The Nanaimo bar is the three-layer no-bake Canadian dessert square: a coconut-graham-cracker chocolate base, custard buttercream middle and chocolate ganache top. Toronto bakeries carry it year-round.
The Nanaimo bar originated in Nanaimo, British Columbia in the 1950s, the first published recipe appearing in the 1953 Edith Adams cookbook. Through the 1960s the bar travelled east across Canada and became a staple in Toronto bakeries and Jewish delis. Wanda's Pie in the Sky in Kensington has carried it since 1989; the runny-custard middle layer the city's reference style.
1 editor pick for Nanaimo bar in Toronto, ranked by editorial score. All Toronto signature dishes · Nanaimo bar across every city.