This month’s Daring Bakers’ challenge was courtesy of Lauren. A Canadian, she wanted to nod towards her heritage and show us this famed Canadian recipe. Lauren has Celiac disease and therefore can’t eat gluten, so the crackers are gluten-free. Luckily for those of us who couldn’t find the flours, or found them too costly, she gave an alternative for plain flour.

If you can get the gluten-free flours, I would have to recommend it because the feedback from those bakers who made both versions has been that the gluten-free was better!

We adored these honeyed graham crackers made with plain flour, so don’t hesitate to try them. They are so crisp, crunchy and well, just so tasty! Dunked into a mug of coffee… well, it not only knocked digestive biscuits into a cocked hat, it rendered them unconscious too.

The Nanaimo bars were nothing like what I expected. Incredibly rich, they only need to be cut into 1″ pieces. The bottom layer is almost brownie, even fudge-like. The middle layer is basically a buttercream – I would half the quantity next time.

So you cut your 1″ pieces.

Then you might find you repeatedly sneak back to the fridge for yet another 1″ piece. Just fab. Thanks Lauren!

Home-made graham wafers, turned into nanaimo bars – OK, so us Brits are not au fait with these. Trust me. You’re going to want to make these.

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First make the crackers.

Into your food processor, combine your flour(s), brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Pulse to incorporate, then add cubed butter and pulse…

until it’s the texture of coarse meal

In a jug, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mix and pulse until it barely comes together

Turn out onto a floured surface and pat into a rectangle. This plain flour dough is very crumbly (the gluten-free dough is apparently very sticky)

Halve the dough, wrap each part in clingfilm and chill until firm – 2 hrs will do it.

On a floured surface, roll one half into a long rectangle, about 1/8″ thick and cut into shapes – prick a pretty pattern in if you wish.

Place them on parchment lined sheets (I did one tray with parchment, one with silpat – no noticeable difference.), chill on the baking sheets for about 30 mins

Bake for around 12 minutes until golden brown.

The gluten-free ones take more like 25 mins.

Dunk it in coffee now. It’s the law.

Be sure to keep aside about 6oz of them for the Nanaimo bars though.

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Now to the Nanaimo bars:

Melt butter, sugar and cocoa in a double boiler

Add a beaten egg and stir to cook and thicken (I love the change when you add egg. Alchemy, man)

Remove from the heat and add some of your graham crackers that you have smashed to crumbs, some coconut (I dry-fried mine) and nuts. I was a bit short of nuts, so I added a handful of Rice Krispies to make up the volume.

Stir together and smooth into a foil-lined 8″ square pan. Chill.

The middle layer is buttercream with some custard powder added. Beat that together and smooth over the bottom layer. Chill. * I might consider halving, or at least reducing the quantity for this layer next time. Either that, or changing it to a marscapone/cream cheese combo… mmmmmmm*

Finally, the top layer. Melt chocolate and some unsalted butter over a low heat. Once cool, pour over the middle layer. Chill.

When you cut it, you oo0h and ahhhh at its prettiness.

Then you drool. Most unattractive to drool, but inevitable, I’m afraid.

See this bar? You’ll want to cut this crossways. Honestly, joking aside, this stuff is rich, baby.

This month’s challenge is from Lauren:

For Gluten-Free Graham Wafers
Ingredients
1 cup (138 g) (4.9 ounces) Sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour)
3/4 cup (100 g) (3.5 ounces) Tapioca Starch/Flour
1/2 cup (65 g) (2.3 ounces) Sorghum Flour

*(or for gluten eaters, 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp plain flour)*

1 cup (200 g) (7.1 ounces) Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly packed
1 teaspoon (5 mL) Baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (4 mL ) Kosher Salt
7 tablespoons (100 g) (3 ½ ounces) Unsalted Butter (Cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen)
1/3 cup (80 mL) Honey, Mild-flavoured such as clover.
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Whole Milk
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:
1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.
2. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.
3. Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.
4. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.
5. Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
6. Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.
7. Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.
8. Bake for 25 minutes (12 minutes for the ones using regular flour), until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take less, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. The ones that started on the bottom browned faster.
9. When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.

Nanaimo Bars
Ingredients:

For Nanaimo Bars — Bottom Layer
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup (50 g) (1.8 ounces) Granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons (75 mL) Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 cups (300 mL) (160 g) (5.6 ounces) Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See previous recipe)
1/2 cup (55 g) (1.9 ounces) Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped) *I used pecans that were dry-fried*
1 cup (130 g) (4.5 ounces) Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened) * I dry-fried mine to get that irresistable toasted coconut flavour*

For Nanaimo Bars — Middle Layer *Consider reducing this quantity if you’re not an icing fan*
1/2 cup (115 g) (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (40 mL) Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons (30 mL) Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted.)
2 cups (254 g) (8.9 ounces) Icing Sugar

For Nanaimo Bars — Top Layer
4 ounces (115 g) Semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons (28 g) (1 ounce) Unsalted Butter

Directions:
1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.
2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.
3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.

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Additional Information:

These bars freeze very well, so don’t be afraid to pop some into the freezer.

The graham wafers may be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Mine lasted about that long.

If making the graham crackers with wheat, replace the gluten-free flours (tapioca starch, sweet rice flour, and sorghum flour) with 2 ½ cups plus 2 tbsp of all-purpose wheat flour, or wheat pastry flour. Watch the wheat-based graham wafers very closely in the oven, as they bake faster than the gluten-free ones, sometimes only 12 minutes.