a combination of whole wheat, wheat bran, and rice flour, and for the bottom layer of the bars I substituted the egg with flax seed powder and warm water. I restructured the custard layer of the Nanimo bars almost entirely to cur out sugar and butter. I used a combination of thick Greek yogurt, pureed dried peaches, custard powder, and very little sugar and butter. The result was an amazingly yummy layer with a tang that balanced the flavours, sweetness, and richness of these bars. The fruit layer also added a more coarse texture and chewy feel to the bar.

This was a great DB Challenge. The Graham wafers are superb and I will be making them quite often. The bars though very very rich are very very good. Though even half the recipe was too much, I have popped some in the freezer for a treat sometime later!!

Post Script: 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.

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