Magic Cookie Bar Recipe | Life, Love and Sugar

Generally referred to as Seven Layer Bars (or Hi there Dolly Bars), this dessert has been round perpetually, and for a superb motive. Made with seven of the very best dessert components on the market, these magic cookie bars at all times make me consider that lyric from The Sound of Music, “These are a number of of my favourite issues.” The chocolate. The butterscotch. The pecans. The coconut! And the sweetened condensed milk holding all of it collectively? It’s nearly 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 simple to throw collectively. Performed in below an hour (except for cooling time), they’re the right resolution for that last-minute candy tooth.

Why I Love This Magic Cookie Bar Recipe

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

• A bit little bit of every thing. This recipe takes seven easy, well-loved components 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 simple (and fast). Other than mixing collectively the butter and graham cracker crumbs, all it’s a must to do for this recipe is layer the components on prime 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 simple to swap out lots of the components in these bars for another that higher fits your style buds. Try the publish beneath titled “Variation Concepts” for inspiration.

What You’ll Want

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

• Graham cracker crumbs – I like to recommend utilizing graham crackers and processing them into crumbs slightly than utilizing store-bought crumbs, which might lack taste.
• Unsalted butter – Salted butter can be an choice. It’ll break up the sweetness of this decadent dessert a bit. Unsalted is the extra traditional alternative, although.
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips – Milk chocolate or darkish chocolate chips will work simply as nicely.
• Butterscotch chips – Not a butterscotch particular person? Strive white chocolate chips or peanut butter chips!
• Chopped pecans – I like the candy buttery taste of pecans, however you would attempt chopped macadamia nuts or chopped walnuts as an alternative.
• Shredded coconut – I want sweetened shredded coconut right here, however unsweetened would even be positive.
• 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!

The right way to Make Magic Cookie Bars

Right here’s a primary overview of find out how to make this magic cookie bar recipe. You’ll want to scroll to the recipe card beneath for extra detailed directions.

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

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

Ideas for Success

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

• A observe on parchment paper. I extremely suggest leaving somewhat overhang on the parchment paper you employ to line the pan. When the bars are performed baking, you should utilize that overhang to raise them out of the pan. Really easy!
• Even distribution. Ensure to rigorously distribute every ingredient (layer) excessive of the dessert. You need a few of every thing in every chunk.
• 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 might go both means, the toppings keep in place higher if you happen to add the milk final.
• Cool utterly. Permit the bars to chill utterly earlier than lifting them from the pan and slicing them into squares. If they’re too heat/melty, you’ll find yourself with a multitude.

Variation Concepts

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

• Strive a distinct crust. As a substitute of a graham cracker crust, take into account a Nilla wafer crust or an Oreo crust.
• Completely different chips. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips and butterscotch chips, however you would 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 generally use macadamia nuts as an alternative of pecans right here. They go so nicely with the shredded coconut!

The right way to Retailer

• Storage. Seal the bars in an hermetic container and retailer them within the fridge for as much as 1 week. You would additionally retailer them at room temperature for a number of 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 means, they are going to preserve within the freezer for as much as 3 months. Permit 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: