It's been a while since I've posted about my adventures in the kitchen, so I thought that the best way to get back into things would be to start with something easy. Seriously -- this recipe is one of the easiest I've tackled, and even better? This recipe produces a treat so tasty, you'll wish it wasn't so easy because you'll surely make about five pans of these beauties.
What delicious item is on the agenda for today's baking post? So glad you asked -- that would be the notoriously sweet and probably heart-attacking inducing seven layer bars. If you haven't heard of these bars before, then you're in for a treat (pun intended.) Each ingredient essentially makes up a layer of the bar and let me assure anyone reading this who considers himself/herself domestically impaired (like I consider myself to be), even you can make this.
From allrecipes.com:
Ingredients
As you can probably tell by comparing the above recipe to the picture of ingredients, I do not have all seven layers (except for the butter, I did have that, it just wasn't pictured.) Certainly a recipe such as this lends itself to a bit of modification depending on your own preferences or allergies. I decided to swap out the butterscotch chips for caramel morsels and ditch the nuts (not a fan of the crazies nor walnuts). Basically, you could get out of control with these if you wanted and put whatever you found in the baking aisle into the pan. Let your imagination run wild and keep the baked goods coming!
Now, I don't know about you, but I like any recipe that essentially requires minimal measuring. And I'll admit right now, I did not measure anything. Honestly, all you really have to do is make sure you butter the pan, and then layer each ingredient completely, covering the entirety of the pan and the previous layer. I did just that and did not concern myself with things such as tablespoons, teaspoons or measuring cups.
When searching for a recipe, I saw that other people had played with the sequence of layers to get a different kind of tasty experience, but I decided to stick with the general idea of the recipe I used. I layered it in the following order (from bottom to top): graham cracker crumbs, chocolate, caramel, condensed milk and then coconut. Personally, I think that the coconut is best on top because when it comes out of the oven, it's golden and crispy, and makes it look like you actually put some thought into it as opposed to just haphazardly throwing stuff on top of each other (which is what I did. I had witnesses.)
To make the graham cracker crumbs, I first started out by manually crushing them. With my mom and aunt suspiciously watching, they suggested just throwing them in the blender -- much better idea (this is why I need to be supervised.) The rest of it was probably the easiest thing I've ever done. I'd say it took maybe five minutes to throw everything else on there before putting the pan in the oven, with the exception of opening the can of condensed milk because I am not that handy with a manual can opener (oops.)
Once out of the oven, these babies were heavenly. I've heard this cookie also referred to as a "Magic Bar," and I can vouch for the magical nature of these cookie bars as they are loaded with pretty much everything that makes for something sweet, crispy and delicious. Now, I'll be honest, I was a bit skeptical as to why the condensed milk was included in the recipe. What do people actually used condensed milk for? What is condensed milk? What makes it condensed? I'm assuming that if I actually knew anything about the culinary field, I'd have a technical answer for you. Instead, I'm just going to attach a link to Wikipedia and hope that the answer there is sufficient enough: Condensed Milk: The Milk, The Myth, The Legend.
And there you have it folks: the easiest recipe I have made to date and one of the sweetest. Just toss a bunch ingredients together in a pan, put it in the oven for 25 minutes, and out emerges your mouth's new best friend for life. I still am curious about all of that condensed milk, but take it from me, whatever it does: it works. So if you're going to ditch one of the layers, make sure it's not that one (and don't forget the butter, or else you'll have a bit of trouble removing said magical treats from the pan.)
Now, please excuse me while I eat the rest of the seven layer bars left in my house.
What delicious item is on the agenda for today's baking post? So glad you asked -- that would be the notoriously sweet and probably heart-attacking inducing seven layer bars. If you haven't heard of these bars before, then you're in for a treat (pun intended.) Each ingredient essentially makes up a layer of the bar and let me assure anyone reading this who considers himself/herself domestically impaired (like I consider myself to be), even you can make this.
From allrecipes.com:
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 1/3 cups shredded coconut
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
Place butter in 13 x 9 inch pan and melt in oven. Swirl to coat bottom and sides with butter.
Spread crumbs evenly over bottom of pan. Layer chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and nuts over crumbs. Pour condensed milk over nuts. Sprinkle coconut over condensed milk.
Bake until edges are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool
As you can probably tell by comparing the above recipe to the picture of ingredients, I do not have all seven layers (except for the butter, I did have that, it just wasn't pictured.) Certainly a recipe such as this lends itself to a bit of modification depending on your own preferences or allergies. I decided to swap out the butterscotch chips for caramel morsels and ditch the nuts (not a fan of the crazies nor walnuts). Basically, you could get out of control with these if you wanted and put whatever you found in the baking aisle into the pan. Let your imagination run wild and keep the baked goods coming!
Now, I don't know about you, but I like any recipe that essentially requires minimal measuring. And I'll admit right now, I did not measure anything. Honestly, all you really have to do is make sure you butter the pan, and then layer each ingredient completely, covering the entirety of the pan and the previous layer. I did just that and did not concern myself with things such as tablespoons, teaspoons or measuring cups.
 |
| First three (four?) layers: pan coated with butter, then layered with graham crackers, chocolate and caramel. |
 |
| Top off aforementioned layers with condensed milk. |
 |
| Sprinkle coconut all over the top before putting into the oven. |
When searching for a recipe, I saw that other people had played with the sequence of layers to get a different kind of tasty experience, but I decided to stick with the general idea of the recipe I used. I layered it in the following order (from bottom to top): graham cracker crumbs, chocolate, caramel, condensed milk and then coconut. Personally, I think that the coconut is best on top because when it comes out of the oven, it's golden and crispy, and makes it look like you actually put some thought into it as opposed to just haphazardly throwing stuff on top of each other (which is what I did. I had witnesses.)
To make the graham cracker crumbs, I first started out by manually crushing them. With my mom and aunt suspiciously watching, they suggested just throwing them in the blender -- much better idea (this is why I need to be supervised.) The rest of it was probably the easiest thing I've ever done. I'd say it took maybe five minutes to throw everything else on there before putting the pan in the oven, with the exception of opening the can of condensed milk because I am not that handy with a manual can opener (oops.)
Once out of the oven, these babies were heavenly. I've heard this cookie also referred to as a "Magic Bar," and I can vouch for the magical nature of these cookie bars as they are loaded with pretty much everything that makes for something sweet, crispy and delicious. Now, I'll be honest, I was a bit skeptical as to why the condensed milk was included in the recipe. What do people actually used condensed milk for? What is condensed milk? What makes it condensed? I'm assuming that if I actually knew anything about the culinary field, I'd have a technical answer for you. Instead, I'm just going to attach a link to Wikipedia and hope that the answer there is sufficient enough: Condensed Milk: The Milk, The Myth, The Legend.
And there you have it folks: the easiest recipe I have made to date and one of the sweetest. Just toss a bunch ingredients together in a pan, put it in the oven for 25 minutes, and out emerges your mouth's new best friend for life. I still am curious about all of that condensed milk, but take it from me, whatever it does: it works. So if you're going to ditch one of the layers, make sure it's not that one (and don't forget the butter, or else you'll have a bit of trouble removing said magical treats from the pan.)
Now, please excuse me while I eat the rest of the seven layer bars left in my house.
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