If you’ve never heard of nanaimo bars before, I wouldn’t be all that surprised. They are a Canadian dessert, that was founded in a city called Nanaimo, which isn’t all that far from where I currently live. Nanaimo Bars are very much a Canadian tradition. Typically, people make them at Christmas time, well at least my Mom did. Traditionally the bottom layer is a combination of graham crackers, cocoa and nuts…and loads of butter. The middle layer is a very sweet and rich custard (basically custard powder, icing sugar and more butter). The top layer is chocolate (mixed with even more butter).

Its a very rich dessert, to say the least, so I wanted to come up with a lighter version…more of a snack, but with all the same flavors. So I decided on a Nanaimo Protein Bar, and keep it lower in sugar and fat than the traditional version. I had a hard time deciding on what to use for the middle layer. Traditionally its icing sugar and butter with some custard mix. I knew I couldn’t go that route if I wanted to keep it low sugar, so I decided on making it a creamy coconut layer.

I think the coconut layer is perfect, as it adds richness, but its not overly sweet.  You also get all the health benefits of coconut and coconut oil! I made the coconut layer from scratch, but a great shortcut would be using jarred coconut butter, which is not the same as coconut oil since its whole coconut flesh that’s been pureed (1 cup coconut butter should suffice in this recipe). With the coconut butter, you’d mix in the other middle layer ingredients (honey, vanilla, whey protein). A reader also made a great comment that I wanted to add. If you want the middle layer to be mint flavored, just add some peppermint extract!

If you’re a nanaimo bar fan or not, I hope you give these a try. Even though there’s a few layers, it comes together quite quickly, and will satisfy your sweet tooth.