Inspired By Our Neighbors To the North

We recently made a recipe for Nanaimo Bars. This recipe has a slight variation in that they are lemon flavored instead of your traditional bars which are vanilla flavored (or sometimes they are made with a custard filling).

We found that these bars were good (though a little messy for the younger crowd), but that they only got better with time. I would suggest making them the day before you plan to serve them.

Lemon Creme Nanaimo Bars

Ingredients:

Crust:

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional

Filling:

1/2 cup softened butter
1 box lemon pudding mix (3.4 oz)
1/4 cup milk
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Topping:

4-5 oz. chocolate
1 tablespoon butter, shortening, or coconut oil

Directions:

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter, and add cocoa and sugar. Stir until well combined. Quickly add egg before mixture becomes too hot, stirring quickly to mix egg in well. Continue cooking and stirring for another minute or two, to let the mixture thicken. Remove from heat.

Stir in graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and nuts (if using). Press mixture into a 9x9 pan (ideally, pan would be lined with parchment paper) and let chill while you make the filling.

For filling, combine butter, pudding mix, milk, and powdered sugar, beating until smooth. Spread filling over crust layer, and return to refrigerator.

For topping, melt chocolate and butter in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each. Spread chocolate over filling layer, using a knife to spread evenly.

Let bars chill at least 1 hour before serving. Use parchment paper to remove bars from pan, and cut into 9 large or 16 small squares. For best results, serve chilled and store in refrigerator.

Source: mycookingspot.com, but the link doesn't seem to be working, so I can't add a hyperlink here.

Notes: As I said, we liked these on day one, on day two, they were fantastic.