Nanaimo Cheesecake Bars- Surprise Recipe Swap
It's the 20th! (Already? What in the world?)
For this month's Surprise Recipe Swap I was assigned This and That, a blog that dabbles in Canadian, American, and African cuisine. I've been playing with new cheesecake recipes to post for awhile now, because it's been too long, right?
Right.
So after some searching around Marly's blog I settled on Nanaimo Bar Cheesecake because um... wow!
I'd never heard of Nanaimo Bars before so I had to do a little research. If you are in the Always-the-Last-Person-to-Know Club with me then I need to explain that Nanaimo Bars are a Canadian treat named after the west coast city of Nanaimo, British Columbia. Traditionally they would be entirely no-bake and would consist of 3 layers: this completely awesome and chocolatey crust chock full of shredded coconut and chopped nuts, a light custardy vanilla layer, and then a layer of melted chocolate.
I'm just gonna go ahead and say delicious.
I did make a few changes to the original recipe, but nothing crazy. I also opted for cheesecake bars instead of cheesecake slices because I'm mostly a dessert-on-a-napkin kinda girl. Also I thought it was important to let the crust shine with this recipe-- the bottom layer is really where it's at.
I was completely pleased in love with totally smitten with Nanaimo Bars!!!
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened dark dutch blend cocoa
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla
- 1½ Oreo cookie crumbs
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- ½ cup chopped nuts (pecans, almonds, walnuts)
- 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅛ cup vanilla pudding mix (instant OR cook & serve--either is fine)
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or 8 ounces semi-sweet baking squares
- ½ tablespoon unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup toasted coconut (see note)
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the ¼ cup of sugar and the 3 tablespoons cocoa powder until smooth. Remove the mixture from the heat and set it aside to let it cool for about 10 minutes.
- Butter a 9 X 9 square pan. Line it with parchment paper and then butter the paper (this will make lifting the chilled bars out and cutting them later muuuuch easier). Pre-heat the oven to 350.
- In a medium bowl combine the Oreo cookie crumbs, shredded coconut, and chopped nuts.
- Gently stir the lightly beaten egg into the cooled butter/chocolate mixture (make sure the mixture has cooled enough to NOT scramble the egg but you still want the mixture to be smooth and liquid). Then add the vanilla.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the Oreo crumb mixture and stir until combined. Press into the prepared pan and refrigerate.
- In a large bowl beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla pudding mix. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Pour the cheesecake batter over the chilled crust and bake for 15 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to 275 and continue cooking for the remaining 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the bars come down to room temperature in the oven (this helps prevent the cheesecake layer from cracking).
- Heat the heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Add the chocolate chips or semi-sweet baking chocolate squares and remove the pan from the heat, stirring until smooth. Stir in the butter until it's melted completely. Pour the melted chocolate over the cooled cheesecake. Sprinkle with the toasted coconut and refrigerate the whole pan for at least 2 hours.
- Lift the parchment paper from the pan and gently pull it away from the cheesecake bars. Cut into 16 pieces
Hey, Canada. I found another reason to love you.
To see my past recipe swaps with SRS...
Prosciutto and Provolone Baked Egg Breakfast
Honey Mustard Vinaigrette Salad with Goat Cheese Pastries
If you’re interested in participating in the Surprise Recipe Swap click on the “I participate” icon below and fill out the sign up form. You’ll be assigned another blog to recipe shop (in secret) and another blogger will be assigned to you. Posts/reveals go up on the 20th of every month. It’s fun!
Oh this sounds mouth watering. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Simon
Okay, I HAVE to go get some Oreos!!
Yes!!!!
I love cheesecake (actually it's my favorite dessert) and Nanaimo bars and these are right up my alley!
I think cheesecake is my favorite, too.
But it might be ice cream.
Actually... I can't decide. But Nanaimo Bars are super!!
God Bless Canada, man. They have maple syrup and Nanaimo bars which, as far as I'm concerned, is kind of one-upping America's hot dogs and apple pies. JK, I love hot dogs way too much.
This Nanaimo Bar Cheesecake looks SO outrageous. Get it in my face.
I was so oblivious to the Nanaimo Bar goodness. Does the US have a bar named after a city besides Hershey? Because I'm sorry, Hershey. You got nothin on Nanaimo.
THESE look AMAZING!!! I love cheesecake bars. I'd eat all of these in like 10 minutes. Yay for SRS! 😉
I had to send these OUT of the house. They were soooooooo good. I love a good (fuss-free) cheesecake!
I would say I would like to try the original but I think yours would taste even better 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Awww you're nice 🙂
These look yum - especially that base, that base I think I could probably just eat a tray full all on its own!!
Likewise.
Dang it! All you needed to say was coconut and I'm your slave. Then, you make Nanaimo Bars and I just basically tie the ball and chain round my legs! A Canadian friend made them for me, many moons ago and ugh...delicious isn't even the start of it. Gorgeous! Waaaaaaah, want some!!
I had never had Nanaimo Bars before, Caroline!! No one told me they would be sooo amazing! After reading some of the original recipes cheesecake seems like a natural progression for the custard layer. I really hit the jackpot with this recipe. It turned out so great! AND it was easy. I bet YOU could do wonders with a Nanaimo base.
Definitely want one of these after the week I had haha I'm just over an hour away from Boston...it was an intese few days
Girl. I have been so worried about you! You have no idea. If I had your phone number I would have been ON YOUR NERVES checking up on you!!!
Holy deliciousness, they look so so good! They will definitely be on my plate very soon!
Thanks, Jutta! And thanks for organizing everything!!
Oh goodness! I had Nanimos when i visited canada over 7 years ago and i still remember how delicious they were. Now i can make them into a cheesecake? YUM! I will have to make some alterations (no eggs for us!), but these look fantastic!
Alter away!!! This was a really great, forgiving, and flexible recipe. Thanks, Samantha!!
These look scrumptious! That crust with the nuts, and then the creamy filling, what a yummy combination! Where do you get your Dutch chocolate? I can't find it in the grocery stores. Figured I might need to order it online.
Dang phone here won't let me give it more then four stars for some reason...
Heyyy Sandra!! I usually buy Hershey's Special Dark. Always available, affordable, and a good Dutch cocoa blend. Ghirardelli makes a good one, too. I like to dabble with the stuff I find in specialty shops but when it comes to things I post here I try not to list crazy hard to find things because I get soooo frustrated when I read a recipe I love and then can't just buy stuff in the regular grocery store.
Make these!!! Omg they are insanely good.
Heather these bars look wonderful. I am so glad that you like our Canadian treat. I am not sure if I put it in this recipe or in my regular Nanaimo bar recipe about using Bird's Custard Powder... If you can get your hands on this it makes them so delicious. Vanilla pudding powder works but Bird's Custard Powder puts more of the WOW in them.
Marlys I loved these! I did read your note about the Bird's Custard Powder and I have no doubt that it ROCKS. But I can never ever find tricky ingredients where I live without special ordering so I try to leave that stuff out of my posts and roll with things like Jell-O 🙂 I bet that powder is full of wow though! These bars were sooooo great!