Magic Bars

While searching for a quick and easy snack to prepare for a tea party among my colleagues at school, I stumbled upon this recipe from the Joy of Baking. I have been a big fan of Stephanie for few years now, and her website. I have tried many recipes from her website and they all have come out just as perfect as they sound.

Magic Bars, as the name suggests blends all the ingredients together like a magic in the oven and comes out as a fabulous snack in no time with absolutely no efforts. A perfect balance of the chewiness and crunchiness in every bite. They are also known as coconut dream bars.

I have baked these bars many times, and every time I bake a batch, they disappear in no time with a demand to bake another batch. I have also tried it with chopped raisins/sultanas/dates along with walnuts and they have turned out as delicious as the ones without. So feel free to add and experiment.

The recipe calls for ingredients that are almost always available in our pantry. A very easy to follow, only the base layer involves combining the biscuit crumbs and butter, rest all ingredients are spread as layers and they are ready to go into the oven. These bars are also called as 6 or 7 layer bars because of the 6 or 7 different layers of ingredients.

Recipe

Makes 25-30 bars

Preparation time 5 – 10 mins

Baking time 30 – 35 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

1 1/2 cups (150 grams) graham crackers/ digestives biscuits, crumbs or crushed

1 cup (55 grams) sweetened or unsweetened, flaked or shredded dried desiccated coconut

1 cup (175 grams) semisweet chocolate chips or

1 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

1 cup (175 grams) butterscotch chips (optional)

1 cup (100 grams) chopped walnuts/pecans

1 can (14 ounce/396 grams) sweetened condensed milk

Method

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Line a 9 inch baking pan or a brownie pan with parchment/butter paper and then butter the paper.

In a mixing bowl, combine well the biscuit crumbs and the melted butter. Press the crumb mixture evenly on to the lined baking pan.

Next, sprinkle the desiccated coconut over the crumbs, follow that with a layer of chocolate chips and butterscotch chips ( if using) over the coconut layer. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts/pecans over the chips.

Finally, evenly drizzle the sweetened condensed milk all over the ingredients. Do not mix the ingredients together, just layer them.

Bake in a preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes, in the center rack or until golden brown and set . Remove from oven and place on a wire rack till completely cool. Cut into bars and store in an airtight jar or in the refrigerator.

Happy baking !!