DessertJuliette Navarrono bake, canadian cuisine, canadian, thanksgiving, nanaimo, Nanaimo bars, pumpkin, nanaimo pumpkin bars, canadian recipes, dessert, chocolate, chocolate chip, snacks, family, sweets, sweet recipes, deliciousComment

Pumpkin Nanaimo Bars

DessertJuliette Navarrono bake, canadian cuisine, canadian, thanksgiving, nanaimo, Nanaimo bars, pumpkin, nanaimo pumpkin bars, canadian recipes, dessert, chocolate, chocolate chip, snacks, family, sweets, sweet recipes, deliciousComment
Pumpkin Nanaimo Bars

Fitting the pumpkin season, I have a very special Canadian recipe for you.

Yes, i’m talking about Nanaimo Bars, which in this recipe became Pumpkin Nanaimo Bars.

Famous in Canada since the 50’s, they are the most popular snack dessert recipe in Canada and can't be missed at the office and family gatherings!

They are everything a heart can desire: Crunchy on the bottom, creamy in the middle and covered with chocolate on the outside!

Usually Nanaimo bars look a little different. More firm and with straighter cuts.

I have to confess at this point that this was my very first attempt to make them myself and I was a bit inpatient to wait for the middle layer to cool down completely.

But since I'm a fan of authenticity and that means everything can't always be perfect, I thought I'd share these sweet treats with you.
I hope you got inspired to try out this 3-layered Canadian no bake dessert.:)

 
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Ingredients:


Botton Layer:

1/2 cup butter (115 g)
1/3 cup cocoa powder (44 g)
1/4 cup sugar (50 g)
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (100 g)
3/4 cup sweetened, shredded coconut (125 g)

2/3 cups of walnuts (135 g)


Middle Layer:


2 cups icing sugar (150 g)
1/2 cup butter (115 g)
2 Tbsp instant vanilla pudding (or vanilla custard powder if you live in Canada)
1/4 cup pumpkin puree (1/4 of a small Hokkaido pumpkin)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch of salt


Top Layer:

1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (225 g)
4 Tablespoons butter

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How to:

  1. Cut your pumpkin into cubes, cover it with water and cook for about 10-15 min. Make the fork test if the pumpkin pieces are completely soft and ready to be smashed.

  2. Heat and stir butter, cocoa and sugar in medium saucepan on medium-low until smooth.

  3. Remove from heat to cool for a couple of minutes before adding the egg to avoid scrambling. Add egg and stir until thickened. Add graham cracker crumbs, coconut and walnuts. Press into ungreased 9″ x 9″ pan.

  4. Combine all ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth. Spread over bottom layer in the pan. I usually put the pan into the freezer for 10-15 minutes before trying to add the top layer.

  5. Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave in 30 second increments and stir until smooth. Spread over the middle layer and refrigerate until set before serving.


    Info: Here in Germany you will not find already made pumpkin puree, so you will have to cook and smash the pumpkin yourself.
    The same counts for graham crackers, there are no graham crackers here in Germany. But you can replace them with Leibniz Vollkorn o Butterkekse or Lotus Biscoff.

    Hacks: There are some “pumpkin spice” mix that exists, that make it easier to use when you bake or cook instead of putting all spices separately.

    For Walnuts: if you can’t put walnuts due to an allergy, you can substitute the walnuts with augmenting the quantity of shredded coconut and graham crackers for 1/2 cup each.
    For Eggs: if you are allergic, you can replace the egg with either 4Tbsp (60 ml) of maple syrup, honey apple sauce or even flaxseed gel.

Recipe by: Laura from Phenomenal Phoods

Infos & Hacks by: Julie & Juliette


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