Nanaimo Thumbprint Cookies

A couple of years ago, my husband and I visited the town of Nanaimo, British Columbia, the home of the Nanaimo Bar. It was a lovely little city to visit, and you could get a Nanaimo cheesecake, a Nanaimo martini, Nanaimo fudge, and any number of other tasty treats. I came across this recipe for Nanaimo thumbprint and it is exactly the type of cookie I enjoy making. I get to bake wonderful cookies and I am reminded of places we have visited.

This version is a baked cookie, which is atypical for a Nanaimo Bar, but many items fair better when they are baked. The filling is a little different, and I think I would likely tweak that in the future. The original recipe had you dip each cookie into the melted chocolate, but only covering half the cookie. While my father has excellent candy-making skills, I don’t and that sounded messy. I ended up drizzling melted chocolate over one side of the cookies and that looked perfect.

For me, the quintessential part of a Nanaimo Bar is the use of custard powder in the filling. I’ve seen recipes where it suggests substituting cook and serve pudding for the custard powder, but I always have this on hand and use it frequently. This filling uses just powdered sugar, but next time I would reduce the amount of powdered sugar and add a few tablespoons of custard powder. That would provide that extra flavor that I am looking for. Don’t get me wrong, these are super tasty, but they’d be just a touch more authentic with custard powder!

Nanaimo Thumbprint Cookies
1 cup flour
½ cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup shredded coconut
½ cup finely chopped pecans

⅓ cup butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar

1 cup chocolate chips
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium until light. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing on medium to fully combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. Fold in the coconut and chopped pecans with a spatula.

Shape the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten the balls slightly with the palm of your hand and then make a thumbprint/indentation in the center of each cookie using the end of a wooden spoon or similar implement.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet half way through the baking time. Once the cookies come out of the oven, reshape the thumbprint, ensuring that there is room for the filling.

Make the filling: In a mixer bowl beat the butter, heavy cream, vanilla, and salt on low to combine. Add the powdered sugar and beat until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the filling into a piping bag and pipe the filling into the indentation in each cookie.

Make the chocolate drizzle: in a medium bowl combine the chocolate chips and vegetable shortening. Microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, until the mixture is smooth. Drizzle the chocolate over the left half of each cookie. Allow the chocolate to set before serving.  

Recipe from Redpath Sugar