The Craftiest Workshop

You know that sense of déja vu you get when you remember a recipe you used to make years ago (boy, that makes me sound old). When I made some of the Almond Joy Drops in the summer to bring to a gathering, someone had commented that their mother used to make a bar that had a similar taste. At the time I was thinking to myself that I thought I had also made a bar in the past with similar ingredients. I even went home and looked through my recipes but couldn’t find it.

To plan my Christmas baking this week, I opened my Christmas Baking field message pad; my first Christmas baking notebook. Low and behold, the second recipe in it was these Magic Cookie Bars. Aside from a Graham crust and pecans instead of almonds, the ingredients were the same.

I am not sure why I stopped making this recipe at Christmas. When my kids were small, they weren’t huge fans of nuts in baking. I also had trouble with the rising cost of Graham crumbs. I used my PC points to buy my Christmas baking supplies this year so I went all out.

Ingredients

2 cups of Graham crackers

3/4 cups margarine melted (microwave 50 sec on high)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 cups semi sweet choc chips

1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

1 1/2 cups toasted chopped pecans (toast at 350° for 8min)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. If you just toasted your nuts, leave the oven on.

Combine the Graham crumbs and melted margarine in a bowl.

Pour into a greased 9X13 pan and press down with a fork or your fingers.

Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the crust.

Sprinkle 3/4 cup each of the coconut, pecans and choc chips in that order. Repeat. I found splitting 1 1/2 cups of each into two created better mixed layers.

**Press down the topping ingredients into the sweetened condensed milk.**

Put in heated 350° oven for 25-30 min.

The coconut will be nicely browned when done.

Let cool on the counter then refrigerate. Cut into bars and store in a sealable container.
This recipe freezes and thaws very well.

If you like the almond joy drops then just make this recipe with almonds instead of pecans. It is so much quicker and less messy than making the individual cookies and it tastes just as good.