This is one of my family’s favorite holiday treats. It’s always the first to disappear from the cookie tray and is one of the easiest bars to make. I usually save it for the end of my cookie baking day when I’m tired and all “baked out.” I can put this recipe together and pop it in the oven in a couple of minutes or so and it gives me one more variety to add to the cookie platter.
I don’t remember when it first appeared “—i believe it was in the early 1970’s that the recipe/advertisement was printed in the December issue of one of my mother’s “ladies magazines.” recipe that is most used today has a graham cracker base. I am not a big fan of graham crackers and I much prefer the long forgotten original “Magic Cookie Bar” recipe that uses a base made from Corn Flake crumbs. The flavor of the corn flake crumbs don’t overpower the bar the way graham crackers do. That recipe clipping is the one I have in my recipe book and that I continue to use today. It was an advertisement for Kellogg’s Corn Flake Crumbs, Borden Sweetened Condensed Milk and Diamond Walnuts.
I’ve also seen this recipe called “Seven Layer Bars.” Whatever name you go by, it’s a winner.
An added bonus: it is easy to make this cookie gluten-free just by changing the base cookie. Always check that all your ingredients are gluten free.
Magic Cookie Bars
- 1 1/2 cups Kellogg’s Corn Flake Crumbs
- 3 Tbsp. sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
- 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
- 1 cup (6 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup coarsely chopped Diamond Walnuts
- one can Bordon Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
Measure corn flake crumbs, sugar, and melted butter into a 13×9 x 2″ pan. Mix thoroughly. With the back of a spoon press mixture evenly and firmly into the bottom of the pan to form a crust. Scatter chocolate morsels over crust. Spread coconut evenly over chocolate. Scatter the walnuts over the coconut. Pour the can of sweetened condensed milk evenly over all. Bake 25 min. at 350° or until lightly browned around the edges. Cut into bars while still slightly warm.
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