Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Nanaimo Bars
A no-bake three-layer bar: coconut-crumb base, custard-cream middle, chocolate top, named for a BC harbor town.
Canadian · easy · serves 9
prep 30 min · cook 0 min
~640 cal · 6g protein · 68g carbs · 41g fat · 6g fiber · 60g sugars · 24g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
The Nanaimo bar is one of Canada's best-known sweets, named for the small harbour city on Vancouver Island where, as the story goes, it was popularised in the mid-20th century. It has since become a coast-to-coast national treasure with an official recipe.
It is a no-bake bar built in three distinct layers: a dense base of chocolate, coconut, and graham crumbs; a middle of pale, sweet custard-flavoured buttercream; and a smooth dark chocolate top. Chilling firms it into neat, sliceable squares.
Rich, sweet, and a little nostalgic, Nanaimo bars appear at bake sales, holiday tables, and coffee shops across Canada. Simple to assemble and impossible to resist, they are a small, proud piece of Canadian culinary identity.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 9
1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1 cup total butter (across layers)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar (base)
1 egg (to set the base)
2 tbsp custard powder
Hard to find? instant vanilla pudding powder - the classic tin is sweetened, vanilla-scented cornstarch by another name; pudding powder sets the middle layer the same way, a touch sweeter
2 cups powdered sugar (middle layer)
3 tbsp milk (middle layer)
4 oz semisweet chocolate (top)
Instructions
1
Base: melt 1/2 cup butter with cocoa, sugar, and the beaten egg (or aquafaba slurry) over a double boiler until thickened; stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts. Press into a lined 8-inch pan and chill.
2
Middle: beat 1/4 cup soft butter with custard powder, powdered sugar, and milk into a smooth pale cream. Spread over the base; chill 15 minutes until firm.
3
Top: melt the chocolate with the last 2 tbsp butter and pour over, tilting to coat evenly.
4
Score the top into squares BEFORE it fully sets (a set top shatters when cut).
5
Chill 1 hour, cut along the score lines, and keep cold. A Canadian rite of passage.
Nanaimo, British Columbia tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
British Columbia. Vancouver's Chinese and Japanese kitchens are not a recent addition. Chinese labourers came for the gold rushes of the 1850s and the railway of the 1880s, Japanese fishing families settled the coast from the 1870s, and the result is a city where a Cantonese seafood house and an izakaya are ordinary neighbourhood options.
🗺️
Canada. Poutine's origin is contested between rural Quebec towns rather than settled, with Warwick and Drummondville both claiming it in the late 1950s and the province-wide story never resolved. What is not in question is the construction: fresh cheese curds that squeak, hot gravy poured over to soften but not melt them, and chips underneath.
🌍
North America. North America's table began with Indigenous foodways, the "three sisters" of corn, beans, and squash, plus chiles, tomatoes, and cacao, then layered on colonial, African, and immigrant influences. From Mexico's UNESCO-recognized cuisine to the Cajun and Creole pots of Louisiana and the fiery jerk of the Caribbean, the region turns ancient staples into something new. Barbecue, tacos, gumbo, and mole all carry stories of migration and adaptation.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Canada
PoutineHot fries, squeaky cheese curds, and glossy pepper gravy, rural Québec’s gift to late nights everywhere.
Cretons sur Pain GrilléA Québécois spiced pork-and-onion spread, cold from the fridge, smeared thick on hot buttered toast with a smear of mustard.
Montreal Smoked Meat SandwichHand-carved, spice-cured smoked beef brisket steamed until tender and piled high on rye with a swipe of yellow mustard.
Browse all Canada recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
Make it a Canada meal
PoutineDinner
CaribouDrink
Similar dishes from around the world
BrigadeiroBrazil
RanginakBahrain
Rødgrød med FlødeDenmark
TiramisùItaly
ZhentKazakhstan
Kanyah (Peanut and Rice Sweet)Liberia
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Nanaimo Bars?
A no-bake three-layer bar: coconut-crumb base, custard-cream middle, chocolate top, named for a BC harbor town.
Where does Nanaimo Bars come from?
Nanaimo Bars is a Canadian dish from British Columbia, Canada.
Can Nanaimo Bars be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Nanaimo Bars recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Nanaimo Bars safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Nanaimo Bars take to make?
About 30 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 0 minutes cooking), serving 9.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.