My mom made me a little cookbook with all my favorite recipes when I moved away from home. The other day Meredith had it out and was looking at it, and she brought it over to me opened to the recipe for Nanaimo Bars. Of course, then I couldn’t get them out of my head, so yesterday we picked up a few ingredients and made them. This is my version of the original recipe, modified to be dairy- and soy-free. They could easily be gluten-free as well if you found gluten-free graham crackers. I think next time I might try them with a little less sugar in the middle, as I find them to be overly sweet there, but otherwise they turned out great! The original recipe has crushed almonds in the bottom layer, which I think I will try next time.
Bottom Layer
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- 1 egg
- 2 cups dairy-free graham cracker crumbs
- 1 cup coconut
Combine oil, sugar, and cocoa in a double boiler. Cook over simmering water until oil melts. Lightly beat the egg, then stir in and cook until thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and blend in cracker crumbs and coconut. Press into an 8×8 or 9×9 pan.
Filling
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 3 Tbsp rice milk
- 2 cups icing sugar
- 1 package of dairy-free vanilla pudding or pie mix (one day maybe I will experiment with making this part completely from scratch)
Beat until fluffy and spread over the bottom layer.
Top Layer
- 300g or 1 cup or 6 oz of chocolate chips or baker’s chocolate (dairy-free, of course)
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
Melt together over a double boiler. Cool slightly and spread over filling.
Chill in the refrigerator, though I found it easiest to take it out of the fridge for about a half hour before cutting it into squares. Enjoy!
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