Nanaimo Bars

 Nanaimo Bars is one of those very Canadian treats.  I have always loved them, but they are also very rich, so one piece goes a long way.  It wasn't something Mom made often, and buying them in the grocery store—they were much too sweet. In the grocery store version, the middle section was mostly sugar. I wanted to make a gluten-free version, and also one that was less sweet, so I went searching and found a recipe at Rockrecipes.com.  

It wasn't gluten-free, but the only part with gluten was the base, and I substituted oat flour for the graham crumbs.  Worked perfectly.  Not to mention that the base was thicker than other recipes, which I loved.  And just to be sure, I made the custard powder from scratch.  If you can't have gluten, you know how careful you need to be about gluten contamination, even if the ingredient list appears safe.  So here is the recipe.  I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!

Gluten-Free Nanaimo Bars

Adapted from Nanaimo Bars - Building a better version

Yield - 36 

Ingredients

Base 

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 1/4 cup (225 gm) oat flour
• 3/4 cup fine or medium unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts  

Filling 

• 2 1/4 cups icing sugar
• 1/2 cup custard powder
• 2/3 cup butter at room temperature 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons whipping cream 

Topping 

• 1 cup chocolate chips 
• 2 tablespoons butter 

Instructions 

Base

• Weigh out the flour, or spoon it into a measuring cup.  Never scoop oat flour out of the package with a measuring cup.  It will compact, and you will get more flour than you need.  

• In a medium pot, melt together the butter, sugar and cocoa over low heat.
  
• Keeping the pot on the heat, add the eggs, stirring constantly to fully cook the eggs to a soft scrambled texture.
  
• Add the oat flour, coconut and walnuts.
  
• Mix together until well combined, and then press into the bottom of a parchment paper lined 9x9 inch baking pan.
  

Filling 

• With a mixer, beat together the butter, custard powder and icing sugar.
  
• Add the vanilla extract and whipping cream and beat until smooth.
  
• This frosting should be very stiff but spreadable. If you think it's too thick, add more cream, a little at a time, until it's right.
• Spread evenly over the base, and then chill in the fridge for a couple of hours. 

Topping 

• Melt together the chocolate chips and butter over low heat, just until the chocolate is melted. 
• Spread quickly over the chilled filling. Return to the fridge until the chocolate sets.
• Cut into squares or bars. These freeze well.