An easy to put together bar cookie with a tropical twist. A graham cracker crumb crust topped with layers of white chocolate chips, Coconut M&M’s, macadamia nuts, shredded coconut, and a sweet gooey lime filling.
Magic Cookie Bars, 7 Layer Bars, Hello Dolly Bars what ever you like to call them, are a very popular bar cookie. You can even find the recipe on the back of sweetened condensed milk cans and boxes of graham cracker crumbs. I decided to change up this sinfully rich, ooey, gooey treat and give it a tropical flare with a little lime zest, macadamia nuts and Coconut M&Ms.
I added the zest of two limes to the sweetened condensed milk and the lime flavor is a perfect match for the chocolate, nuts and coconut. I made the bars with coconut oil, but the crust didn’t set up as firmly as if I’d used butter, so I put butter in the recipe below. If you love citrus desserts and magic bars, you’re going to love this version.
Tropical Magic Bar Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup butter melted
- 1 can 14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
- finely grated lime zest from two limes
- 1 cup diced macadamia nuts
- ⅔ cup white chocolate chips
- ⅔ cup Coconut M&M’s
- 1 ¼ cup sweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- In a large bowl combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add butter and toss until combined. Press into the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan coated with cooking spray.
- Bake until firm, approximately 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for approximately 20 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk and lime zest. Set aside.
- When crust is cooled, top with macadamia nuts, white chocolate chips and M&Ms. Pour condensed milk over the top, spreading to cover completely. Sprinkle coconut evenly on top of condensed milk.
- Bake until coconut is toasted, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool completely before cutting.
Today’s post is week 6 of my 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats hosted by Brenda, Meal Planning Magic. Be sure and check out all of the fabulous treats the other 12 weeks of Christmas Treats bakers baked up for this week.
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc
this one is a keeper!!
Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious
Oh my these look absolutely sinful! And so dangerous to have around the house!
Lisa
This is the best twist I’ve seen on a classic cookie bar. This is why I am dying for your cookbook…so I can just order it and open it up in my kitchen when baking or cooking so many of your beautiful and creative treats!
Rachel Cooks
These look fantastic! A little taste of the tropics for a cold day 🙂
Amy
What a gorgeous cookie! I love the tropical twist with them. 🙂
kristy
Such fun magic bars! Bet the kids would love it…guess you need more for the Halloween giveaway. :o)
have a lovely weekend.
Kristy
My Inner Chick
I Looooooooov-
…in my mouth!
Aimee@clevermuffin
Coconut m&m’s??Coconut m&m’s?!? Oh man – we can’t get those in Australia. I come to these lovely American blogs and am astounded at the range of things you can get that we can’t! But, never fear, I think it’ll work with normal m&m’s too 🙂
Loretta | A Finn In The Kitchen
Just mentioning macadamia nuts makes me crave the ones we got from Costco a while back. A little spendy, but one of the best things I’ve ever had! The bars look fabulous!
Valérie (Franche-Comté)
C’est le genre de gourmandises que je commence à aimer
Bonne soirée
Valérie.
Angie@Angie's Recipes
They look irresistible!
Dawn@simplegourmetcooking
A little bit of everything-sounds like my perfect kind of cookie 🙂
Ala
Lime–what an awesome twist! We’re all huge fans of magic cookie bars over here, and this tropical twist (in the middle of autumn!) is absolutely perfect. Thank you for sharing, Barbara!
Donna
Seven layer bars are a weakness of mine. So. These are a Must Try.
Lychapin@TinySkillet
These do look sinful! How did you use the coconut oil?
Barbara Schieving
Thanks! I melted it. Do you think it would have worked without melting?
Averie @ Averie Cooks
I love Magic Bars and I love coconut oil. FUN twist!
Lana @ Never Enough Thyme
Love the tropical flavors! Great update to a well-loved recipe.
Matt mmWine Horbund
Ok, these look fun and delicious!
Blog is the New Black
Love your spin on the cookie bar!
Rosa
A wonderful treat! Definitely very tempting.
Cheers,
Rosa