Seven-layer cookies, hello dollies, magic bars—these classic cookies are known by a few names, but mainly they're known as delicious. My mom made them, my aunt makes them, my sister makes them; they're like part of the family. Having blogged about Christmas desserts and cookies for the last 10 years, quite a few sweets have passed through our kitchen. When our son Jack left for college, I asked him what desserts he'd like me to make before heading to school. He only asked for one: 7-layer cookies. They're simple to make and it's fun to incorporate other flavors. But as much fun as it is to play with other ingredients, there's something magical about the combination of flavors in the original. Maybe part of it is nostalgia. You know what? Nostalgia tastes good.
What's in 7-layer cookies?
They're everything you want in a dessert. These bar cookies have coconut, chocolate, butterscotch, and pecans—plus, sweetened condensed milk to hold it all together. That combination gets baked in a buttery graham cracker crust.
How do you store 7-layer cookies?
Store these bars in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge. For less clean-up, you can store the cookies right in the baking pan, if you want. Just be sure to cover the pan. If stacking the bars, place a sheet of parchment paper between the layers so they don't stick to one another.
From Bridget Edwards of Bake at 350.
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Ingredients
1/2cup
salted butter, melted
11/2cups
graham cracker crumbs
1cup
sweetened shredded coconut
1cup
semisweet chocolate chips
1cup
butterscotch chips
1
can (14 oz. size) sweetened condensed milk
1cup
pecans
Directions
Step 1Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a 11-by-7-inch baking pan.
Step 2Stir together melted butter and graham cracker crumbs. Press into prepared pan.
Step 3Add the other ingredients in order: coconut, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips. Pour sweetened condensed milk over the top. Add the pecans.
Step 4Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Place pan in the refrigerator and serve cold.
The ingredients: graham crackers, melted butter, coconut, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, sweetened condensed milk, and pecans. Basically, you layer these ingredients in a pan and bake. Bada bing, bada cookie.
For the grahams, you’ll really want fine crumbs. I either buy the graham cracker crumbs or give them a good whir in the food processor. Fine crumbs do a better job at soaking up the melted butter.
Combine the crumbs and melted butter. Press into the pan.
Top with sweetened, shredded coconut.
Scatter on semisweet chocolate chips.
Then, add butterscotch chips.
Pour a can of sweetened condensed milk over the top.
Chopped pecans top off the cookies.
Bake for 25 minutes. They don’t look much different, but you can see where the sweetened condensed milk bubbled up around the edges.
Let the bar cool in the pan, and here’s our family secret: We refrigerate them and serve them cold.
Are 7-Layer Cookies a tradition in your house, too? If you call them by another name, let me know!
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