Today’s DIY is more of a recipe I’d like to share. With the holidays around the corner, I have a tendency to get especially into baking so that I always have treats to bring to holiday parties. Nanaimo bars are one of my favourites to eat, and also to make, because they involve a bunch of steps, and I like baking projects that keep me busy for a little while. The bars do require quite a number of ingredients, but all of them are easy to find at any grocery store. I actually just stole this recipe from my friend Danielle, who got it from the Nanaimo, British Columbia website. You can find the original recipe here, or just read on, I only made two minor changes.

Bottom Layer:

Ingredients:

½ cup unsalted butter (European style cultured) (You can sub in margarine for this layer and it won’t make too big a difference)
¼ cup sugar
5 tbsp. cocoa
1 egg beaten
1 ¼ cups graham wafer crumbs
½ c. finely chopped almonds (I used chopped walnuts instead!!!)
1 cup coconut

Melt first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8″ x 8″ pan

Middle Layer:

Ingredients:

½ cup unsalted butter (You can also sub in margarine for this layer without sacrificing taste)
2 Tbsp. and 2 Tsp. cream
2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder
2 cups icing sugar

Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer.

Top Layer:

Ingredients:

4 squares semi-sweet chocolate (1 oz. each) (I actually used more than 4 squares because I like them to be extra chocolatey!)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter (For this top layer I like to use real butter because it makes it taste so much richer)

Melt chocolate and butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in refrigerator.