Ramblings of a Carolina Blonde: Daring Baker January 2010

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

Nanaimo Bars have been on my list of recipes to try for about a year now. However, I've never gotten around to making them, so I was excited when they came up as part of the Daring Baker's challenge this month. I was impressed at how easy they came together, and how delicious they were. The recipe is definitely a keeper; however I think I am going to tweak the vanilla filling in my next try at these. I didn't have the Byrd's Custard Powder called for in the recipe, so I tried subsituting 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla instead. This made the filling VERY vanilla tasting and super-thick - I was expecting a creamier filling. I'm thinking of trying a strawberry or raspberry flavored filling next time as well. I think that would be good and offset the sweetness and richness of the rest of the bars.

The graham crackers were extremely difficult to make. I did not make them gluten free, for the simple fact that the additional flours needed would have broken my budget month. Also, I had everything else necessary for the bars and graham crackers already in my pantry. I found the dough was very sticky and messy, and I ended up with globs of dough on the nice hardwood floors of my kitchen! However, these homemade graham crackers were the best I have ever had - my husband could not stop eating them! I'm unsure if I will ever attempt to make them again, but I have a feeling that a s'mores on these graham crackers would be pure sin!

Here are some photos from the making of the graham crackers and Nanaimo bars:

The ingredients for the graham crackers: flour, brown sugar, butter, baking soda and vanilla. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the rest of the graham cracker process!