You’re going to love my spin on these Best Ever Magic Seven Layer Bars! They go by many names, but you’ll soon come to know them as delicious!
October is SO close, I can almost taste it!
I am just dreaming of cooler weather, sweaters, boots, candles. I can’t even bear to light candles when it’s hot out. Even the idea of seeing a flame in my home when outside is an inferno is too much to handle.
Friday can’t come soon enough! Well, and then hopefully the weather will cooperate. But I digress.
In the meantime, I hope you are also in the swing of your fall baking despite whatever the weather may be. These magic bars will be a fun addition to your fall baking list and would be fun to enlist the kids to help make, too!
Seven layer bars have many a name – magic bars, seven layer bars, hello dolly bars… the list goes on. Traditionally, these bars have a graham cracker crust, coconut, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, pecans, and sweetened condensed milk poured over the top. They’re then baked and get gooey and amazing. I have made many iterations of these on the blog over the years, many of which use cake mix as the crust for a fun chewy crust. There are so many possibilities with these and you can easily adapt them to fit your flavor profile (use chocolate and mint candies for a chocolate mint spin, etc). Today’s version is classic with a Rebel twist 🙂
Because I’m not a huge fan of the traditional graham cracker crust (I find it too flimsy to hold all of these major ingredients!), I made an oatmeal cookie crust that sends these bars over the edge. It’s super simple and requires ingredients you probably have on hand, but makes a huge impact and lends itself to a chewy cookie base that blows graham crackers out of the water. We’ll still stick with the traditional toppings, but for a fun pop of color and some candy, I added some miniature M&M’s. Who doesn’t love those?
The result is a chewy, gooey, hearty and deliciously chunky bar that’s sure to put a smile on everyone’s faces. Enlist the kids to help assemble the layers or press the crust into the pan. Super simple!
You’re going to love these Best Ever Magic Seven Layer Bars! I know I do!
Best Ever Magic Seven Layer Bars
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup salted butter, softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats not instant oatmeal
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup butterscotch chips
- 2/3 cup shredded sweetened coconut flakes
- 2/3 cup roughly chopped pecans
- 1 cup miniature M&M's candies
- 14 oz (1 small can) sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° degrees F. Line a 9x13 light metal rectangular baking pan with foil or parchment paper, extending the foil or parchment paper over the edges of the pan. Spray your foil or parchment paper with cooking spray and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the softened butter and brown sugar and mix with the paddle attachment until creamy, about 30 seconds. Add in the baking soda, flour, and oats and mix until a dough comes together. The dough may be crumbly, but will hold together if you grab it.
- Pour the dough into the prepared pan and use your hands to press the dough into an even layer, compacting it down evenly as you press. Next, evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, chopped pecans, and mini M&M's candies over the crust, layer by layer. Finish by drizzling the entire can of sweetened condensed milk over the cookie bars.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown, bubbly along the edges and set. The center should appear set. Cool completely, then let set at room temperature for at least 2 hours, up to overnight, before cutting into bars.
I love how unbelievably chunky and gooey these bars are!
Have a super sweet day!
xo, Hayley
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