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Recipes

6 Perfect Nanaimo Bar Recipes 

Featuring the stone-cold classic, plus a glitzy holiday take and a less-sweet salted almond version that's a staff favourite. 
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Nanaimo bars and Turtle fudge bars on cooling rack

Holiday Nanaimo bars. (Produced by Chantal Braganza and Sun Ngo, Photography by Christie Vuong, Food Styling by Eshun Mott, Prop Styling by Nicole Billark.)

While the history of the Nanaimo bar is somewhat unknown, this West Coast treat’s connection with British Columbia and its everlasting popularity as a standard Canadian dessert are undeniable. Chocolate, custard powder creme, coconut and nuts: What's not to love? Here are a few of our all-time favourite Nanaimo bar recipes—including a cheeky little frozen treat.

Holiday Nanaimo Bars

What makes our twist on the standard a holiday knockout? Toasting the walnuts for extra oomph, adding a little salt to balance the sweetness and cutting it into sleek diamond shapes. These cute little bars appear here exactly as they did in our December 1995 issue. Get our holiday Nanaimo bars recipe.

Classic Nanaimo bars on wooden cutting boardPhotography, Erik Putz. Food Styling, Dara Sutin. Prop Styling, Krystin Leigh Smith.

Classic Nanaimo Bars Recipe

You will never go wrong with the classic, decadently sweet, no-bake dessert bar. Get our classic Nanaimo bars recipe.

A display of chocolate and custard frosting thumbprint cookies are laid over an illustrated landscape of Nanaimo, B.C. in a story about Christmas cookies styled after Canadian desserts.Produced By Aimee Nishitoba; Illustrations by Jacqui Oakley; Photography by Christie Vuong; Food Styling by Eshun Mott; Prop Styling by Madeleine Johari

Nanaimo Bar Thumbprints

We reimagined the Nanaimo bar as sophisticated thumbprint cookies. A rich cocoa base full of coconut, walnuts and graham crumbs is filled with the classic custard filling and finished with a drizzle of dark chocolate. Get our Nanaimo bar thumbprints recipe.

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A decadent nanaimo cake topped with floral adornments, with one slice cut ready to serveCake design by Julia Gallay, Produced by Chantal Braganza and Sun Ngo, Photography by Christie Vuong, Prop Styling by Madeleine Johari, Food Styling by Michelle Lucas Larving.

Decadent Nanaimo Cake

The beloved bar becomes a sheet cake! We take the recipe—first published in the 1980s—up a notch with decadent adornment. Get our decadent Nanaimo cake recipe here. 

Nanaimo bars and Turtle fudge bars on cooling rackPhoto, Erik Putz.

Salted-Almond Nanaimo Bars

Some of our editors find traditional Nanaimo bars too sweet, so we developed a bar we all could love. Thanks to cocoa powder, salted almonds and much less sugar, we got it. Get our salted-almond Nanaimo bars recipe.

Nanaimo Bar Ice Cream Pops

A Nanaimo bar ice cream bar dipped in chocolate and topped with chopped almonds in a blue bowl on a sheet of sparkling ice(Photo: Erik Putz)

What if Nanaimo bars were an ice cream and also on a stick!? Get our Nanaimo bar ice cream pops recipe.

Assorted cookies on a pink background with the words in white "Find more Christmas cookie recipes"

Plus, here's what to do with leftover custard powder.

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The cover of Chatelaine's Spring 2026 issue.

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A Bright Spot: Our Spring 2026 issue features 12 colourful DIY decor hacks from guest editor Alexandra Gater. Plus, recipes for protein-packed breakfasts, cheese soufflé and a dreamy rhubarb cake.