You may have noticed the absence of Daring Bakers challenges on this blog for the past few months. Once it was cannoli, which are ok but not my favorite thing, and then it was a gingerbread house, which is cute but one usually doesn't eat it. Lord knows I do not have time to bake things I'm not going to eat!

But for January, we were treated to a bar cookie from our bloodthirsty, war-mongering neighbors to the north. I'm obviously talking about Canada!

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.

Let's get right down to brass tacks. I'm going to discuss the graham crackers* separately, because they deserve it. For today, let's just discuss the bars.

These are pretty darn yummy, and they are easy to make: they're no bake! (Ironic for a Daring Bakers challenge, isn't it!) You'll need about 30 minutes in the kitchen and two hours to refrigerate, and then these puppies are ready to eat. My entire batch disappeared in 10 minutes at a dinner party. They are chocolaty, chewy and sweet - and make people ask "What is this?" (Unless you live in Canada. Then they already know.)

The original recipe called for almonds and coconut. I didn't have almonds but did have pecans. I'm not a giant fan of sweet coconut - give me a coconut curry any day, though - so I substituted Rice Krispies.** I have to say, this was a big win - the Krispies added a good deal of body and chewiness. Ironically, my taste testers asked if there was coconut in the bars, so apparently you couldn't even tell I swapped it!

Feedback from less-procrastinatory Daring Bakers let me know that the frosting in the original recipe was far too sweet, so I cut the sugar by half. It's still really sweet, but using very dark chocolate for the ganache can ease that somewhat. I also don't have pudding powder in the house, so I Googled quickly to find a workable substitute. I honestly think you could like without those ingredients if you don't have them on hand - or if you do have pudding powder, use 2 tablespoons.

What you'll find here is my version of Nanaimo bars. The effort-to-deliciousness ratio is highly favorable - if you can melt butter and stir, you can make these, and people will quickly eat them until they are gone. Look forward to an in-depth discussion of homemade graham crackers. Here's a preview: I'm a huge fan.

Nanaimo Bars
Unscrupulously adapted from the original

For the base:

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (not too small)
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup Rice Krispies
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa
1 large egg, beaten

For the buttercream:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons nonfat dry milk powder
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon meringue powder (adds stiffness - optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

For the ganache:

4 ounces dark chocolate (72%), chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

For easy cutting, prepare an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish by pressing a large piece of parchment paper into it so it covers the bottom and sides.

For the base: In a large bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs, pecans and Rice Krispies. Prepare a double boiler by setting a glass bowl over a saucepan with 1-2 inches of gentling simmering water. The bowl must not touch the water. Put the butter, sugar and cocoa into the bowl. Stir occasionally until the butter is melted and the sugar dissolves completely. Add the beaten egg and stir continuously. At first, the white will separate out and everything will be very gross and watery. But eventually, I promise, the egg will full incorporate into the mixture. When the custard thickens slightly - a lot like making ice cream - it's ready. Add the chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients and stir gently until everything is uniform. Press the mixture into a level layer in the parchment-lined dish. Refrigerate.

For the buttercream: In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the butter and heavy cream on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the dry milk, cornstarch, meringue powder (if using) and vanilla, and beat one additional minute. Finally, add the sugar and beat until combined. Spread the buttercream over the base layer. Use an offset spatula to make it as smooth as possible. Return to the fridge.

For the ganache: Back to the double boiler! Put the chocolate in the dish and set it to melt over the double boiler, stirring occasionally. Once melted, add the butter and 2 tablespoons cream, and stir until combined. If the mixture still seems a little stiff, add another tablespoon of cream. Remove from heat and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes to cool (otherwise you'll melt the frosting). Pour the ganache over the frosting in the dish. Tilt the dish to spread the ganache into the corners, and use an offset spatula if necessary to fill in any gaps. The ganache should make itself into a uniform layer if your frosting is smooth. Refrigerate until solid.

To serve, remove the bars from the dish using the parchment lining. Cut as desired with a sharp knife by pressing down gently. Do not saw back and forth! Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

*While making your own graham crackers is probably a must for someone with a gluten allergy, it's probably too much work when you are just going to crunch them up and coat them with chocolate and butter and frosting. So feel free to skip making homemade grahams, and just get them at the store. (If you're me, you won't buy any that have shortening or high fructose corn syrup, yuck.)

**Not something I would normally have around, true, but generally wholesome nonetheless. You can always sub with the organic version if you are even snobbier than me. That would be a feat.