Magic Bar Cookies

I usually take my cookies to work on Friday, thus the name of this blog. This is the first week this summer that I decided I would not go in to work, just so I could have a bit of a break before classes start again in the fall. I decided that I would make some cookies for my husband to take to his group. We work at the same campus, in different departments, and they know I bring cookies all the time. I don’t want them to feel left out, so this was their week to have cookies.

I figured I would go with a nice, hearty cookie. These cookies are based on the magic seven layer bar cookies. I’m sure I’ve made those at some point, but it’s been ages. I love the mix of flavors in those bars: graham cracker, chocolate, butterscotch, coconut. My problem with the bar cookies, and any cookie really that uses sweetened condensed milk, is that they are SO sweet. I like sweet, and if they are too sweet for me, they are really, really sweet. These don’t use sweetened condensed milk, so while they are sweet, they aren’t too sweet.

I had everything ready for these cookies, the oven ready, and then read the “refrigerate for 2 hours” part of the recipe. I really need to do better about reading recipes all the way through. Thankfully, we replaced our refrigerator in the past year and my refrigerator actually has room for baking sheets! This recipe made 3 dozen, so I did 2 dozen cookie on the baking sheets and then shaped the remaining dozen and put them on a dinner plate. I suppose you could just chill the dough and then shape it, but I think this worked very well and it was convenient to just stick the trays in the oven once the cookies were sufficiently chilled. I loved the flavors in these, and I got a lot of thanks from my husband’s work group. They really appreciated getting cookies!

Magic Bar Cookies

¾ cup shredded coconut

¾ cup butter, room temperature

¼ cup sugar

¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

1½ cups flour

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup coarsely chopped graham crackers

1 cup chocolate chips

¾ cup butterscotch chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and toast, stirring frequently, for 5-10 minutes, until lightly brown. Set aside. Turn off the oven.

   

In a large mixer bowl, beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light. Add the egg and vanilla and stir on medium to combine. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low, add half of the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated into the dough. Add the other half of the flour mixture, again mixing on low just until the flour is incorporated into the dough. Stir in the chopped graham crackers, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and toasted coconut with a spatula.

Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats. Scoop the dough onto the baking sheets, using about 1-1/4 tablespoons per cookie. Refrigerate the cookies for 2 hours, or freeze for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes, until lightly browned along the edges. The cookies may look slightly under baked, but they will set as they cool. Cool on the baking sheets for 6-8 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Yellow Bliss Road