A Canadian classic during the holiday season!
Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. I purchased this product with my own money and the opinions in this review are strictly my own. I am not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. I am just a fan of the company. I write these reviews to help my fellow shoppers.
So if you are in the United States and reading this I apologize in advance because I’m not sure if they have Nanaimo bars in the U.S? If you do, let me know because I am genuinely curious! Nanaimo bars are a classic Canadian holiday square. If you haven’t had a Nanaimo Bar and you’ve never seen them available to buy, I highly recommend you try making them! They’re a crowd favorite so I think if you brought a batch to a party where nobody has even heard of Nanaimo bars you’d definitely impress people.
These bars originated in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Although now there’s a whole bunch of different ways to make Nanaimo bars they generally are a coconut/nut/graham cracker crust, with a vanilla icing custard on top the crust in the middle, then on top the custard they are finished with a delicious chocolate ganache topping that hardens when cooled.
As far as I know, Costco does not carry Nanaimo bars all year round, I think just for the holiday season. The Nanaimo bars from Costco were $9.99 Canadian and you get 24 in a box. I feel the cost is fair. Not super cheap but also not overly expensive for 24 bars.
The Costco Gourmet Baker Nanaimo bars actually surprised me. I was expecting sickeningly sweet, artificial, cheap tasting Nanaimo bars. The Costco Gourmet Baker Nanaimo Bars were super decadent but not overly sweet, the bottom layer consisted of walnuts, coconut, chocolate and graham cracker crumbs. The middle vanilla custard/icing was smooth and not outrageously sweet. Don’t get me wrong, these are pretty sweet but it wasn’t to the extent that my teeth hurt. The chocolate on top was one of the reasons I enjoyed these Nanaimo bars. I’ve had store bought Nanaimo bars with a chocolate ganache topping that is hard, super sweet, too fudgy and an inch thick. These Nanaimo bars have a very thin layer of smooth chocolate topping that just adds that extra chocolate goodness without overpowering the rest of the bar.
I love Nanaimo bars and feel like they’re probably best when they’re homemade but the taste difference between the ones you make yourself and the ones you buy isn’t always that great of a difference. I think Nanaimo bars would be simple enough to make but these Nanaimo bars from Costco are super convenient as they’re already baked and scored. They freeze amazingly as well. However! Do not do what we did. We put our Nanaimo bars in the freezer without fully cutting through the bars and whenever we want to get one out of the freezer now, the chocolate on top shatters/cracks despite trying to be very careful. So I recommend you fully cut them up, then put them in the freezer.
If you’re looking to add a little insulation to protect you from the harsh winter season, I suggest indulging in a bunch of Nanaimo bars. These babies are high in sugar, fat, and calories. You know, all the good stuff. Seriously though, for one bar which is not even that big (at least in my eyes) it’s 280 calories, 17 grams of fat and 25 grams of sugar. When I used to work retail as a student I would often go and buy myself a massive Nanaimo bar from a popular cookie stand/store. It was probably three times the size of these Nanaimo bars and had that thick chocolate topping I was talking about. I’m wondering now how I didn’t gain 50lbs. Some things are best left unknown. These bars also contain ingredients I can’t pronounce/do not know what they are, sulphites and soy. Which makes these lose points.
These are so delicious that I’m willing to continue to risk my waist line and consume some soy and sulphites while I finish these up. Nanaimo bars are a once a year thing for me so I probably will not be repurchasing these but if you’re a Nanaimo bar fan or need something delicious and convenient to add to your dessert tray I definitely recommend picking these up.
Taste: 8.5/10
Cost: 7/10
Convenience: 9/10
Nutrition: 0/10 (yep, a 0)
