My initial try failed miserably at recreating the coconut margaritas we enjoyed in Costa Rica. I had little success looking for a good recipe online. After learning from my first disastrous attempt and using ideas I saw online, I eventually came up with this after around five or six tries. Enjoy!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 45 mins |
| Servings: | 60 |
| Yield: | 60 pieces |
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup white sugar
- 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 3 tablespoons instant French vanilla pudding mix
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Grease a 9×13-inch dish. To make the crust, place 1/2 cup of butter in a large saucepan, and melt over low heat. Stir in the sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat, mix in the egg until the mixture is well-combined, then stir in graham cracker crumbs and walnuts. Pack the mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish, smooth it into an even layer, and refrigerate until cooled, at least 30 minutes.
- Make the filling: beat together confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 cup of softened butter, pudding mix, and milk until the filling is smooth and fluffy. Spread the filling over the cooled crust, and return to refrigerator for 30 more minutes.
- For topping, melt chocolate with 2 tablespoons of butter over very low heat, and stir until the mixture is warm (not hot) and pourable. Pour the topping over the cooled filling, spreading the topping out if necessary with an offset spatula or knife to cover the topping completely. Return the dish to the refrigerator to cool the topping for about 15 minutes. When the topping is cool but not yet hard, cut into squares; return to refrigerator to finish chilling.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 90 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 10 g |
| Cholesterol | 12 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 49 mg |
| Sugars | 8 g |
| Fat | 6 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
It’s a lot of butter, and hard work… but man, I’ve been looking for a recipe that didn’t include custard powder and this worked so well!
It was delicious and so very sweet. I have a kid who is allergic to chocolate, so I substituted carob. It worked very well. I might reduce the sugar a bit next time.
I did not have walnuts so I used sweetened coconut flakes. It was delicious! I think I should have beaten the butter before add the other ingredients into the filling so that it could be smoother. I had trouble putting the chocolate mixture on top and it seemed like there wasn’t enough chocolate. Next time I will make it in a smaller pan so that there is enough chocolate and the other layers are thicker too because they seemed to thin. Delish!
I followed directions but made more chocolate for the top layer. It was marvelous . Every one loved it.
Very good and uncomplicated recipe for Nanaimo bars. My husband is Canadian so make these for him every Christmas and he loves them. Only thing I change is o
This is it!!! YIPPEE!!! Thank you so much!!!! I’ve been looking everywhere for this exact recipe, my Great Aunts recipe for these Nanaimo bars ( I lost the recipe in the move and my Aunt called them “Chocolate Buttercream Bars”)! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! Now I will never be without this family tradition!!
I started making this recipe 5 years ago for a friend who hates coconut but loves Nanaimo bars. (Funnily, I’d told him inadvertently that the bars always have coconut in the bottom layer, which he didn’t know before. He stopped eating them and I felt guilty so found some I could make w/o the coconut.) Now I make them every year for his bday. I was just refreshing my memory of this recipe and want to tell you that these are delicious. I have had many Nanaimo bars and these are my favorite. The pan recommendation is too small, but I double the recipe and make it in the recommended 9×13. Otherwise you need a smaller pan. They are better when thicker…and with a thicker layer of chocolate on top! Yum. So happy it’s his bday again.
First time making nanaimo bars, this recipe was simple to follow, and turned out amazingly!
I like using combination of coconut and nuts for the bottom layer. for the top layer mix with peanut butter with the chocolate chips.
this was awesome my family loved it!
I have made this several times. I double the filling for a 9×13 pan and I have experimented with different flavors of pudding. My husbands favorite was when I used the “white chocolate” flavor. I added a little Hershey’s to change the color to chocolate for something different. Wonderful recipe!
I just made these for my family. Like what another reviewer said, I found it a little difficult to spread the bottom mixture into a 9″x13″ pan, it’s doable but not easy. The middle layer: I have made Nanaimo bars before using custard powder so I was reluctant to try these with pudding mix. I tasted it and added more because it just tasted like icing to me. If I were to make these again I would deffinately increase the chocolate topping by at least half as this too was nearly impossible to spread, it ended up swirling into the middle layer because it was so sparce to spread.All that being said, my husband & 4 kids all love these…and that’s what really matters!!
Yum! Love nanaimo bars
I used coconut instead of nuts because my husband cannot eat nuts. I thought these bars were just okay. There wasnt anything wrong with the recipe, it turned out just like the picture. The flavor of the bars were not to my liking. I doubt that I would ever make these again. Its still sitting in my frig and no one is eating it.
This is a great recipe; easy to follow and easily enjoyed by many! I would say that this recipe is not made to fill the 9X13 pan, it fit better in a 9×9.
Wow!! These are fantastic!! I thought my husband was going to melt into a puddle. Easy to make, but you need to watch it when heating stuff, make sure you don’t scorch anything.
Fabulous recipe Grandma Chase! I like this recipe much better without the coconut. They however are very rich and need to be cut into small pieces. Thanks for posting a new summer go to recipe.
My family and I are Canadian, but live in California. My father requested Nanaimo Bars for Father’s Day, since it had been many years since he last had one. Made this recipe for him and he LOVED them (the rest of us too)!
yummy..easy to make and the kids love it!!!
I’ve eaten a lot of nanaimo bars in my life and most are far too sweet for my liking, this one is definitely tastes much lighter with the sugar which i appreciated. I did miss the coconut but the walnuts were a nice substitute. Although i like the taste of dark and rich chocolate i found the top layer too cocoa-y tasting. Overall i enjoyed the bar but longed for a bit more sweetness, but possibly just because im used to them being overpoweringly sweet. On the other hand my bars looked AMAZING, i made sure to let the top layer get extra cool before spreading and they were absolutely flawless in every layer, very tidy and professional looking!
Thanks Grandma Chase, this is a great recipe! My family LOVED them. I added red food colouring to the middle layer in celebration of Canada Day! I also replaced the walnuts with coconut (Sorry, but it just isn’t that classic Canadian dessert without it). I will definitely make these again!