New York City is home to a critically-acclaimed restaurant called Dirt Candy, whose menu boasts some truly unique dishes: popcorn pudding, celery cheesecake, jalapeno hush puppies, mint chocolate nanaimo bars with a base of green peas…
You can all breathe a sigh of relief, because I did NOT use green peas in my mint chocolate nanaimo bars today.
However this relief might be fleeting once you see what I did use 
.
Nanaimo bars, a popular Canadian dessert hailing from Nanaimo, British Columbia, consist of three layers: a crumbly bottom later, creamy center, and a chocolate coating for the top. While Nanaimo Bars are traditionally full of butter, refined flour, and sugar, today’s recipe offers a much healthier alternative: with one sneaky ingredient you will never suspect!
Mint Chocolate Nanaimo Bars
Cream Layer:
(For a nut-free bar, feel free to just substitute your favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream for the cream layer.)
- 1 1/2 cups raw cashews or macadamia nuts (160g)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- scant 1/4 tsp pure peppermint extract
- 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil (40g)
- 2 Nunaturals stevia packets, or 2 tbsp liquid sweetener (such as pure maple syrup)
- 3 oz raw spinach (85g or 2 very-loosely-packed cups)
Place the nuts in a cereal bowl and cover with water. Let soak 8 hours or overnight. (You can make the crust layer while you wait.) Drain and pat completely dry with a paper towel. Combine all ingredients in a vita-mix or high-quality food processor, and process until completely smooth. (This can take a few minutes in a food processor.)
Crust Layer:
- 1/2 cup raw almonds, walnuts, pecans, or a combination of these (or sunflower seeds for nut-free)
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened (I used the full-fat kind)
- scant 1/2 cup pitted dates (8 small dates) or raisins
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder, optional
Process all ingredients until even crumbs form. (Blenders will yield sticky mixtures, so it’s best to use a food processor.) Transfer to an 8-in square baking dish lined with parchment or wax paper going up the sides for easy removal. Using a piece of wax or parchment paper, smush into the pan until the crust evenly fills the bottom. Make the final layer:
Chocolate Layer:
- 1/2 cup cacao or cocoa powder (40g)
- 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil (80g)
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup (or liquid sweetener of choice) (28g)
Melt the coconut oil if it is not already melted. Stir together all ingredients to form a smooth sauce. Spread over the other layers. Freeze just until chocolate has started to set, then cut into bars. It is best to cut after 10 minutes or less have elapsed, to prevent cracking. Then place back in the freezer to firm up completely. Bars can be stored in the freezer for a few weeks; thaw before eating.
—> View Chocolate Nanaimo Bars Nutrition Facts <—
P.S. Dirt Candy also sells a Rosemary Eggplant Tiramisu.
Hmmm…
Hi! My stomach is not like dates 🙁 What can I substitute for this?
Are raisins okay? She lists those as an alternative, but you need a sticky fruit to hold the nuts together. Or, you could do a more traditional graham cracker crust if you don’t mind that they’ll taste different than the original recipe!
The eggplant tiramisu actually sounds kind of good…
As for those Nanaimo bars, they look fantastic!
Lol I figured either spinach or pistachios based on the color… never heard of these before!
Katie! There’s chocolate/cocoa powder in the crust of nanaimo bars! It’s okay, they look delicious anyway. 🙂
You can add 2 tbsp of cocoa powder to the crust recipe if you wish. I’ve done it before for a similar recipe, so I can vouch for it working :).
Hmmm indeed. I would like to try that popcorn pudding you mentioned though!
I’m from close(ish) to that area of Canada so love that you made some healthy Nanaimo bars!!! Can’t wait to try these!!
these look awesome! I love that they’re undoubtedly a dessert, but loaded with spinach! I’ll have to try these with you mock mint- chocolate- chip milkshake– also loaded with spinach! 😉
Oh cool — am I the first to report back after making these?
I made a batch this evening. They came out lovely, and yummy!!
My notes:
* I didn’t have fresh spinach available, so I used half of a ten-ounce box of defrosted frozen spinach, which tasted fine to me but made a darker green than the picture, so I think I would go with 1/4 of a box the next time I make this recipe.
* I also didn’t have peppermint extract, so I skipped that — though I think the recipe would come out yummier with it.
* I used melted chocolate chips for the topping, which was okay, but when I make this again I think I’d go with Katie’s topping instead, because the chocolate didn’t break cleanly when I sliced it.
* Finally, I never soak cashews before blending, I just add some extra water to match the amount that would have been absorbed while they soaked — but since the spinach already had extra water from being frozen, I just blended all of the filling ingredients as listed, without doing any soaking or adding any water, and that worked fine.
Katie, thanks for yet another yummy and lovely recipe!
(I’m eagerly looking forward to fresh pumpkin season, so I can make your no-bake chocolate pumpkin pie again. That stuff is addictive!!! This recipe reminds me of it.)
Thank you so much for trying them… haha I think you ARE the first to make them 🙂
Even though I lived in Canada for 3 yrs. (Winnipeg, Manitoba, not British Columbia), I’ve never heard of Nanaimo bars and would never consider eating one given its nutritional makeup, but your version looks absolutely divine!!! Next week is Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year – and we traditionally wish one another “Shana Tova Umetuka” (have a good, sweet year). In that spirit, I’m going to try to make these, but will first have to figure out where to score virgin coconut oil. BTW, I adore your blog.
These look absolutely delicious! But I was wondering; do you think that cocoa butter would work instead of the coconut oil for the chocolate layer? 😀
I haven’t tried it… texture-wise it should be fine, but I can’t vouch for the taste.