Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies - Day 8

I love these cookie bars because they take me back to my childhood. My mom and I used to make these when we wanted a little sweet treat and didn’t have a lot of time. We called them Magic Bars but they are also known as Hello Dollys. Bar cookies are the easiest of all the cookies to make. You can barely even call it a recipe as it is so little work, just layering and baking six ingredients and then you get to enjoy them. One of my favorite flavors still today is graham crackers and chocolate! Thanks for the magic Mom!

Magic Bars

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 1/3 cups sweetened flaked or shredded coconut

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1 - 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place the rack in the center of the oven. Have ready a 9 x 9 inch (23 x 23 cm) square baking pan. 

Melt the butter and pour it into the bottom of your pan. Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs evenly over the butter. Sprinkle the coconut over the crumbs. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the coconut. Sprinkle the nuts over the chocolate chips. Finally, drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over all the ingredients. Do not mix the ingredients together, just layer them.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the squares comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Cut into squares. Store in the refrigerator. These bars can be frozen.

Makes about 16 - 2 inch squares.