My Favorite Magic Bars

 

This recipe is an oldie but a goodie and has been a staple in my recipe box for years.   When I want a homemade sweet treat, this recipe is a quick and easy one to fall back on that doesn’t take much effort because you can breeze through it with no measuring.

I think this recipe first appeared on the cans of Eagle Sweetened Condensed Milk over 30 years ago and were called Magic Cookie Bars.  We’ve always called them Magic Bars at our house too, and they do go together almost like magic because you simply layer on the ingredients.

Recipe for Homemade Magic Bars

I made these bars again last week because it was a great way to test out my recipe for homemade sweetened condensed milk.  The homemade sweetened condensed milk worked perfectly in the Magic Bars, and in fact they almost seemed a little tastier than usual!

There’s lots of variations of this recipe floating around and now I’ll add my version to the mix too.  Here’s a few notes on my method:

*  Many of the recipes have you mixing the melted butter and the crushed graham crackers together in a separate bowl.  I usually take the lazy way out and melt the butter in the pan while the oven is preheating and then just layer the crushed graham crackers over the melted butter.   Everything seems to melt together while it bakes anyway.

*  You could probably use a food processor to crush your graham crackers but I’m old school and still use my rolling pin.

*  I’ve also seen the sweetened condensed milk added at various stages of layering this recipe.  I’ve always poured on the sweetened condensed milk last, and again, everything seems to melt together just fine.

*  There’s no need to measure the ingredients.  When I layer on the chocolate chips and butterscotch chips, I just use about a half of a 12 oz bag which equals about a cup (although some manufacturers are now selling 11 oz bags for the same price . . .Grrr).

*  For the flaked coconut, I just sprinkle it around until I have a nice looking layer.  Same thing with the chopped nuts.  I just sprinkle some around until it looks good.

 

My Favorite Magic Bars

Ingredients:

  • 1 Stick of Butter

  • 1 Sleeve of Graham Crackers (9 large rectangles) – Crushed

  • Chocolate Chips (about 1 cup or 1/2 of a 12 oz bag)

  • Butterscotch Chips (about 1 cup or 1/2 of a 12 oz bag)

  • Flaked Coconut

  • Chopped Nuts

  • 1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk (or Make Your Own!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  While the oven is preheating, put a 9×13 pan with the stick of butter in it, inside the oven so it can melt while the oven is preheating.

When the butter has melted, remove the pan from the oven.  (I usually get impatient and pull the pan out before the butter is totally melted and just swirl it around some more myself to help it keep melting)

Sprinkle the crushed graham crackers over the melted butter, distributing them evenly and patting them down a little bit as well.

Next, sprinkle around the chocolate chips and the butterscotch chips.

Follow this with a layer of flaked coconut and then a layer of the chopped nuts.

Pour the sweetened condensed milk over everything, distributing it evenly around the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

 

 

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3 Comments

    1. I haven’t tried doubling the butterscotch chips but that’s an excellent idea. I’ll have to remember that and give it a try!