Life at Cloverhill

Allergy Recipe

Nut-Free Nanaimo Bars

Nanaimo Bars are a popular Canadian treat that are absolutely delicious. Creamy and chocolately and coconutty (is that a word?).

These are a great thing to made for the upcoming holidays. They are sweet and rich and oh so decadent. And I’ve yet to meet someone who hasn’t love this recipe. Even non-coconut lovers like my cousin Al have been known to dive in for seconds.

nut-free-nanaimo-bar

However, they are often made with crushed almonds or walnuts, which means that nut-allergy people such as myself have to suffer watching others savour them. And oh how we suffer.

So my Sis and I came up with a nut-free version, which tastes even better than the nut version. It was lots of fun to make together, and even more fun to gobble it up. Enjoy!

Nut-Free Nanaimo Bars
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 20 squares
Ingredients
First Layer
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 5 tbsp cocoa
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1¾ cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 1 cup coconut
Second Layer
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • 2 tbsp + 2 tsp cream
  • 2 tbsp instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cup icing sugar
Third Layer
  • 4 squares semi-sweet chocolate (1 oz each)
  • 2 tsp unsalted butter
Instructions
First Layer
  1. Mix first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. Add egg to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8' x 8" pan. Place in the freezer as you make the next layer.
Second Layer
  1. Cream all together well. Beat until light. Remove pan from freezer and spread mixture over the first layer.
Third Layer
  1. Melt chocolate and butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in the refrigerator until set.

 

 


Comments

  3. Hmmm you keep making my stomach rumble due to lovely food mmmmmmmm yummy 😉 😉 😉

  4. We just got back from Canada and I would love to make these for my nut-allergic son. Thank you for adapting the recipe! May I ask you what kind of coconut you suggest using–sweetened or unsweetened? Also, would you suggest storing them in the fridge? Thank you!

  5. Coconut is a tree nut 🙁 please be careful when saying a recipe is nut free…for those of us that understand nut allergies, we would recognize this but a well meaning friend or neighbor may not know and give them to someone with a tree nut allergy and say they are nut free.

    • Hi Tanya. Thank you for your concern. Just to be sure, I went and check with Food Allergy Canada. According to them, coconut is not technically a nut. It’s actually a fruit that contains a hard outer shell. The misunderstanding can be in the name and the fact that it is often used as a nut substitute. Not unlike how nutmeg sounds like it’s a nut but is a seed. So while someone can have a tree nut allergy AND have a coconut allergy, they’re not technically the same thing. I’ve been allergic to tree nuts and anaphylactic to peanuts my entire life, and I can thankfully eat coconuts no problem. I hope that clarification helps.

      • this is 100% true I am a chef specifically pastry and unfortunately have an all nut, all fish and chickpea allergy so it is hard to find substitutes. I have created a nut free macaron and its a life saver LOL. But yes coconut is considered a fruit. I wonder if toasted would give it a nice smokey flavor. hmmmmm

  6. Coconut is a nut!!! Ugh this was so misleading. I look for Nut Free Nanaimo bars and still find coconut as an ingredient.

    • Hi Lindsay. Coconuts are often mistaken for nuts, but they’re in fact a type of fruit called drupes (mangoes and peaches are also drupes). I’m anaphylactic to peanuts and have a severe allergy to tree nuts, and can thankfully eat coconuts without any issues. Hope that helps! 🙂