Magic Cookie Bars

I use gluten-free pretzels (in place of Graham crackers) and almond butter (in place of regular butter) for the base, and then use sweetened condensed coconut milk (in place of regular sweetened condensed milk) to make them gluten free and vegan.

I have, and I don't like them at all. If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, try their Graham Crackers. So good. what graham crackers used to taste like.

Has anyone else noticed a change in graham crackers in recent years (Honeymaid brand)? They seem to be less flavorful, lighter in color, and when crushed less granular and more powdery. A homemade graham cracker crust used to be a thing of wonder and now it resembles (both in flavor and texture) the pre-made kind.

Try Trader Joe's Graham Crackers....much more flavorful

I started making Magic Cookie Bars over 45 years ago following the recipe printed on the back of Borden's Sweetened Condensed Milk can. It was the easiest, most delicious cookie bar. I don't remember the quantities, but basically it said to melt 1 stick of butter in 9 x 13 inch pan in preheated oven, pour in Graham cracker crumbs, pour in the milk, then nuts (any kind), chocolate chips and coconut. Bake. They easily came out of the pan when cut after cooling and never crumbled.

I have been making these for many years, following the much easier recipe of the family friend who sent them in college care packages. Forget the crust and layering. Just mix the crushed graham crackers in with the topping ingredients. Spread in a parchment lined sheet pan. The sweetness of the condensed milk is distributed throughout as it binds everything together. Best flavor made a day ahead.

I marked as cooked, but I made major substitutions- rural here and 11 miles from the nearest store. No condensed milk, so I made my own with eggs and brown sugar, from cooks dot com. No graham crackers, I'm gluten free, so I used my home made granola, pulsed in a food processor to a finer crumb, instead of graham crackers for the crust... and then I took them to a dinner with friends. They were awesome, and as I found, very flexible. This is going on my short-list of go-to cookies.

Usually these recipes call for you to drizzle the condensed milk on as the last ingredient. The milk will bake and caramelize and act as glue for the other loose ingredients that you have used on top of the graham cracker crust. This recipe adds the milk on the graham crust and then add loose ingredients on top. Can't see how that helps matters.

I agree with the other notes about adding the condensed milk at the end to hold the toppings on. I added one third of the condensed milk on top of the graham cracker layer after it came out of the oven. After adding the layers of toppings, I drizzled the remaining condensed milk all over the top and finished baking it. It came out well and the toppings held on to the bars when I sliced them.

Made these today. Everything in the layer on top of the coconut fell off as soon as I started cutting into them. I also had to cut off most of the bar along the edges, as the parchment paper would not come off of it. I pride myself on being a good baker, but these were a fail in my book. I had an instinct to use half the condensed milk on the crust and half on top of the coconut, and maybe I should have gone with that.

I have always loved the original recipe of Seven Layer Bars/Magic Cookie Bars/Hello Dollys. However I made this new version and was very disappointed. First of all they were dry and the chocolate never really melted well enough. I tried to cut them after they cooled and most of the chocolate fell off ( and I did chop up the chocolate, but apparently not enough). I'm going back to the original recipe.

I've been making a simpler version of this recipe for yrs, and before I try this one, I'd like to post the version that I and my friends make. We melt a stick of unsalted butter in a rimmed half-sheet pan, spread with 1.5 cups of graham cracker crumbs, a can of condensed milk, 1.5 c of dark chocolate chips, 3 oz sweetened shredded coconut, and 1.5 c of finely chopped walnuts. Tamp everything down with the back of a moistened tsp, bake for 25-30 min at 350 degrees.

how well do these freeze?

Made it with almonds and unsweetened coconut and ghiradelli chocolate chips-delish!

So, made these for a party tonight. Taking in the comments section I made just a few small changes and they were a huge hit. Added 1/3 vs 1/4 cup sugar to the crust. Used 1 1/3 cup coconut and put half of the condensed milk on the crust and the second half drizzled between toppings layers to make it stick a bit better. Perfect level of sweet. Toppings didn’t go anywhere. Huge hit and everyone loved, even my professional baker friend.