Amish Seven Layer Bars
By Kevin Williams
Related recipe: Chocolate marshmallow bars
This is a confection I stumbled upon in an Amish bakery last week while traveling in northern Ohio. Amish cooks love their bars: can't-leave-alone-bars, lemon bars, blondie bars, but seven layer bars? I was not familiar with this recipe. So I bought a batch and counted the "layers"...there was butterscotch, coconut, graham, chocolate, nuts, hmmmm, butter and condensed milk are what they other "layers" are. Not sure if that counts in my book. I'd be more likely to call them 5-Layer bars. But, names aside, it is a good dessert. With all of those ingredients, as you'd expect, you get a very moist bar full of competing flavors. Definitely a festive treat for the holidays! After doing some digging I did find a recipe for Seven Layer Bars in an old Amish cookbook. I'll share it with you here. The ingredients in the recipe match the ones in the bar I tried (pictured here), so I think we have a match!
- 8 graham crackers, broken in half
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), cut into 4 pieces
- 1¼ cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup butterscotch chips (could be replaced with peanut butter chips_)
- 1 cup chopped almonds
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle.
- Crush graham crackers till fine crumbs.
- Place the butter in a 13-by-9-inch baking dish and place in the oven until the butter has melted, about 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs evenly over the butter, then sprinkle the coconut over the crumbs.
- Sprinkle the chocolate and butterscotch chips over the coconut, then sprinkle the nuts over the chips.
- Evenly drizzle the condensed milk over all of the layers.
- Bake until golden brown around the edges and springy to the touch, about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cool completely.
- Cut into 24 squares and serve.
Peggy
We have always called these Magic Bars. I have been making them for ever. You can substitute the chips for any kind you like. Sometimes instead of nuts I use Butter Brickle pieces. I use different nuts too. My boys love these.
Kevin
Ooh, butter brickle, I like that idea!