Nanaimo Bars

These brilliant no-bake vegan Nanaimo bars consist of three layers: a chocolate coconut crumb-base, custard filling and a layer of dark chocolate. They’re simple to make but absolutely impossible to resist! 

Vegan Nanaimo bars

Ingredients

Biscuit base:

• 150g vegan margarine
• 57g golden caster sugar
• 40g  cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 100g desiccated coconut
• 200g crushed vegan digestive biscuits
• 50g ground almonds

Custard layer:

• Scant 30g vegan margarine
• 2 Tbsp almond milk
• 2 Tbsp vegan custard powder (Bird’s Custard Powder is SFV)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 125g icing sugar

Chocolate layer:

• 1 x 200g bar of vegan dark chocolate
• 1 1/2 Tbsp vegan margarine

Method

1. Crush the digestive biscuits in a bag with a rolling-pin until you have a crumbly mixture. Don’t crush the biscuits into dust as you want some texture in the base.
2. Gently melt the margarine in a saucepan, before removing from the heat and stirring in the cocoa powder and sugar until well combined.
3. Add the remaining ingredients for the base, stirring well to evenly combine. Press the mixture into a 9×9 square brownie pan lined with baking parchment and chill for an hour.
4. For the custard layer: Beat the vegan margarine with a whisk until light and fluffy.
5. Add the almond milk, custard powder and vanilla to the whipped margarine and whisk together.
6. Sift the icing sugar into the mixture 1 cup at a time, gently whisking until it’s just combined.  Once you have added all of the icing sugar, give the mixture a good whisk to remove any lumps.
7. Spread the custard mixture evenly over the base with a rubber spatula or an offset pallet knife until it covers the base smoothly and evenly.
8. Place in the fridge for another 30-45 minutes whilst you make the chocolate topping layer.
9. To make the chocolate layer: Chop up the chocolate and gently melt over a bain-marie. Make sure the chocolate doesn’t get too hot or it will lose its sheen and become harder to pour over the top of the bars. If you heat your chocolate too much and it starts to become lumpy add a small amount of vegetable oil to make it smooth again.
10. Once the chocolate is melted, and whilst it’s still warm, stir in the vegan margarine until fully incorporated and spread on top of the custard layer.
11. Place back in the fridge and allow to cool fully before slicing up and serving.