Gluten Free Nanaimo Bars

I am not officially a member of Daring Bakers blogroll, but I really wanted to try the challenge this month.  For my first Daring Bakers challenge I made the gluten free graham crackers and then made Nanaimo Bars.  Apparently this hard-to-pronounce bar comes from a Canadian housewife named Mabel Jenkins.   It is a super-sweet dessert that is a real crowd pleaser.

A Nanaimo Bar consists of three layers: a top chocolate ganache layer, a middle vanilla cream frosting layer, and a bottom chocolate graham cracker coconut and almond layer.  For my version of the bars I first poured chocolate into heart-shaped molds and then made the three layered treat.  I also like how they look with the bottom layer being on top and dusted with powdered sugar.

You can find the link to the Daring Bakers challenge recipe here.  I did make several changes for mine.  One major difference is that I used almost no dairy.  My friend who I made them with has celiac and can't have dairy either.  In place of butter, I used earth balance, and in place of heavy cream I used almond milk.  She also didn't have a food processor so instead of graham cracker crumbs they were more like chunks.  Despite these changes they were delicious!!!

Yummy!!!!!  Who said that people who don't eat gluten are missing out?!