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.

After taking last month off from the Daring Bakers, I was just totally sugared out by the middle of December, I was really excited to dive into this months challenge. A Nanaimo bar is something that I have never ever heard of and for that matter I have never eaten one either. These bars are decadent and extremely rich… and if that’s your kind of thing, well then, these are the right treats for you. The three layers each have their own texture and flavor and when combined they will satisfy any sweet tooth imaginable!

The bottom layer is full of chocolate, coconut and graham crackers (almonds optional but I don’t like almonds so I steered cleared of those). The middle layer is a vanilla custard which is mixed with cream and a hefty amount of butter. And lastly, the top layer is a right chocolate ganache which is the perfect touch to end this dish. Needless to say that these are meant to be shared… I brought them to my friends this week because lets be honest… I have a bridesmaid dress to go buy in a few weeks and any sweets are just not in the cards for me until after I get the dress. Then I figure I can go back to my normal ways of eating especially because I am starting pastry school and then cut out all the sweets again a month or two before her wedding. It makes perfect sense to me! Right? Right? I think so!