I made Nanaimo Bars, in 1983 at The Lazy Gourmet when I worked there whilst going to university. One of the best things about Nanaimo Bars is that you can cut them, (once they are chilled) into one inch squares so that they are a one bite mouthful, which is all one needs at the best and worst of times.
The other fabulous thing is Birds Custard Powder and a similar one called Harry Horne’s custard powder. When we first immigrated to Canada from the US in 1966 we found Birds Custard Powder.
Oh it is so nice to make one’s own “runny custard” as it is called in England. We serve it hot over homemade pie or cake or ice cream. When we would visit with English friends for dinner and there was a nice homemade pie, heads and eyes would roll until someone got up from the table and made a quart of hot runny custard! Which only takes three minutes if one has Birds Custard powder. We owned a quart jug just for serving runny custard.
It is the most important ingredient in a Sherry Trifle. My Granny in Montana would make Banana Pudding with ‘Nilla Wafers, Jello Brand vanilla pudding and sliced bananas. When my husband passed away in 2009 we served eight kinds of trifle at the afternoon tea we shared with 160 people. Tiramisu was one of the “trifles”. As was Banana Pudding, a tropical fresh fruit trifle, one trifle with a layer of raspberry jello, a poached pear and raspberry trifle and several others. Eat, Play, Pray for Peace
1
Do people eat them with a fork, or pick them up?
1
Both ways are okay, it depends on the event. If the chocolate topping is quite firm then one might use a steak knife and fork to eat them, cutting up smallish chunks and eating them European Style. Suave and debonair :)
“ 'I forget how many do’s I went to before I finally found that they were called Nanaimo bars by other people,' she said in a phone interview, using an old-fashioned term for a gathering."
"Do" is old fashioned? Quite a common term in the Southern United States (from where I originate). Also rather common in the UK. Sara might want to think first before proclaiming a word to be old-fashioned. Just because it's unfamiliar to her doesn't mean it's out-of-date.
I'm looking at the recipe in a copy of my mom's recipe book. She never used custard powder. Too bad I can take a picture of her recipe and post it here. She her center from scratch. It consisted of 2 tbls of instant vanilla pudding, 2 tbls. of milk, 2 cups of icing sugar and a quarter cup of butter. When firm, spread on Graham cracker base, then cover with melted chocolate chips.
1
Ì have to disagree with when the Nanaimo bar came into being. My mother made them for us as children, and I'm 74, born in 1946, My older brother is 78, born in 1942.
She didn't call them that then. We lived in Vancouver. I will try and find more evidence that it was my mother...Lois Light, who first made this dessert.
3
At Christmastide, Nanaimo bars are often made with red or green food colouring added to the middle layer
3
My recipe says bake the bottom layer, Canadian Living magazine version... Whatever, they are yummy, yummy!
Next on my list to bake - after making Joan Nathan's Poppy Seed cake on Monday, Paula Dean's Creme de Menthe brownies w/o the frosting (who needs?) today for my stylist and my husband's work colleagues while finishing what's left of the Rich Chocolate Gingerbread from Gingerbread: Timeless Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Desserts, Ice Cream and Candy by Jennifer Lindner McGlinn just for us...
Oh, boy, are these good!!
Luckily there was a can of Bird's in the house.
2
I visited the town of Nanaimo several years ago and tried a couple of Nanaimo bars. I was unimpressed. The flavor was uninteresting, and made worse by the coconut in them.
@mkt42. And yet you tried a couple. ;-)
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I've been making Nanaimo Bars for more years than I care to mention. I have tried several different recipes. IMHO the one from Jean Pare's Company's Coming is the best...but with my pro tips: use butter, the best quality cocoa you can afford and the best quality bittersweet chocolate for the top. Finally, toast the walnuts before adding to the base mixture. These tips will take your Nanaimo bars right over the top to perfection! And, yes, I am Canadian so I qualify as an expert!
9
In my mom's 1963 Betty Crocker's Cookie Book, there is a recipe for 3 layered Fudge Meltaways, which were a childhood favorite in our home.
The recipe is almost exactly the same!
2
@Michelle except for the whole, critical, custard powder part.
Linked recipe made in the 8x8 pan doesn’t produce the thick layer of chocolate depicted in the photo. It’s about half as thick.
These things are oh so addicting
1
I grew up in Michigan with what were called Vamino Bars...which was most likely a misinterpretation of the Nanaimo name for them. The recipe is in my mom's church recipe book 1968 revised edition (not sure if it was in the 1959 original). There are a number of differences: more cocoa powder, less coconut, milk instead of cream, instant vanilla pudding, and powdered sugar (in the middle layer). I loved the bitter chocolate top and bottom balancing the sweet creamy middle!
3
@Laura Kett Came to the comments looking for a comment like this one. My grandparents are from Grand Rapids, and Grandma loved to send "Vamino Bars" to my mom in the mail in wintertime.
1
I used to work with a Canadian group that traveled through America and they introduced me to Nanaimo bars on the ferries we took. They were so good and this is such a fond memory!
4
Why do you insist on calling the middle layer "buttercream?" It isn't a Nanaimo Bar if not made w/ custard powder. I discovered the bars in a tiny town on Vancouver Island about 10 years ago & I bought Bird's Custard Powder right then (it's shelf-stable for years). Almost ambrosia - but truly almost cloyingly sweet. Try them - but NOT w/ instant pudding. Please.
3
@Lois Ruble
Hard to find custard powder in US mainstream grocery stores. Hence vanilla pudding. Plain old cornstarch actually works better in the recipe if you have no choice but to substitute. I’ve tried both.
2
@Nancy Rockford Cornstarch pudding is a childhood memory of heaven.
If you use plain old cornstarch add a drop of yellow food colouring to the icing when making Nanaimo Bars. Birds Custard powder is sugar free so one can adjust one’s own “pudding” recipe for custard to one’s taste. I use 1/3 cup of white granulated sugar and 1/3 cup of Birds Custard Powder to 2.5 cups of milk. Firstly heating 2 cups of milk until scalded, and then whisking the sugar, custard powder and 1/2 cup milk together before adding it to the HOT milk, continuing to stir and cook until thickened, in about a minute or two.
Very reminiscent of the Millionnaire's Shortbread we make in Scotland/the UK. It has a thick chocolate top, a caramel center and a biscuit base of shortbread or melted butter and ground up Digestive biscuits, which are similar to Graham Crackers and deliciously salty-sweet.
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/22774/chocolate-caramel-shortbread.aspx
5
The only food I would risk a diabetic coma for (I apologize for the sentence construction, but I am thinking about Nanaimo Bars)
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@Elliott Dahan Your sentence is just fine. Just like every Nanaimo bar I;ve ever eaten. :-)
3
My mother made these when I was a kid, but we called it "New York Slice." She used Bird's Custard to make them.
https://www.cooks.com/recipe/we8gf90u/new-york-slice.html
anyone call 'em New York Special?
I'm Canadian though have spent most of my life in New York state. We returned frequently to visit family in Toronto area. I remember we'd always go "downtown" to Eaton's where we'd visit the bakery to buy butter tarts and Empire biscuits (originally Scottish, but easy to find in Canada, not USA). I can't wait to try Nanaimo bars. Thanks for the cookbook recommendations in the comments!
3
Birds custard is also used in trifle recipes, not vanilla pudding as some in America substitute. It has a distinct aroma and texture that is truly evocative to ones youth. It is far more available now that you can purchase it from amazon. It has updated package but I still keep an empty tin for nostalgia sake. The little yellow chick is still on the new packages! True trifle cannot be made without it.
6
So, get yourself some Nanaimo bars and chop them coarsely. Take a pint of really good vanilla ice cream (from Earnest Ice Cream if you happen to be in Vancouver). Let it soften up. Carefully fold in the chopped up Nanaimo bars. Back into the freezer to firm up. Voila! Nanaimo Bar ice cream. You haven't lived...
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@swalters. I’ve never tried them, but that sounds delicious. I was thinking of warming the chopped pieces and adding a high quality scoop of French vanilla ice cream to the plate. What do you think?
@swalters OMG I just happened to make Nanaimo bars *and* vanilla ice cream over the weekend. Thanks for the tip! Can't wait to try this when I get home.
I grew up in New Zealand in the 1970s and 80s and these were known to us as Nanaimo Bars but also Dream Bars. I never knew they were a Canadian speciality until I went to Orcas Island which is close enough to Canada that they were everywhere. I did some research and now I know. Its true that these are very similar to many New Zealand slices. (slice = bar). All delicious. Birds Custard Powder is KEY!
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I grew up making these with my grandmother, who hailed from the Midwest and called them New York cookies. I have no idea why, and have often wondered if anyone else ever called them that.
1
Ah, getting introduced to Nanaimo Bars, Butter Tarts and Date Squares was one bonus for marrying a man from British Columbia.
Since I had camped during my youth, I thought we would get to go camping. But alas! I think I married the only person born in Campbill River, BC on Vancouver Island who hates camping.
5
Much better sans coconut in my opinion. And because they are quite rich, one square (or perhaps two at most) is generally quite sufficient for dessert.
1
A few Nanaimos and a dozen Kokanees and you're all set.
It's what's for dinner!
3
Mendelson not Paré was the first to publish the recipe in cook book format. Her volume "Mama Never Cooked Like This" was originally printed in 1980. No matter what "experts" might say, it's walnuts only in the base layer and only use butter throughout.
3
Oh. My. God. Cannot wait till Lent is over so I can try these!
4
With 5 minutes of reading this article, my Canadian husband was making Nanaimo bars.
12
Well, the secret is out. And it's about time! (Vancouver Island girl here.)
7
How cool! An article about Nanaimo Bars in the New York Times. Eat 'em all the time. Best junk food ever. One of these days I'm going to head up-island just so I can eat a Nanaimo Bar in a bar in Nanaimo. It's on the bucket list.
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Love the nod to Canadian-foodie originals...now do Bloody Caesar...still think the rest of the world is missing out on the BEST morning-after drink,
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@Stephen Green
NYT did an article on them a while back!
2
I can't have Nanaimo bars, I can't have Quebecois poutine, and I can't have beaver tails, but I can have Tim Hortons coffee at home and tell Starbucks to get lost. You pick your battles.
9
Love it ~ I have Susan Mendelson's The Official Cookbook of EXPO 86 – 1986 !!! So many good recipes ~ and Nanaimo Bars are indeed a favorite at our house !!!
5
Here in Nanaimo you can go on on a Nanaimo bar crawl. Bakery, after bakery.
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@Angus Scully
Sounds like a dream come true - a Nanaimo bakery crawl.
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@Angus Scully. Wow. That sounds like a lot of fun if you have a good 6 foodie friends that love food as much as you. I have a couple of friends (and a brother) that love to talk about food when we are together, usually making a meal together or dining in a restaurant. We would have a great time on this crawl.
1
My Belgian wife makes these for me from time-to-time (as well as cabbage rolls and other things that I miss from Saskatchewan). This type of food always takes my mind back home and from the comments written I see that it does so for many others as well.
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Butter tarts and nanaimo bars...all staples of my childhood
6
One of my friend's mothers used to make Nanaimo Bars when we were growing up in Pittsburgh. I still have her recipe although haven't made them for years and never had a clue about their Canadian origin. They're wonderful treats -- think I'll make a batch for Easter in her honor!
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The article also mentioned matrimonial bars, please provide a recipe for these as well. I remember having matrimonial bars as a child which had been baked by a friend's mother who was, of course, Canadian. They were exquisite.
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Betty Crocker's Cooky Book published in 1963 has a recipe for Fudge Meltaways, that are almost a replica of Nanaimo bars but without the custard filling. Instead, this recipe uses butter, cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla for the middle layer. These are truly delicious bars that I have been making for 60 years.
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@ Carol Lakewood, CO
If Betty Crocker's recipe was published only 57 years ago, does your 60-year-old recipe predate hers?
All the soft middle layers of Nanaimo-Bar-like pastry, mentioned by the readers, make me wonder, if anyone had made a firmer variety of the middle layer?
They're available in Portland, Oregon at the bakery counter in the Hollywood Fred Meyer store. I buy them there from time to time. Delicious!
3
my spouse has been making them for at least 30 years now....fisrt in Portland, now in The other Vancouver...in Washington State.
1
The Nanaimo-born of a Seattle college boyfriend taught me to make Nanaimo bars in 1978. I've made them every year since. Instant pudding mix works fine in the middle layer... but it was fun to taste them in Victoria, last summer, and to find out that their version tasted exactly the same as mine.
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@Eva Syrovy. FYI. Someone else mentioned that Amazon sold Birds powder for the middle layer, so it is available in the States.
1
The lack of Bird's Custard powder should not deter you. Custard powder is mostly cornstarch with a little bit of salt, vanilla flavor and yellow (annatto) coloring added. In the quantity needed for this recipe (2TB) you could just use straight cornstarch and it would work just fine (and if you added a pinch of salt and a bit of vanilla extract, then even closer).
13
Growing up in Nanaimo this was a source of pride and joy. Store bought is nothing compared to homemade and with apologies to Ms. Hardcastle, I can't imagine them without walnuts! My wife, another Nanaimoite, makes the most awesome Nanaimo Bars- one of the many reasons I asked her to marry me!
9
This article makes me look forward to my annual boating trip to the Gulf Islands. Every local bakery features a Nanaimo bar! Delicious!
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Long before we legalized it, a certain plant was added to Nanaimo bars to make them even more enjoyable. The only problem was that the more you ate, the more you wanted.
And please editors - the plural of do (a term which is still used frequently in Canada by the way) is "dos", not "do's".
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I’m enjoying all of the comments inspired by this fun article, and am wondering if anyone can recommend a quintessential Canadian cook book? (Hopefully one that includes ingredients such as the oft mentioned Bird’s custard powder.)
1
“Best of Bridge” is a series of popular Canadian cookbooks. I make a recipe from it called “Best Ever Banana Bread”. Truly the best banana bread I have ever tasted.
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@Kevin Brusker
My favourite 'Canadian' cookbooks are the Whitewater Cooks series which are from a town called Nelson in BC. The recipes are delicious healthy original fare and I swear that the popular 'Buddha Bowls' originated in Whitewater Cooks.
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@Kevin Brubaker
I can recommend both of the above, but for everyday stellar recipes that always work and are not too exotic in terms of ingredients, an essential matter for those of us who live in rural Canada, I can not recommend too highly the Canadian Living Cookbook, and the Complete Canadian Living Book of Baking. Every recipe offers alternative or substitute ingredients and is very clear on method. I own over 100 cook books from all over the world but these are my essential go to volumes.
5
Sounds good to me!
1
My wife is a good cook and Susan Mendelson's Lazy Gourmet cookbooks are two of her favourites. I cannot believe the research of the NY Times to find this wonderful catering company featuring the Canadian treat, the Nanaimo bar. It doesn't matter what the topic, the Times will get the real story.
14
Wait, butter tarts are Canadian too? I didn't know that! So proud.
10
I grew up devouring Nanaimo bars from the local IGA in my town outside Toronto. Now I’m lucky that we can get Birds powder at most of the Publix grocery stores down here in Florida. They are now a tradition on our Florida Christmas Eve spread — along with tortierre!
7
The availability of these bars *almost* made suffering through a Canadian winter worth it.
7
Yet another reason to immigrate to Canada!
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@Darren
Canada is indeed a great country, but it also has Poutine, awful beer, and Alberta.
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@Reality
Poutine rightly belongs in Quebec. I would not call is a cross Canada delight. Most non Quebec versions are inedible
3
@Reality I beg to differ on the beer comment. Canada has long been known to have tastier and stronger beer (I remember the 1970s and 80s when we'd joke about American 2% alcohol beer). Canada then jumped into craft beers, also began importing European beer, and now our beer stores reflect great beers from round the world. But then so do American beer stores today. So everyone's happY!
3
I'm one of those people who will die if I eat nuts. Are there any versions that leave out the nuts? I can have coconut but none of the other nuts...
@sfdphd Google is your friend. Do a search on "nanaimo bar recipe no nuts"
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@sfdphd I think you would be fine to substitute more graham cracker and/or coconut in place of the nuts.
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@gschultens
Thanks....
It's between these and butter tarts. Maybe it all depends if you're Western or Eastern.
6
Discovery of that treat happened in 1980 while I was living in Nanaimo teaching french for a year:
sticky,chocolaty and goody at the tips of your fingers..Another great discovery from Nanaimo:the jazz goddess,Diana Krall.👏🏻🎶👌🏼
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Nanaimo, healthcare, and Justin Trudeau the Canadian Trifecta.
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And butter tarts!! First stop at Pearson Airport!
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"Nanaimo Bars - Treats for Canada's sweet tooth - At parties and do's"
1
When my time comes to cross the River Styx I want to be buried with a tray of Nanaimo Bars. Been scarfing them down since I was a kid -- delicious!
8
Cost Plus World Market stocks Bird's Custard Powder.
7
I once lived for a summer on an island near Nanaimo, without a car. I secretly walked a mile to the store many times just to get these from the lunch counter, too decadent for my host to have at home! A fond (and slightly shameful) memory!
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I’d rather read about Nanaimo Bars than eat them.
4
If you're going to include a pronunciation guide to a word, you should at least use obvious sounds (there are international standards).
nuh-NYE-mo
This explanation is unhelpful. I have no idea how to pronounce the second and third syllables. I'm assuming that NYE should rhyme with rye. In that case, it should be written "NI" with a line over the "i", indicating the long vowel sound (otherwise, it's just a torment from a certain band of Knights).
"mo" can be interpreted as "moo" or "mo" (the second one rhyming with Moe). If it's the latter, then it should be represented by an "o" with a line over it indicating the long vowel sound.
The problem isn't just with this article, it's with all articles in which the author (or editor) decides to include a pronunciation tip but fails to use the standard pronunciation guide rendering the tip (e.g. pronounced waht-EVA) irrelevant.
3
@Michael Dude, just try a Nanaimo Bar and you won't care about its pronunciation.
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@Michael
picky, picky. The pronunciation guide was perfectly clear.
Nuh = huh, Bill Nye the science guy, mo = ho, ho,
Most readers do not have a clue about the “standardized pronunciation “ symbols as found in some dictionaries.
3
Kudos to Christine Albano for the luscious photograph. I don't think I've ever seen a more inviting display of indulgence. It makes me want to drop everything I'm doing RIGHT NOW and make a batch. I believe doing the laundry, cleaning, bill paying, and washing dishes are going to be taking a back seat this morning. Thanks for the distraction Ms. Albano.
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@Marge Keller Go for it! They taste even better than they look. Your sweet tooth will thank you.
1
I just found Bird's Custard Powder on Amazon.
3
Bird's Custard Powder's only use is for these bars, says Ms. Olsen? Nonsense. As every British person knows it is also the correct topping for a trifle.
4
@DRC PGH
And, if my memory serves me right, the lumpy custard with the skin on top, served with our school dinners in 1960s Scotland.
1
Yuck! I have a sweet tooth but these on a sweetness scale of 1-10 are at least 11! My teeth hurt just thinking about them.
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@Mel
Not really Mel. My mum made them with bittersweet chocolate on top and they were delicious and I don't have a sweet tooth!
@Any dots
I freeze them, then gradually consume them frozen-seems to cut the sweetness.
Neither pretty nor appetizing.
Never heard of them till today.
Just made us a batch following the recipe here. (Yes I even had Bird’s Custard powder on hand!).
OMG!!
If Trump wasn’t enough motivation to move to Canada, these deadly squares have convinced me. Canada, better build a wall, I’m a-comin’.
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I just happened to have my tin of Bird's English Custard powder out on the countertop. Nothing like it for trifle. And these little sweeties!
2
One time when staying at the HI hostel in Manhattan, the Nanaimo bar was marketed as a "Vancouver" bar.
Can't say I blame the locals for trying to market them.
BTW, this was back in the 90s...
1
The best recipe can be found on the City of Nanaimo website.
https://www.nanaimo.ca/about-nanaimo/nanaimo-bars
However the best version I've ever experienced is one my friend Colleen makes. She used Bailey's Irish Cream and are TO.DIE.FOR!!!!!!!
4
We also call it "New York Slice". Not sure why, but there's a little bit of NY for you, NYT!
2
We called them New York cookies! Learned to make them with my grandmother, who was from the Midwest, during my childhood in Hawaii. I’ve since moved to Washington state where they’re only known as Nanaimo bars, and have often wondered where the NY label came from...
With so much bad and sad news this past week, leave it to our wonderful friends to the North to sweeten up the weekend with Nanaimo bars. The timely couldn't be finer Ms. Bonisteel.
Thank you so much!!
23
They are delicious frozen
9
Thank You NYT for allowing me to stroll down memory lane. I spent my childhood summers in Port Colborne Ontario and adored butter tarts and later Nainamo bars!!!
5
Some Starbucks in the States sell them. I was surprised when I first saw them as, I thought in the back of my head, that they were Canadian.
3
This bar has been in my family for 60 years, but we call them "prayer" bars...no idea why! :) The middle layer for our bar uses milk, butter, vanilla, dry vanilla pudding and sugar.
2
@Mary lee, ditto for my family. Prayer Bars. Midwest. Dry vanilla pudding (no complaints about this difference, ever). Only at Christmas!
@Mary lee. Maybe after eating the first one, you have to start praying that you don’t eat the whole pan of them? 😉
I LOVE Nanaimo bars! My mother was from Alberta and we had them every Christmas but in Salt Lake City no one had ever heard of them. I've tried to explain them but frankly, words fail me.
Thank you, NYT, for exposing your readers to this wonderful dessert. And I will have to check out the book about squares, or what we always called "bars." I always associate them with small, rural towns, where people visit each other and the hostess says "I just baked some bars and I can put on a pot of coffee..." Heaven.
Now if Canada would just export Roger's Golden Syrup I think I could survive until my next trip to the Great White North.
7
These things should be banned. They're criminally delicious.
During a long home layover due to ill-health, I took up baking as a hobby. Nanaimo bars (OK, so not actually baked) were one of my first successes - absolutely loved by everyone; I made trays of them for the guys at work, outdoor cook ups and charity sales. I also ate a lot of them - and this was the start of about a 50 pound weight gain, which I reckon I'm now never going to shift. Home baking is a hazardous occupation!
What are Canadians thinking of! You do NOT make creme anglaise with Bird's custard powder. No, Sir. The former is a delicate desert sauce made with egg yolks, fine sugar, oil, hot milk or cream and dried vanilla pod. It's tricky to make unlike Birds custard - popular in my 1950s youth to enliven dreadful British cuisine. The latter is starch, fructose, yellow dye and synthetic vanilla. Just add milk, boil and you have a gloopy sauce fit to serve up on the wards in any dreary English hospital or to the inmates of a penal institution.
4
Greatly appreciated. Since the article has some or few historical allusions, I wonder if this could have been mentioned (from The Canadian Encyclopedia):
The Snuneymuxw of the Central Coast SALISH were the region's first inhabitants. Nanaimo is the corruption of the name they gave the area, meaning "gathering place."
7
Thank you for adding a respectful tip of the hat to the etymology of Nanaimo. If only some of that respect could be humbly and sincerely proffered to the First Nation the bar’s name was appropriated from, we might . . . I don’t know, as a white man, I must now fall silent.
Costco sells flats of Nanaimo Bars in Canada. They are always great!
1
Now I must go for a Nanaimo. Butter creme is fine although custard is divine.
3
I grew up during the 50s near Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. My mom made these for her bridge partners and for us children as a special treat. I have her original recipe which I continue to make until today. I have never had a desire to alter its essential ingredients, but I do use valrhona cocoa powder and chocolate and unsalted butter. Like so many others, I keep a tin of Bird’s Custard powder in my kitchen.
Many years ago I made Nanaimo Bars for a synagogue potluck. A member of our congregation came over to tell me proudly that his wife, Fran Croll, a beautiful and elegant woman who has since passed away, was originally from Vancouver and that she made them too. I believe these bars are iconic and bring people together.
15
As a child of the Canadian prairie and now 60, I can definitely vouch for the notion of spending a lifetime finding Nanaimo bars as a staple at pretty every kind of “cradle to grave” event possible, particularly if it’s catered only by the locals attending.
Great article.
12
These were a staple on the Christmas Cookie tray as a child 50 years ago in MI. They were known as Dream Bars and like so many family traditions they were lost when both my grandmother and great grandmother died within a few months of each other. I’m so happy to see them again and will make them for my own children and grandchildren. Thank you so much Canada and the NYT.
11
My company, Slalom Consulting, has an annual cultural pot-luck event encouraging employees to bring in and share food representative of their heritage. This year, I whipped up the Nanaimo bar after reminiscing about childhood Christmases in Hamilton, Ontario. Successfully scouring the city for Bird's Custard Powder, these were presented in vanilla and mint options. A hit! Up next year with a little more planning time, Butter Tarts, my father's all time favorite.
11
There is nothing Kardashian about this sweet treat which I learned of during graduate school in Montréal. Time to make these and sugar pie.
7
Have you ever tried the Maple flavored cookies, shaped like maple leaves that they sell in Ontario? Ah then, there also is a Molson to sip with dinner.
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@Penseur Aldi sells a version of these maple cookies that are just delicious!
1
@Penseur The maple cookies are sold everywhere in Canada. I brought them to a dying Canadian friend in London and they were the only thing her stomach could tolerate in her final days.
2
@Penseur My high school in Quebec was near the David factory bakery. The aroma of maple cookies through the classroom windows could get pretty distracting.
1
These were a Christmas treat in my English grandmother’s home in Edmonton, AB, then in Sicamous, BC when she retired, along with butter tarts (made with currants not raisins), mince meat tarts, matrimonial squares, and rum soaked fruit cake. I always have a can of Bird’s Custard in my cupboard along with a slab of Baker’s chocolate because it’s just what my grandmother and mother always kept on hand.
My grandmother patiently taught me how to bake from my first dessert floating island to sharing her recipes, brought from England and from her mother who was a cook for a doctor.
My grandmother has been gone for almost 20 years, but I continue to learn about baking from Anna Olson, mentioned in this article. If you can, I highly recommend you watch her show Anna Olson Bakes. Each episode focuses on one item or style. She starts with a basic recipe and then shows a second one with a bit more difficulty and finishes with a third one that you see on other cooking shows and know you’re never going to make. But Anna shows you that you can do it.
I PVR her show and often work out on the elliptical watching the episodes. I’ve lost weight and my baking has improved.
13
My Danish Aunt Alma made these for my uncle Harry's birthday party every year, and it was the ONE item I looked forward to on the coffee table loaded with coffee cake, cookies, Danish pastry, etc. In our family since, we've called them 'Alma Bars'; it's wonderful to hear the history behind this fantastic creation.
8
I remember a few years ago while living in Buffalo, I would ride my bike along the Niagara River bike trail to the Falls. I would often stop off at the Tim Hortons in North Tonawanda and there were those creamy squares, available on the U.S. side. When the girl working at the coffee shop first told me the name of them, I knew immediately that Tim Hortons must have brought them over from Canada as I recognized the name Nanaimo as a community near Vancouver from a visit there years earlier. Along with a hot cup of coffee, these tasty little treats would fuel the rest of my chilly ride back home. Could Nanaimo bars be the next poutine?
9
Super sweet but cut into small squares and served with coffee, these are addictive. There's something both weird and comforting about finally getting around to signing up for the subscription I got for Christmas only to find a recipe from back home in BC on the food page. Bravo.
14
I moved to Canada 40 years ago and always found Nanaimo bars to sickly sweet and synthetic. Well of course, graham crackers and custard powder! The dregs of the cupboards of empire were never going to lead to real cuisine. Still, interesting social history.
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@James Jones
Take heart, James Jones! You have likely only sampled the ghastly trays of commercially-produced Nanaimo bars from grocery store chain 'bakeries' that LOOK like the real thing but have gooey tops and 'buttercream' (margarine cream, really) as opposed to the real thing with custard cream powder middles and bittersweet chocolate on top. I am sure some Corner Brookers will eventually invite you over for homemade, but if you've only lived there 40 years, it might still be too soon. I'm only teasing, they will have big hearts there.) That, or come west, and keep trying, 'tis a noble quest.
@James Jones
You can blame the English for custard powder, but graham crackers are a strictly American invention
I never liked Nanaimo Bars growing up in Toronto. Now that I’ve been in the US for the last 25 years and haven’t had one in just as long I kind of miss them.
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I moved to Canada 30 years ago and was introduced to Nanaimo bars as the best dessert ever. Unfortunately, despite being a massive sweet lover, I found and continue to find them too, too, too sweet. They look delicious, but there has never been any 'balance between sweetness and texture' in any of the hundreds of bar varieties I tried.
Sorry nanaimo bar, I wanted to love you but I just couldn't.
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They are very sweet, about the sweetness level of fudge. So a little goes a long way. I usually cut my bar in 1/2 or a 1/3 and share it :)
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I LOVE articles like this. Foods know only to certain regions, beloved by the eaters who search for the perfect example, an army of makers for an army of eaters.
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My mother made these special treats every Christmas but we knew them as Prayer Bars (using pudding mix for the custard powder). Not sure now if she brought them back to the States from when we lived in Canada, seeing the craze they are there, or were one of the many family recipes obtained from all those Minnesota church suppers growing up. Either way, these are a family favorite full of memories! My brother is charged with making them today and he approaches with his engineer’s preciseness cutting into perfect small squares.
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How timely!
I just recently discovered the Canadian comedy show “Corner Gas” on Amazon Prime (it was a popular show 10 years ago) and just this week saw an episode where these bars were featured. I wondered what they were. It’s a small world.
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Corner gas is best show. Especially the old guy who once asked - what’s next a 800 dollar digital clock?
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Yes! One of my favorite desserts. Grew up eating them as my extended family are Canadians living in Vancouver and used to visit Vancouver Island almost annually. They're so rich you only need a small piece. My personal fave is when the middle layer has mint cream.
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In Winnipeg, Manitoba, in the 1950s this treat was called New York slice. Served only at Christmas, New Year's and church and school teas, it was cherished. For a time, when I was old enough to choose a birthday cake, it was also decorated with candles.
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I also grew up in Winnipeg where the Nanaimo bars were called New York slice. My mother was an avid baker and New York slice appeared at Christmas and on my brother Dan’s birthday. I never remember thinking it was too sweet. I still make it regularly. For many years,it was my son’s favourite treat and it was also his birthday cake. In the UK I have found the requisite custard powder, And have to substitute digestive biscuits for Graham wafers. I have done the same in Australia, using whole wheat digestives. They are moorish to a fault and always elicit strong reactions.
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Was it just Winnipeg where these treats were known as New York Slice?? That is what I remember growing up in Winnipeg in the 1970s.
Butter tarts, another great Canadian dessert, was usually too messy for the dainty tray.
@Gillian
"They are moorish to a fault and always elicit strong reactions."
Moorish? I have no idea what this means. Were the reactions negative or positive? I hope you will follow up with a clarification. Thanks!
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It is tough to find custard powder in the US. I generally use the base for instant Flan and it works pretty well, but I might look for custard powder online now!
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You can get Bird’s Custard from Amazon.
One of my favourite foodie finds was Nanaimo Bar ice cream, which was a custard-flavoured base with chunks of the bottom crust and a chocolate ripple. I first had this in Chemainus, a little town south of Nanaimo on the Island, a few decades ago (but I understand a few companies make something similar). I won’t brag about my mother’s being the best (she doesn’t really like them), but I will say my mother-in-law’s are excellent.
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There was a gas station just outside of my hometown of Bellingham, WA that used to have these bars delivered from a woman who made them out of her house. Truly delicious, and truly unforgettable!
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As a teenager in Vancouver I used to go to the Lazy Gourmet and buy foil trays of Nanaimo bars. I justified the purchase by saying they would last a week, but they would always be gone by the end of the day. Now i live in NYC and have to order Bird’s Custard Powder on Amazon.
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Thrilled the Nanaimo bar is finally getting its due in the illustrious pages of the NYT! I discovered them a couple years ago at a bakery here in Seattle, and now, when given the choice, I go for this PNW delight over a bland brownie any day.
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You can buy Bird's Custard at most Indian grocery stores in the US.
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Australia and New Zealand have their own similar slices with flavours including mint, lemon, ginger, caramel, and raspberry. They're from a different era but persist in the cabinets of bakeries thoughout small towns. A slice takes me back to childhood in my grandmother's kitchen.
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Made by my Luxembourg heritage mother in Wisconsin in the 1950's. With real butter cream.
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Rarely do I smile when reading stuff in the Times (especially during the last two years), but this article made me do so.
Sounds wonderful: pretty much like a really fine shoofly pie from around here treats the soul and palate!
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@ Bob Pennsylvania
"Rarely do I smile when reading stuff in the Times" -- a thought-provoking statement far beyond the subject of Nanaimo Bar.
I wish you elaborated the reasons for your sadness. Is it the political orientation of the paper? Wholly irrelevant statements in some articles on their authors' personal life-style? Something else?
@Tuvw Xyz As I read this article, I wondered whether readers would manage to comment without mentioning the US incarnation of Voldemort.
@ Kathy Toronto
Voldemort -- is this from "Harry Potter"? Had to look it up, but not being familiar with wih the opus of J. K. Rowling, your allusion unfortunately escapes me.
I discovered Nanaimo Bars years ago—and love making them. Hoo boy ... they're rich!
Although I totally appreciate that Bird's Custard Powder is traditional, I like to make my own. It *does* lack the distinctive yellow color of Bird's, so there's that. But here's how I make it:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup low-fat powdered milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 vanilla beans, split open
1 teaspoon salt
Just mix everything together and store in a large jar in the pantry. Use in the quantity needed for your particular Nanaimo Bar recipe.
When I bake, I prefer to use caster sugar. And, unlike for savory cooking, for pastry making I like to use fine-grained sea salt (instead of kosher).
Enjoy!
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@Traci
Add a 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric to get the yellow colouring. A small amount will get you the colour without adding the turmeric flavour.
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@Traci
2 egg yolks will give you the color. Reduce the corn starch to a tablespoon, better than turmeric.
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@Jonathan ... yes! I was almost going to include that tip in my note. But just got lazy. :) I think it's a great idea if you want that classic light yellow color of Bird's.
As a child in Northern Ontario these were called New York Special. We adopted the name Nanaimo Bars decades later. Very sweet, Christmas treat.
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@Mary I grew up in Thunder Bay and the term was definitely New York Special. Have to say Nanaimo Bars now so people know what I'm talking about!
My trips across the border always include a store at a grocery for two pillars of my Canadian heritage: Nanaimo bars and a Tourtiere.
Good thing for my heart I don't go that often!
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Never having had one, it seems to me that the bar would benefit from having the chocolate top be as bittersweet as possible, to contrast with the other layers. As a lover of the supersweet halvah, I always found the dark chocolate covered bars to be superior for this reason.
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@stan continople
While I agree with you from a taste perspective, to do so would be to bastardize its fundamental appeal - a too-sweet bar that can only be eaten in very small quantities.
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@stan continople
I agree at this stage of my life.
As I child I adored these treats. As an adult the thought makes my teeth hurt! lol!
A dark bittersweet chocolate topping would be a welcome revision. Still eaten in small quantities. Chocolate, butter cream, coconut and walnuts, bitter, smush, sweet, crunch.
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@stan continople Aha! You have divined my mother's recipe, and the best one there is!
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My favourite treat as a kid. I remember in grade 3 we all had to submit a recipe for a cookbook. Mine was Nanaimo bars. This was around 1964 and I lived in Toronto.
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NO, My Mom's were the best! as were her butter tarts, shortbread, biscotti, chocolate chip cookies, Pies of any type, and cakes. i miss them and her soooo much :(
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@scootter1956 Everybody’s Moms are the best!
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Nanaimo bars are pan-Canadian now, but I never saw or heard of them until my family moved from Toronto to Vancouver in the mid-1960s.
I was also surprised to learn that the date square, a baked three-layer delight with a date filling and rolled-oats topping, was known in Western Canada as matrimonial cake or matrimonial squares. Obviously it was a wedding favourite at one time. I believe they also went by this name in Scotland.
The old joke, “they’ve been married so long they’re on their second bottle of Tabasco sauce,” would also work with Bird’s Custard Powder. Its actual shelf life must be measured in decades.
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My mother, who’s mother was from Cambridgeshire, made these and always calls them matrimonial squares.
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Haha. Never heard that one about tobasco sauce.
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@Paul Knox, that’s because it’s corn starch with color added.
These are very similar to east end bars, which my mother in law makes in Kiel, Wisconsin. I think her middle layer uses a vanilla pudding mix instead of the custard powder. I can attest that they are the best!
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It is indeed an oddity that Nanaimo, birthplace of singer Dianne Krall as well as site source of the sandstone for the San Francisco mint, names this edible.
The local Costco, perhaps uniquely to the chain, produces its own version in the winter, which isn't bad and which they predictably sell in boxes approaching one half acre.
The "perry" pronunciation of Pare/acute may not be correct.
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@L Martin
Correct. It is pronounced Pah-ray, with the emphasis on the "ray".
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@L Martin
Small correction, it's DIANA Krall, not Dianne.
@L Martino
The sandstone came from Newcastle island a provincial park adjacent to Nanaimo. And actually a disputed of territory of our local 1st Nations .
You can find Nanaimo bars at supermarket bakeries here in Portland, Ore. I'm well traveled and a fan of local food specialties but have always been mystified by these -- I assumed they were an Oregon thing. Now I know! Thanks.
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Being celiac I love when I find a gluten free recipe like this. Can’t wait to bring them to a potluck.
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@The Dude - Dude, my comment refers to the novel "Gingerbread" in which squares of gingerbread are in focus and in which a main character is a celiac, which I confess I only learned by reading a review.
The novel defies simple characterization but I am determined to complete it and try to understand its fascinating complexity.
Oddly, it was only by moving to Sweden and having our daughter find a new friend in a celiac family that I learned about gluten intolerance. Now every supermarket has a vast array of foods under a sign pointing to what these foods have in common.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
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@The Dude Nanaimo Bars call for a bottom crust made of nuts and Graham Cracker crumbs, which contain gluten. For a celiac version, make sure to buy GF Graham Cracker crumbs. Kinnikinnick is a good brand, and it's available through Amazon if you can't source GF Graham Cracker crumbs locally. BTW, the GF version tastes every bit as sweet and delicious as the regular version.
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Although I once lived in Ontario, somehow I never heard of Nanaimo bar. It looks truly ingenious, though probably too sweet to my taste.
As to Nanaimo bar donut, on the video link, it looks like a monstrosity for those who enjoy liking their lips and fingers.
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@Tuvw Xyz I grew up in Northern Ontario and my mother made them. My sisters still make them, but as I age the bars seem to increase in sweetness exponentially. I grab one every time I see one, though.
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What a nice surprise to check onto the Food section and see Nanaimo bars; I adore them but I can only eat about 1/4, at most a half. After that, my teeth start to itch!
If anyone does make it to Nanaimo, it's a nice city. Not terribly exciting but nice. Lovely people. And you can access Gabriola Island, which is gorgeous!
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Oh I am beaming with pride. My Mom in Chilliwack made the best butter tarts, Nanaimo Bars and mincemeat tarts. It took her the whole day but Christmas and Boxing Day were all the better for these tasty treats!
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@Lisa
You have a wonderful Mom.
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@Lisa Chilliwack!!
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@Lisa
Please share the recipes! They all sound wonderful. And what a great memory of your mom!
Bird's Custard is also a staple in Canadian versions of trifle. I am able to get it at my local grocery store on Cape Cod - much easier than bringing it home from Nova Scotia along with Crosby's Molasses and Canadian flour. Nanaimo Bars are the best - along with Cape Breton Pork Pies from the East coast!
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Nanaimo Bars and Butter Tarts - two of Canada's finest treasures to the world. Thank you.
Every time I make either delectable delight, the kitchen smells wonderful and my husband comes peeking around the corner, hoping to swipe a sample when I'm not looking. Neither treat remains in our house for long.
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No one made a better Nanaimo bar than my mum.
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@Asher Taite I didn't know I had a sibling named Asher. But it must be the case because my mum's are the best as well!
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@Steven McKoen
My favorite comment!
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Bird's Custard Powder is available at Amazon but I found it at my local Publix near Atlanta.
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@apparatchick
I live in the middle of nowhere, and I've never had trouble finding it at the not-so-local grocery stores.
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@Lori Wilson - Available quite often at Trader Joe's and from the Safeway. And any other local markets frequented by Canadians holidaying south of their border.
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I made these for the first time this past Christmas and they are sinfully rich and wonderful. Just remember to temper the egg in the bottom layer.
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>>And its top crust of chocolate, hard and brittle, thaws like the Arctic tundra the longer it lingers at room temperature.
Hello again, New York City! Although they are both in Canada, the Arctic tundra is a long way from Nanaimo.
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@J I loved that line!!! It's painted a brilliant picture.
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@Tim Amey
It took me just a New York minute to click 'recommend'. Oh wait, NYC is a long way from Vancouver. But I think for illustrative purposes, we don't need to be too literal, non?
I read this to end my day at the Times with dessert and after reading it I must suggest Helen Oyeyemi's newest novel,
Gingerbread,
Review title: Helen Oeyemi Dishes Up Magic in Her New Novel, ‘Gingerbread’
The review led me to buy the book immediately and I am enjoying it but lookout, the first chapter is a challenge.
Enjoy!
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
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