I won’t keep you with a long-winded post today, because I’m just feeling a little tired after a spectacular holiday weekend. I went back and forth for a couple of hours on varieties of bars to take to our family gathering this weekend, but kept coming back to the same two. I decided to just go ahead and make them and save other options for another time.
Magic Cookie Bars just scream family gathering to me. I’ve always loved these bars- and they couldn’t be easier. You begin by combining melted butter and graham crackers, and pressing that into a pan as a crust. Then you pour a can of luscious sweetened condensed milk over that, and sprinkle on an assortment of toppings. Traditionally you will find coconut, nuts and chocolate chips. For my summery version I changed things up just a touch.
First, I zested two small limes and sprinkled the zest onto the condensed milk.
Then, after I added the coconut, I added a package of good quality white chocolate chips and a package of macadamia nut bits. The pan dove into a 350ºF oven for 25 minutes, and just like that, I had a delicious pan of bars to take along.
My recipe makes a sheet pan of cookie bars- a 17×11.5-inch pan. This was really good. The sweetened condensed milk caramelizes a bit as it bakes and you get this added toffee flavor that melded perfectly with the coconut, white chocolate and macadamia nuts. If you don’t have a sheet pan, cut the recipe in half and use a 9×13 pan.
Macadamia-Lime Magic Cookie Bars
1 box graham crackers (3 sleeves) 1 1/2 sticks butter, melted 2 (14 ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk 2 1/2 cups shredded coconut 1 package Ghirardelli white chocolate chips 1 package macadamia nut bits (or about 1 1/2 cups chopped macadamia nuts)Directions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray an 11.5×17 inch sheet pan with cooking spray. (Or line with no-stick foil.)
Process the graham crackers in a food processor until you have a nice pile of crumbs. Combine the crumbs with the melted butter. Mix together well, and then press into the bottom of the sheet pan.
Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the crumb layer. Next, evenly sprinkle the coconut, chips and nuts. Grab a fork and press down over the toppings with the back of the fork.
Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.