DB's Challenge - Nanaimo Bars

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

I did not have very much luck with this recipe. Well, the recipe was fine. I just lost my ability to read or something and had to make the recipe twice. One recipe that was waaaay off and strange (although everyone at work ate it up and said it was sinful) and one recipe where I followed the recipe (whoa! what an idea!).

When I followed the recipe the bars turned out perfectly and were delicious.

The mistake bars were good too, but they were really messy to eat.

Let me explain about my mistake. Like I said, I didn't read the recipe. I skimmed the recipe and read something about pudding. So when I was at work, it was 2 days to the post deadline and a huge blizzard blew into town, shutting down all the roads, I panicked!
I needed to make the bars and I couldn't get to the store to buy a package of pudding mix.

What to do?

Go to my Mom and ask her.

How do you make pudding at home?

She whipped up a batch of vanilla pudding for me.

Fast forward to me making the bars.

The recipe called for 2 Tablespoons of dry pudding powder.
I put in 2 cups of pudding!

It wasn't even close to the recipe.

(insert me rolling eyes at myself)

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Alls well that ends well though.

I made the bars again....2 days past the deadline.

Sorry Daring Baker's!

And the bars are very yummy - rich,but tasty.

I ate one for breakfast.

Part of the challenge was to make our own graham crackers to use in the nanaimo bars crust.

Like I said before - biggest blizzard ever- and I couldn't get to the store to buy the gluten free ingredients.

True, I could have planned better and bought the ingredients ahead of time, but I was distracted with my planning for the Potato Dinner Party.

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So, I didn't have any whole wheat flour.

I ground up some oatmeal and made oatmeal flour.

Oatmeal flour.



The rest of the ingredients.
I decided to make chocolate graham crackers.

Graham cracker dough mixed up.

Graham crackers rolled out.

It is a very soft and tender dough.

Oh yeah, maybe that's because I used pastry flour and oatmeal flour.

Again - big storm and empty cupboards.

Graham crackers baking.

I cut the crackers after they came out of the oven.

And then I let them sit out to dry.

They broke apart (fell apart) very easily.

Nanaimo bar crust ready to mix up.

Now stop reading: 'Cause I'm about to show you my mistake recipe.

This is all the lovely pudding my Mom made for me with lots of powdered sugar.

Pudding filling poured on top of the crust.

Lots of layers.

Chocolate on top.

And this is what it should look like!

Saturday Afternoon

I went over to my Mom's house on Saturday.

She had invited Alexa over for a baking lesson.

Alexa is my gardening, cooking, craft making buddy

AND best friend!

First, the important tying on of the apron.

My Mom is such a good teacher. Very, very patient and hands off. She lets you figure things out for yourself. I think that's the best way to learn how to cook.

Mom and Alexa measuring out the squash.
Notice: No canned squash/pumpkin here!
This is all home grown.



Alexa adding the squash.

Alexa separating the eggs.

My Mom gave her 3 eggs explained how to separate them and then went to the other side of the kitchen to whip up a different kind of bars.

I have to tell you about Alexa making me scrambled eggs.

It's our funny story.

Granted this happened when she was much younger (like 8).

She told me she was really good at scrambled eggs.

So, she made them and we started to eat them.

Finally, Alexa turns to me, "I think there is something wrong with your chickens. 'Cause these eggs are crunchy."

The chicken's eggs were fine, including the shells that she had dropped into them.

hee hee!

II was the official taste tester.

They tasted delicious!

Best friends forever!

Mashed Potato Candy Bars

These are soooo good!

And weird.

I blind taste tested them on 30 people.

No one could guess the "secret" ingredient - mashed potatoes.

The bars did disappear really fast though. They were popular!

Some of my testers' comments, "Tastes like an Almond Joy." "Mmmm, that's good." "Do you have anymore?"

Mashed Potato Coconut Chocolate Candy Bars

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4 cups powdered sugar

4 cups coconut

3/4 cup mashed potato (no butter/milk/salt added - just plain)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbs. lime juice

1/4 tsp. ginger

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Boil 2 med. peeled potatoes until tender. Reserve potato cooking liquid for stock*. Return drained potatoes to burner;mash potatoes and add lime juice and ginger. Measure out 3/4 cup mashed potatoes**.

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In a mixer combine 3/4 cup mashed potatoes and other remaining ingredients.

Mix until completely combined.

Line a 10 in square baking pan with tin foil; grease tin foil.

Press coconut/potato mixture into the bottom of the baking pan.

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Freeze for 20 mins. or refrigerate overnight.

Top with chocolate layer - recipe below.

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*Potato water makes a wonderful addition to soups and stocks. I will be posting a soup recipe tomorrow that uses this reserved potato water.

**After taking out the 3/4 cup mashed potato, do you have extra leftover mashed potatoes?

Yum! You now have lime-ginger mashed potatoes. Add a pat of butter and eat!

Chocolate Layer

1 12 oz bag of milk chocolate chips

2 Tbs cream

2 Tbs corn syrup

Using the microwave, melt chocolate chips, cream and corn syrup in a glass bowl. Stir every 15 seconds. Remove from microwave when smooth.

Spread over coconut layer and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Remove and cut.

Eat!

One of my testers asked what the potato's purpose is in this recipe.

The potatoes are a starch and they bind with the coconut and sugar without making the bars floury, heavy, gummy or overwhelming the coconut flavor.

Instead they are light, not-too-sweet and coconutty.