carinamdee: Magic Cookie Bars

Magic cookie bars

aka

Dream Bars

aka

7 layer bars

aka

bar o' deliciousness.

I may have just counted all the layers to see if there are 7.

There is if you're wondering.

These cookie bars are a favorite in my family. A must for Christmas, every year. A giant tray made by my mother, which would get entirely eaten by our gang before they ever made it to the neighbors.

When I went gluten free, it was no problem. Just use gluten free graham-style crackers instead of regular glutenous ones.

easy-peasy.

Going dairy free however, proved much more difficult. The chocolate could be replaced with Enjoy LIfe chocolate, easy fix.

But sweetened condensed milk. That was going to cause my trouble.

Never fear! {"Brooklyn in here!" (if you know what this is from, we shall be best friends fo-eva!)}

I can just make my own!

All it is is milk sweetened and condensed, right?

So heres how you too can make some s.c.m.

3 cups dairy free milk {I use rice}

1/2 cup sugar

Cook milk sub. and sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly until liquid is reduced to 1 cup. let cool before use. makes equivalent of 1 can.

Super easy, takes about a half an hour of stirring.

The first time I made these bars dairy free, I asked me madre to make the sweetened condensed milk for me while I was at work. That way, I could make the bars as soon as I got home without having to stir forever, and wait for cooling. She so nicely did, but misread the ingredients in the process. She added 2 cups of sugar.

It took her hours to reduce down, it was super thick, and looked like carmel sauce.

The bars were the most delicious thing on the planet.

no joke.

So now, while I don't add 2 cups of sugar {it was way hard to work with} I do add more than 1/2 cup for these bars. I added about 3/4 to 1 cup of sugar total this time.

Perfect.

Magic Cookie Bars

1 box Kinnikinnick Graham Style Crackers crumbled

1/4 cup Dairy free butter (half a cube) melted

1/2 bag Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks

1/2 cup Coconut

1/2 cup Chopped Pecans

1 cup DF Sweetened Condensed Milk {see recipe above}

Preheat Oven to 350degrees F.

-Mix melted butter and cracker crumbs together. Spread in a 9x9 pan.

-Layer chocolate chunks over cracker crumbs, until covered. {I layered chunks and filled in gaps with mini chips, just for fun}

-Layer coconut over chocolate, until covered.

-Pour s.c.m over coconut. You can add 1/2 cup to 1cup of it. (technically, you should only add 1/2 cup, but I added the whole batch. It depends how moist you want them to be.}