January 10, 2009 - Challenge Complete!
This was my first challenge as a member of The Daring Kitchen. I was really excited to try something new that tested me and excited that an occasion came up early in the month that called for a tasty dessert, my sister-in-law is leaving for the Ukraine this week.
The original challenge recipe for the graham wafers is a gluten-free recipe. I chose to go the regular route and used all-purpose flour instead of the gluten-free flours. My budget couldn't justify buying 3 flours I'd likely not use again, and we ended up having most of the ingredients in our pantry anyway.
We made the wafer dough after lunch on Saturday, let it chill in to pieces for an hour, then my wonderful husband rolled it out, cut it and baked it for me - we work as a team and my part of the team was not feeling well and lying in bed instead. The smelled wonderful baking, and my daughter could not get enough of them, she ate quite a few and we called it her dinner. We followed some tips on the baker's forum, and cut them into manageable cracker size pieces before baking, which cut down on the time (about 12 minutes), and made them a nice hand held treat for my little girl. After making 1 1/4 cup of crumbs, we have plenty left over.
By Saturday evening I was feeling better so I decided to go for it with making the Nanaimo Bars.
I decided to change up the recipe for the custard layer to suite a craving I've been having, so I made Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars instead! Here is my complete recipe:
Ingredients:
Bottom Layer:
1/2 cup (4 ounces) Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
5 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 Cups Graham Wafer Crumbs
1/2 Cup Nuts, Finely Chopped (original recipe calls for Almonds, I used Peanuts)
1 Cup Coconut, Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened.
Middle Layer:
1/3 Cup Unsalted Butter
1/3 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Confectioner's (Powdered) Sugar
Top Layer:
4 Ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
Directions:
For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan. Chill while working on middle layer.
I was uncertain about when the egg was "done", I figured it must be when it wasn't changing consistency anymore and I could pick up globs of the mixture with my spoon. The butter had also created quite the layer of oily goodness. Everything mixed together really well. One thing I think I would do in the future would be to put some parchment into the pan so I could pop it out prior to cutting the bars.
Middle Layer: Melt butter and peanut butter in top of a double boiler, mix in sugar til well blended. Pour over bottom layer and freeze while you prepare the top layer.
It was really warm and really runny so I left mine in the freezer for a longer period of time before doing the top layer, but I don't think I should have, my top layer isn't sticking very well and I think my middle layer had set too much.
Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter in top of double boiler. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.
After pouring on the chocolate I placed the bars in the fridge for about an hour before covering with plastic wrap and leaving them to chill over night. This morning that were so hard we couldn't cut them until they'd been left out on the counter for 30 minutes.
I sacrificed one corner to dig out the bars and my husband took a bite and said "wow! okay I'm good." They are delicious but so rich.
I really like how they turned out with the peanut butter and almost satisfied my craving. The coconut makes them chewier and I think next time I'd swap that our from some crispy rice cereal or something that may add some crunch without the chewiness.
They sure are beautiful though, and I fear eating too many and having them be my downfall for my gestational diabetes test this week.
I can't wait to see what next month brings.
1 comment:
All parts look sensational! You did a fantastic job on my challenge!
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