Magic Cookie Bar Recipe | Life, Love and Sugar

Typically known as Seven Layer Bars (or Hey Dolly Bars), this dessert has been round ceaselessly, and for a very good purpose. Made with seven of the perfect dessert substances on the market, these magic cookie bars at all times make me consider that lyric from The Sound of Music, “These are just a few of my favourite issues.” The chocolate. The butterscotch. The pecans. The coconut! And the sweetened condensed milk holding all of it collectively? It’s virtually too good to be true! Plus, you get that traditional graham cracker crust on the underside. So good.

Dessert bars like these and my Frosted Sugar Cookies Bars are so fast to fly off the dessert desk, they usually’re tremendous straightforward to throw collectively. Achieved in underneath an hour (other than cooling time), they’re the right answer for that last-minute candy tooth.

Why I Love This Magic Cookie Bar Recipe

Let me rely the methods! Listed here are among the greatest issues about this gloriously easy dessert bar recipe:

• A little bit little bit of all the things. This recipe takes seven easy, well-loved substances and throws them collectively. The graham cracker crust out of your favourite cheesecake, the chocolate chips out of your favourite cookie, the coconut from these macaroons you crave…plus some. All of it in a single superior dessert!
• SO straightforward (and fast). Other than mixing collectively the butter and graham cracker crumbs, all you need to do for this recipe is layer the substances on high of one another and bake. It doesn’t get a lot simpler! Plus, it solely takes 40 minutes (plus cooling time).
• Customizable. It’s tremendous straightforward to swap out most of the substances in these bars for an alternate that higher fits your style buds. Try the put up under titled “Variation Concepts” for inspiration.

What You’ll Want

You’ll solely want seven substances for this magic cookie bar recipe, and right here they’re. Take a look on the recipe card under for precise measurements.

• Graham cracker crumbs – I like to recommend utilizing graham crackers and processing them into crumbs somewhat than utilizing store-bought crumbs, which might lack taste.
• Unsalted butter – Salted butter can be an possibility. It’ll break up the sweetness of this decadent dessert a bit. Unsalted is the extra traditional selection, although.
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips – Milk chocolate or darkish chocolate chips will work simply as effectively.
• Butterscotch chips – Not a butterscotch particular person? Attempt white chocolate chips or peanut butter chips!
• Chopped pecans – I really like the candy buttery taste of pecans, however you may attempt chopped macadamia nuts or chopped walnuts as a substitute.
• Shredded coconut – I choose sweetened shredded coconut right here, however unsweetened would even be superb.
• Sweetened condensed milk – The sweetened condensed milk actually holds these bars collectively. Do not forget that it’s not the identical as evaporated milk! Learn these labels!

Find out how to Make Magic Cookie Bars

Right here’s a primary overview of methods to make this magic cookie bar recipe. Make sure you scroll to the recipe card under for extra detailed directions.

• Prep. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper (depart some overhang).

• Bake. Drizzle with sweetened condensed milk and bake for 25-Half-hour.
• Cool. Cool fully, take away from the pan, and reduce into squares.

Ideas for Success

This recipe is just about so simple as it will get. That being stated, I do have some ideas that’ll allow you to get the outcomes you’re in search of:

• A notice on parchment paper. I extremely advocate leaving a bit of overhang on the parchment paper you utilize to line the pan. When the bars are performed baking, you should use that overhang to elevate them out of the pan. Really easy!
• Even distribution. Be sure to fastidiously distribute every ingredient (layer) excessive of the dessert. You need a few of all the things in every chew.
• Add condensed milk final. Some individuals add the sweetened condensed milk first, then the toppings. Others do as I do and add the toppings then the milk. When you may go both manner, the toppings keep in place higher when you add the milk final.
• Cool fully. Enable the bars to chill fully earlier than lifting them from the pan and chopping them into squares. If they’re too heat/melty, you’ll find yourself with a large number.

Variation Concepts

This recipe is uber-flexible, with numerous substitutions for each layer out there to you. Listed here are some concepts:

• Attempt a unique crust. As a substitute of a graham cracker crust, contemplate a Nilla wafer crust or an Oreo crust.
• Totally different chips. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips and butterscotch chips, however you may simply swap one or the opposite for white chocolate chips, darkish chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, and even peanut butter chips!
• Nut swap. I’ll typically use macadamia nuts as a substitute of pecans right here. They go so effectively with the shredded coconut!

Find out how to Retailer

• Storage. Seal the bars in an hermetic container and retailer them within the fridge for as much as 1 week. You could possibly additionally retailer them at room temperature for just a few days (as much as 5).
• Freezer. Retailer the leftover bars in an hermetic, freezer-safe container. In any other case, wrap particular person bars in a double layer of plastic wrap. Both manner, they are going to hold within the freezer for as much as 3 months. Enable the magic cookie bars to thaw within the fridge earlier than having fun with.

Extra Cookie Bar Recipes

Cookie bars have at all times been successful in my home. To me, they’re simpler than cookies and simply as satisfying. Listed here are another favorites so that you can attempt: