Description
Almond Joy Magic Cookie Bars are a delightful layered dessert featuring a buttery graham cracker crust loaded with semi-sweet chocolate chips, shredded coconut, sliced almonds, and a luscious drizzle of sweetened condensed milk. This easy-to-make treat combines rich chocolate, toasted nuts, and chewy coconut for a perfect balance of flavors and textures, baked to golden perfection.
Ingredients
Scale
Base
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs (from about 9 full-sheet crackers)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Topping
- 3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 3/4 cups shredded sweetened coconut
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- About 12 oz sweetened condensed milk (just shy of one can)
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare Pan: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper, ensuring a slight overhang for easy removal later. Spray the parchment paper lightly with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the unsalted butter and light brown sugar until the mixture is smooth and creamy. This creates a soft base for your crust.
- Add Vanilla and Egg: Stir in the vanilla extract and egg to the creamed butter and sugar mixture, mixing until they are fully incorporated and smooth.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: Add the all-purpose flour, chocolate graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt to the wet ingredients. Mix until everything is fully combined into a dough. Then fold in the semi-sweet chocolate chips evenly throughout the dough.
- Form the Crust and Partially Bake: Press this graham cracker dough evenly across the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake it in the preheated oven for 5 minutes to set the base.
- Add Toppings: Remove the pan from the oven. Sprinkle the mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (reserve a small amount for later), shredded sweetened coconut, and sliced almonds evenly over the partially baked crust. Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk generously over the toppings, then sprinkle the reserved mini chocolate chips on top.
- Bake to Perfection: Return the pan to the oven and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, typically around 26 minutes, until the bars are set. Halfway through baking, loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil to prevent the coconut and almonds from over-browning. Rotate the pan to ensure even cooking.
- Cool Completely: Let the bars cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then refrigerate until completely chilled and firm, so the layers hold together well.
- Slice and Serve: Once fully cooled and set, use the parchment overhang to lift the bars from the pan and cut into 9 to 12 squares. Avoid cutting while warm to prevent the gooey filling from running.
Notes
- Ensure the bars are fully cooled and chilled before cutting to maintain clean edges and prevent gooey mess.
- Loosely tenting with foil during baking helps keep toppings from burning while allowing the bars to set properly.
- Use parchment paper with an overhang to easily remove bars from the pan without sticking or breaking.
- You can substitute chocolate graham cracker crumbs with regular graham cracker crumbs mixed with cocoa powder if necessary.
- Store these bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days for maximum freshness.
