Layers of Sweetness
It’s the common go-to dessert that is sure to please just about anyone. The Seven Layer Bar. Easy to make and hard to resist. Seven simple ingredients: Graham crackers, chopped walnuts, 3 types of chocolate chips, toasted coconut and sweetened condensed milk.
After the holidays our house slowly starts to empty out. As the last of us kids head back to school or jobs, my mom cleans out the kitchen and re-organizes the cabinets. Her attempt to try to get rid of the unused food…only to find herself immediately re-stocking as we all return for the next family get-together.
In the cabinet was a half-opened bag of shredded coconut and a box of graham crackers that we hadn’t gotten around to using over the holidays. She said she would make Seven-Layer Bars. With just a few random ingredients from the cabinet that she wanted to get rid of… it’s the perfect excuse to make this layered bar.
My mom couldn’t find her usual recipe for Seven Layer Bars but I remembered one I had seen on the blog BrownEyedBaker, a baking blog that I am always scanning for new recipes. I printed it off and my mom and I put together this easy but very rich dessert.
The recipe called for semi-sweet chips, white chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. Although, the only chocolate chips that we had on hand were regular semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips so we used them both instead. You could use any combination of chocolate chips you would like.
Seven Layer Bars
(Makes about 18 bars)
- 1 ½ cup sweetened flaked coconut
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter (melted)
- 9 graham crackers (5 ounces), crushed (Add a few more if you want a thicker crust)
- 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- ½ cup butterscotch chips (I used 2 cups semi-sweet and ½ cup dark chocolate chips)
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk.
- Preheat to 350°F.
- Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with non-stick spray.
- Spread coconut on a separate baking sheet and bake until the outer flakes just begin to brown (about 4 minutes). Keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t burn! Set aside.
- Melt the butter in the microwave and then combine with graham cracker crumbs in a small bowl. Toss until the butter is evenly distributed. Press crumbs evenly onto the bottom of the prepared pan.
- In this order: sprinkle… 1) the walnuts, 2) chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and 3) coconut over the graham crumbs. 4) Pour the condensed milk evenly over the entire dish.
- Bake until the top is golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours.
- Using a sharp knife, cut into 2 x 3-inch bars.