Seven Layer Bars

The easiest dessert you'll ever make!

45 minutes

Serves: 24

Easy

This recipe is really a play off of the "Magic Bars" from Eagle brand condensed milk, but it's the easiest thing you'll ever make and is wildly delicious. The perfect last minute baked treat for any party.

Well, this recipe here is definitely two things – INCREDIBLY easy to make, and NOT a family recipe it turns out. I mentioned making these bars to Mom who had no idea who “Rosemary” was but recognized the recipe as similar to the “Magic Cookie Bars” on the can of Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk. I looked it up and sure enough, the recipes were almost identical. “Rosemary” was a recipe thief!! But her recipe included butterscotch chips, which took the total layers to seven and also gave the bars a whole extra flavor. I figured maybe that’s what “Rosemary” added to make them her own. But no – Eagle has the recipe for Seven Layer Magic Cookie Bars on their website as well. Oh well – these surely aren’t unique but dang, are they delicious and they couldn’t be easier to make!

Grandma’s recipe calls for 1 Cup of Graham crackers, but for me, that wasn’t enough. Eagle call for 1 1/2 Cups in their recipe and I think that’s closer. You can mix the melted butter and the graham crackers together in a separate bowl and then dump them into the 9″x13″ pan and press to form a crust if you want. It’s almost just as easy to mix it all and press it all in the pan. Also not noted in Grandma’s recipe is the instruction to press each layer into the previous as you add them. I think that’s a smart thing to do to keep the bars from being too crumbly.

I think you could easily play with this recipe a bit and have fun with it. Instead of graham crackers, you could use chocolate wafer cookies. Or, replace the butterscotch chips with peanut butter chips and swap out the pecans for peanuts. The possibilities are endless!

I hope you give this recipe a try. Honestly, it will probably be the easiest one I ever post and you probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry. If you do try it, let me know what you think in the comments or share a picture of your results with me on Instagram (@bdhbakes).

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350º
Layer One: Melted Butter
Take a 9x13 pan and fill the bottom of it with the melted butter. You can melt the butter on the stove top OR, save yourself even one more dish and cube the stick of butter and place it in the 9x13 pan, pop it into the oven and allow it to melt while the oven preheats (about 20 minutes or so).
Make Graham Cracker Crumbs
While the butter is melting on the stovetop or in the oven, make the graham cracker crumbs. The easiest way to do this is to take about 10 graham crackers and place them in a Ziplock bag, seal it, then smash the crackers with a rolling pin or wooden spoon.
Layer Two: Graham Crackers
After the butter has been added to the pan, sprinkle the graham crackers evenly over the entire bottom of the pan. Gently press them into the butter to create a solid crust. Use your hands or a rubber spatula.
Layer Three: Add Chocolate Chips
Next, sprinkle the bag of chocolate chips over the crust.
Layer Four: Butterscotch Chips
Now, sprinkle the bag of butterscotch chips over that.
Layer Five: Add Nuts
Then, add the chopped pecans on top of the butterscotch chips.
Layer Six: Coconut
Sprinkle the shredded coconut on top of the nuts.
Layer Seven: Pour Condensed Milk
Finally, open the can of sweetened condensed milk and pour it over the top of everything as evenly as you can.
Bake!
Place your pan in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or so, until it is a rich, golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.