Magic Cookie Bars

Who hasn’t heard of Magic Cookie Bars?? My husband apparently. When I told him that I was making them he told me that he had never heard of them. Hmmm, are these an East coast thing? I thought everyone knew what these were?

All through my childhood this was one of the treats that my Mom made. I think we got the original recipe off the back of a can of Eagle Brand Condensed Milk. Super simple to make and always the first thing gobbled up at a party. We would make them with peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, you could really substitute anything you like, dried fruit, mini marshmallows, M&M’s, etc. In fact I substituted chocolate graham crackers when I made them this time, and I used semi-sweet and white chocolate chips with toasted hazelnuts and walnuts. We are having Eva & Ken over for dinner, so this will be dessert!

I wonder why I haven’t made them in years? It’s a shame really.

Magic Cookie Bars
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine melted
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350°F (325°F for glass dish). In small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter; mix well. Press crumb mixture firmly on bottom of 13X9-inch baking pan.

Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with remaining ingredients; press down firmly.

Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely. Cut into bars or diamonds. Store leftovers covered at room temperature.