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Classic Seven Layer Bars showcase seven stunning layers of bar cookie goodness. Studded with walnuts and coconut, this easy chocolate dessert is ideal for bake sales, potluck desserts, and beyond.
You may know Seven Layer Bars by another moniker, such as Magic Bars or Dream Bars. Whatever you call them, everyone who is lucky enough to sample a square will name them “delicious!”
Those “dream” and “magic” descriptors definitely fit the bar cookie recipe. Seven layers of graham cracker crust, dessert chips, flaked coconut, walnuts, and the secret ingredient (okay, I’ll spill it: a can of sweetened condensed milk) team up to deliver maximum decadence per bite.
Next time you’re assigned dessert duty at the potluck or tailgate party, are seeking inspiration for your bake sale contribution, or could simply use more sweetness in your life, I highly recommend this 9- by 13-inch dessert recipe. It’s easy to make and even easier to love.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Graham crackers: Honey-flavored or cinnamon graham cracker crumbles both taste incredible as the crust for these Seven Layer Bars. If graham crackers aren’t available in your corner of the globe, swap in 1 ½ cups crushed digestive biscuits (9 sheets of graham crackers yields about 1 ½ cups of crumbs).
- Chips: The classic Seven Layer Bar includes semi-sweet, white chocolate, and butterscotch chips. Dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or even chopped bar chocolate would also work wonderfully here. Feel free to mix-and-match as desired; and keep in mind no one will be mad if these end up being Eight or Nine Layer Bars!
- Flaked coconut: I prefer the sweetened kind here but unsweetened is perfectly acceptable too. For crunchier texture and nuttier flavor, toast the coconut.
Step-by-step instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 by 13-inch cake pan with foil and coat with nonstick cooking spray. In a food processor or in a plastic bag with a rolling pin, finely crush graham crackers. Toss with butter, then press into prepared pan in an even layer.
- Layer the walnuts, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and coconut on top of the graham cracker crumbs in that order.
- Drizzle condensed milk evenly over the top.
- Bake until golden brown and fragrant, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan completely on a wire rack, about 2 hours.
- Lift bars out of the pan using foil sling and cut into squares.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This Seven Layer Bars makes 18 generous bar cookies. This chocolate dessert is rich enough that a little goes a long way, so if you’re sharing this as part of a potluck menu that includes other party desserts, you could definitely get 24 bars out of each 9- by 13-inch pan.
- Storage: Wrap the cooked and cooled bars tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for 3 days.
- Freezer: The cooled bars can be wrapped in a double-layer of freezer-safe plastic and frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature.
Recipe FAQ
You can certainly omit that layer, if you prefer, or try toasted slivered almonds instead.
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Seven Layer Bars
Ingredients
- 9 whole graham crackers
- 8 tablespoons butter melted and cooled (1 stick)
- 1 cup walnuts finely chopped
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- ½ cup butterscotch chips
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut toasted
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 by 13-inch cake pan with foil and coat with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a food processor or in a plastic bag with a rolling pin, finely crush graham crackers. Toss with butter, then press into prepared pan in an even layer.
- Layer the walnuts, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and coconuts on top of the graham cracker crumbs in that order. Drizzle condensed milk evenly over the top.
- Bake until golden brown and fragrant, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan completely on a wire rack, about 2 hours. Lift bars out of the pan using foil sling and cut into squares.
Notes
- Graham crackers: Honey-flavored or cinnamon graham cracker crumbles both taste incredible as the crust for these Seven Layer Bars. If graham crackers aren’t available in your corner of the globe, swap in 1 ½ cups crushed digestive biscuits (9 sheets of graham crackers yields about 1 ½ cups of crumbs).
- Chips: The classic Seven Layer Bar includes semi-sweet, white chocolate, and butterscotch chips. Dark chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or even chopped bar chocolate would also work wonderfully here. Feel free to mix-and-match as desired; and keep in mind no one will be mad if these end up being Eight or Nine Layer Bars!
- Flaked coconut: I prefer the sweetened kind here but unsweetened is perfectly acceptable too. For crunchier texture and nuttier flavor, toast the coconut.
- Yield: This Seven Layer Bars makes 18 generous bar cookies. This chocolate dessert is rich enough that a little goes a long way, so if you’re sharing this as part of a potluck menu that includes other party desserts, you could definitely get 24 bars out of each 9- by 13-inch pan.
- Storage: Wrap the cooked and cooled bars tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for 3 days.
- Freezer: The cooled bars can be wrapped in a double-layer of freezer-safe plastic and frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is the Executive Chef and CEO of Culinary Hill, a popular digital publication in the food space. She loves to combine her Midwestern food memories with her culinary school education to create her own delicious take on modern family fare. Millions of readers visit Culinary Hill each month for meticulously-tested recipes as well as skills and tricks for ingredient prep, cooking ahead, menu planning, and entertaining. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the iCUE Culinary Arts program at College of the Canyons.
Swoon. These are what I would like to call… perfection. Definitely happening for the next potluck.
Ahhh, these look delicious! I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off!
7 layer bars are one of the best foods on earth. And this is a particularly beautiful version of them! NOM.